PKM Advisory Services LLP | Operating from GIFT City since 2017
PKM Advisory Services LLP set up in GIFT City in 2017, so we have watched India’s International Financial Services Centre grow up from close quarters. GIFT IFSC began as an ambitious proposition: to bring financial business that was historically booked through Singapore, Dubai, London and Mauritius into an Indian jurisdiction, while offering the international orientation, foreign-currency capability and regulatory flexibility that such business needs. In 2026, it is fair to say the proposition has become a working platform.
From a fragmented start to a single regulator
The early years were fragmented. Banking, capital markets, insurance, pensions and foreign exchange sat separately under the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA, alongside FEMA, the SEZ framework and the income-tax provisions.
The structural turning point was the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), set up under the IFSCA Act, 2019 and operational from 27 April 2020. As a unified regulator, it created a single interface that could design globally aligned rules for an offshore-oriented centre located in India. Growth since then has spread across banking, funds, capital markets, insurance, leasing, bullion, fintech, treasury centres and Global In-House Centres.
GIFT IFSC in numbers
IFSCA’s own figures, as of June 2026, show how far the centre has come.
IFSCA final registrations and authorizations | 1,260 | Banking assets | USD 120 bn+ |
Cumulative commitments raised by funds | USD 45 bn+ | Avg. monthly turnover, IFSC exchanges* | USD 105 bn+ |
Debt listed on IFSC exchanges* | USD 2.203 bn | Premium transacted by insurance entities* | USD 546 mn+ |
Aviation and ship assets leased | 454 | TechFin and ancillary service providers | 127 |
Bullion exchange intermediaries and participants | 668 | Credit outstanding, treasury centres | USD 6.54 bn+ |
Source: IFSCA, GIFT IFSC key highlights (as on June 2026). *Figures marked with an asterisk are for the April–June 2026 quarter (Q1 FY 2026–27), not annual figures.
Banking and capital markets have reached meaningful scale, while funds, leasing, insurance, treasury centres, technology-led services and bullion are fast becoming important pillars.
Banking and ECB-led finance
Banking remains the foundation, with assets of more than USD 120 billion. IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) are not conventional domestic branches. They undertake foreign-currency business from India, including trade finance, syndicated lending, deposits, derivatives, treasury, ECB-related and structured finance. The segment is increasingly used for commercial and trade-linked intermediation, not merely for treasury balances or inter-bank transactions.
For Indian companies, GIFT IFSC is now a credible home-grown option for foreign-currency borrowing, acquisition and supply-chain finance, export receivables and hedging. One caution is worth repeating: being in GIFT IFSC does not automatically make an ECB permissible. End-use, maturity, pricing, eligibility and reporting conditions under FEMA and the ECB framework continue to apply. The next phase will be judged by product depth, such as long-tenor project and aircraft finance, sustainable and supply-chain finance, global cash management and wealth products.
Funds, markets and insurance
Fund management is among the most strategic verticals, with cumulative commitments above USD 45 billion. These are commitments, which is not the same thing as capital deployed. Growth rests on the IFSCA (Fund Management) Regulations, 2025, which simplified compliance while retaining investor protection, and on the Finance Act, 2025. That Act extended the last date for starting operations or relocating funds to 31 March 2030 for several IFSC tax benefits, including those for specified funds, aircraft and ship leasing, and tax-neutral fund relocation. It also relaxed certain section 9A conditions for eligible funds managed by IFSC-based fund managers. For global fund managers, tax and location certainty matter as much as regulatory permission.
In capital markets, IFSC exchanges recorded average monthly turnover of over USD 105 billion in Q1 FY 2026–27, with USD 2.203 billion of debt listed in the quarter. IFSCA’s listing data shows cumulative listed debt of USD 85.91 billion across 249 instruments as of September 2026. In insurance, offices and intermediaries transacted premium of over USD 546 million in the same quarter, and the segment is widening beyond reinsurance.
Aircraft leasing, fintech and global in-house centres
Leasing shows the onshoring story most clearly. As of June 2026, 454 aviation and ship assets had been leased from GIFT IFSC. On the aviation side alone, 33 aircraft lessors had leased 242 aviation assets, including 90 aircraft and 67 engines, by March 2025, and both Air India and IndiGo have set up leasing arms in the IFSC. Support has come from policy, regulatory and tax measures, DGCA facilitation and the Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Act, 2025, which came into force on 1 May 2025. That last piece matters because the enforceability of lessor rights drives global pricing. Long-term competitiveness will depend on debt depth, repossession and insolvency certainty, and skilled legal and technical support.
IFSCA reports 127 TechFin and ancillary service providers, a wider ecosystem than sandbox entities, spanning fintech, fund administration, legal, compliance, valuation, data and cyber-security. Its February 2025 consultation paper on tokenization of real-world assets signals a willingness to innovate with safeguards. Together with Global In-House Centres, these providers show that GIFT is building a professional-services base, not just a booking centre.
The legal foundation: a specialized layer within India’s framework
A common misstatement needs correcting. Section 18 of the SEZ Act, 2005 does not by itself make GIFT City “deemed foreign territory”. It empowers the Central Government to approve an IFSC within an SEZ and to prescribe its operating requirements, subject to the guidelines of the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and others.
The IFSC at GIFT City followed the Union Budget 2015 announcement. Before IFSCA, the framework was regulator-led: the RBI’s FEMA (International Financial Services Centre) Regulations, 2015 (Notification FEMA.339/2015-RB, 2 March 2015) and IBU Scheme (1 April 2015), SEBI’s IFSC Guidelines, 2015 and IRDAI’s insurance framework. These were the proof of concept, and the IFSCA Act, 2019 unified them.
Two practical points follow. First, under the FEMA IFSC Regulations, a recognized financial institution in the IFSC is treated as a person resident outside India, which is what enables foreign-currency business. FEMA, however, continues to apply to dealings with residents of India, as the ECB caution above shows. Second, on tax, the Finance Act, 2026 extended the 100% tax holiday for IFSC units to 20 consecutive years out of 25 under section 147 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (the successor to section 80LA), from tax year 2026–27, subject to the conditions of that section.
The achievement, in short, is not an exit from India’s legal framework. It is a specialized layer within it, combining the SEZ platform, FEMA permissions, financial regulation, tax incentives and international standards.
Forward outlook
Several pillars have clearly moved beyond the pilot stage. The test for the next decade is whether GIFT IFSC becomes the preferred jurisdiction for repeat, high-value transactions: fund domiciliation, family offices, corporate treasury, capital-market issuance, foreign-currency lending, sustainable finance, leasing, bullion, insurance, fintech, tokenized finance and dispute resolution. The focus must stay on regulatory predictability, tax clarity, substance, talent, connectivity and infrastructure.
GIFT IFSC need not replicate Singapore, Dubai or London. Its durable advantage is being an India-linked international financial centre, one that lets global capital participate in India’s growth and lets Indian enterprises access international finance from within India’s own legal and institutional framework.
Planning your GIFT IFSC journey
PKM Advisory Services LLP supports businesses with evaluating the right GIFT-IFSC route, entity structuring, application preparation, setup coordination and ongoing compliance planning.
To discuss your plans, write to us at pkm@pkmadvisory.com or pkmadvisory@gmail.com, or call +91 98987 14310.
Figures are as published by IFSCA and other official sources and may change. This article is for general information only and is not legal, tax or investment advice.