India offers combination of scale, talent and growth opportunities through GIFT city: Sitharaman

India's Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hailed GIFT City in Gujarat as a unique hub offering scale, technology, talent, and growth opportunities, crucial for the country's economic growth.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Friday that India offers a unique combination of scale, technology, talent and growth opportunities through GIFT City in Gujarat.

She chaired a high-level review meeting on GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) and its evolving international financial services ecosystem.

GIFT City is India's first operational smart city and International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) located in Gujarat capital Gandhinagar.

In her address after the review meeting, Sitharaman said the progress achieved here so far is encouraging, and continued coordination among stakeholders will further strengthen its role in India's growth journey towards Viksit Bharat @2047.

Sitharaman highlighted GIFT City's strategic importance in deepening India's integration with global financial markets and facilitating international capital flows into the country supported by globally benchmarked institutional frameworks, regulatory agility and supportive social ecosystem, an official release said.

She said the GIFT City has emerged as an important pillar of India's international financial architecture and reflects the country's growing economic confidence and global aspirations.

The minister also said that India offers a unique combination of scale, technology, talent and growth opportunities today, and highlighted the importance of futuristic discussions leading to immediate action driving ground-level changes.

Sitharaman also interacted with Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, who was present for the review meeting.

In a post on X, Sanghavi said the key discussions during the review meeting were strengthening GIFT City's global financial ecosystem, expansion of banking, fintech, insurance and fund management sectors, growth of GCCs, aircraft and ship leasing ecosystem, infrastructure development, global connectivity and ease of doing business, and talent attraction, urban development and future-ready social infrastructure.

During the meeting, presentations were made on the progress achieved by GIFT City across various sectors, such as banking, capital markets, etc, the release said.

''Discussions were held on infrastructure development, talent ecosystem, ease of doing business, taxation framework, residential ecosystem and measures required for further strengthening GIFT City's position as a globally competitive international financial and business hub,'' it said.

The review meeting was also attended by P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and senior officials.

In his post review address, Mishra underscored the importance of materialising the Prime Minister's vision for GIFT IFSC by bringing in skilled professionals, creating world-class infrastructure, and lauded the efforts made so far in that direction, the release said.

GIFT City today hosts more than 1,150 entities operating across financial services, technology and allied sectors.

Banking assets at GIFT City have crossed USD 110 billion, while capital commitments under fund management activities have exceeded USD 32 billion.

The ecosystem includes 37 banking units, 217 fund management entities, 36 insurance companies, 35 aircraft lessors and 36 ship leasing entities, along with international exchanges, fintech firms and international universities.