Gujarat's GIFT-IFSC City Should Become Global Financial Gateway: Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed Central Government's interest in making GIFT-IFSC city in Gujarat a global financial gateway.

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City is a business district in the state of Gujarat.

Sitharaman led a delegation that included two Ministers of State for Finance and Secretaries from the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Corporate Affairs to GIFT City.

During her visit, she announced that Department of Economic Affairs has just last week approved three key proposals for International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) worth Rs 500 crore.

"The first was the proposal of Rs 200 crore for a Head Quarter Building for IFSCA which has Rs 100 crore as Grant in Aid and the remaining Rs 100 crore as loan from the government. The second was the proposal of Rs 269.05 crore for development of IT infrastructure of IFSCA and the third was the IFSCA FinTech Scheme of Rs 45.75 crore," an official communique said.

Besides, the minister said that the bullion exchange is expected to "come into play soon" for which all the necessary infrastructure inclusive of safe vault facilities are built and are operational.

This bullion exchange, once launched, will be a big game-changer for India, she added.

In addition, she also urged the government of Gujarat to explore options to facilitate leading startups to operate outside the IFSC but within the GIFT City so that the ecosystem which is necessary for global financial hub can be created.