GANDHINAGAR: GIFT City’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) now hosts over 1,034 registered entities, including 38 banks holding assets worth $100.14 billion, positioning it as a growing competitor to established financial hubs, such as Singapore and Hong Kong.
The centre spans nearly 1,000 acres, with planned expansion to more than 3,300 acres, integrating SEZ and domestic tariff area zones, and is conceived as an integrated smart city combining commercial, residential and civic infrastructures rather than merely a financial district.
The GIFT City idea dates back to 2007, gaining momentum after 2011 through a public-private joint venture. IFSC was formalised under SEZ legislation with a regulatory framework enabling cross-border finance, global capital flows and international banking operations from within India.
Beyond banking, the ecosystem includes capital markets, fund management, insurance, fintech, asset-leasing for aircraft and ships, and global in-house centres. The number of companies operating from IFSC grew from 82 in October 2020 to 409 by July 2025. MNCs view GIFT City as a strategic alternative to offshore centres due to supportive regulation, tax incentives and high-quality physical and digital infrastructure.
A defining characteristic of GIFT City is its comprehensive underground utility tunnel, stretching 16 km across the district, housing major utilities — power and ICT cables, water-supply pipelines and sewage, among others. Janki Jethi, Sr. Vice President, Water Infrastructure Department, GIFT City, said, “This is a model in India.
Because of this tunnel, there is no need to dig to supply utility connections, whenever a new building is constructed.” By removing utilities from the surface grid, the city eliminates need for road excavation for maintenance, establishing India’s first “digging-free city.”
Above this subterranean backbone, GIFT City operates a City Command & Control Centre (C4), acting as the city’s real-time nerve centre. Integrating IoT and SCADA-based digital architecture, the C4 connects more than 70,000 I/O monitoring points, overseeing power, water, wastewater, and district-cooling systems, amomg others.
Additional smart-infrastructure systems support a walk-to-work, high-quality urban experience. GIFT City merges global-scale financial services with futuristic civic infrastructure, shaping a model of a technology-driven smart urban environment.
K Rajaraman, Chairman of IFSCA, said, “In the coming days this place is going to open enormous business and employment opportunities.” The writer was part of a media delegation to the GIFT City, Gujarat
Nerve centre
GIFT City operates a City Command & Control Centre (C4), acting as nerve centre
Integrating IoT and SCADA-based digital architecture, the C4 connects more than 70,000 I/O monitoring points, overseeing power, water, etc
This allows incident detection, emergency response and predictive maintenance
(The writer was part of a media delegation to the GIFT City, Gujarat)