Gift IFSC: India's Unified Regulatory Architecture - Legal Framework, Sectoral Developments, And Pathways To World-Class Status
- IJLLR Journal
- 11 hours ago
- 1 min read
Saksham Khandare, LL.M., The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.
ABSTRACT
India’s growing role in international finance has increasingly taken institutional shape through the development of the IFSC at GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City). This paper examines the legal and regulatory framework governing India’s IFSC, tracing its evolution from the partial financial liberalisation initiated in 1991, through the recommendations of the Tarapore Committees, the Percy Mistry Committee’s observations on India’s offshore financial dependence, and the subsequent establishment of a unified regulator under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. The paper argues that GIFT IFSC represents a structured policy response aimed at creating a domestic platform for international financial services that were historically accessed by Indian entities through foreign jurisdictions such as Singapore, London, and Dubai.
The paper undertakes a sector-wise analysis of regulatory developments introduced by the IFSCA across banking, capital markets, finance companies, payment services, insurance and reinsurance, and metals and commodities. It finds that the IFSC ecosystem has shown measurable progress in several sectors, while also facing operational, regulatory, and market-based challenges commonly associated with the development of a new international financial centre.
The paper concludes that the long-term effectiveness of GIFT IFSC will depend not only on its statutory and regulatory design, but also on the quality of implementation. Key factors include coordination between domestic and IFSC regulatory frameworks, development of specialised human capital, establishment of efficient dispute resolution mechanisms, infrastructure readiness, and policy continuity. If these conditions are addressed, GIFT IFSC may play an important role in India’s broader objective of strengthening its position in international financial services and supporting the national development vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
