Kotak Bank becomes fourth bank to open its IFSC Banking Unit in the GIFT City

GIFT (Gujarat International Financial Tec-city ) will now have Kotak Mahindra Bank  open its IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) , in its sprawling 986 acres campus . Kotak Mahindra Bank will be the 4th such bank to open its IFSC banking unit in the GIFT City.  GIFT city is India's first and only International Financial Centre, dubbed to be a pet dream of Narendra Modi. Narendra modi first proposed formation of an International Financial Services Centre  (IFSC) in the year 2007 when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. 

Kotak Mahindra Bank which offers diversified financial services expects the IBU at GIFT city to do a business of $1 billion in 3 years, according to reports. An IBU facilitates Indian Banks to service its clients with foreign funding requirements including ECB (External Commercial Borrowings), buyers' credit for imports and factoring of receivables related to exports for Indian corporates in International markets.

Due to absence of IFSC in India , India has been losing market share in India related financial products viz., rupee-dollar futures contract which is traded on the DGCX (Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange) and Nifty Futures which is traded on the SGX (Singapore Exchange).  With GIFT city as India's first IFSC , it could be a  game changer for financial services sector in India. In the latest budget, major tax incentives have been announced, which would make the GIFT city globally competitive. It is expected that more and more  players in the BFSI sector will set up offices in the GIFT city along with the two leading exchanges in India BSE & NSE. 

GIFT city is set up on the banks of Sabarmati river, near Gandhinagar - Gujarat's capital city.  GIFT city when fully occupied and functional will be able to rival the likes of Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong  as an established IFSC.