Investing In Investments: GIFT City To Soon Set Up Facilitation Centre For NRIs

According to GIFT City officials, investing in the facilitation centre is lucrative, as the investors will have a competitive advantage in terms of ease of transactions. Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) operating from here have also been wooing investors, the officials said. 

“We are planning to have a facilitation centre for NRIs by the end of December, so that there is a direct interface with investors,” said Sanjay Kaul, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer, GIFT City. “There will be a portal and an app as well,” he added. 

Alternative Investment Funds

NRIs can invest through Global Savings Accounts in major foreign currencies such as the US Dollar, Pound, Euro, and a few more currencies with competitive interest rates. Through AIFs, they can invest in private equity, real estate, infrastructure, and structured debt. Portfolio Management Services (PMS) enable them to get tailored investing options for debt, stocks, fixed income, and money market instruments. They can also invest in international stocks and bonds through GIFT City's IFSC exchange. On the other hand, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) provide them the exposure to the Indian real estate market. 

GIFT City is also evolving as a centre for investments in start-ups with potential high returns, besides dollar-denominated ULIPs, term life, health, and annuity plans insurance products. 

Fund Management Norms

Utpal Shah, Principal Officer at Arbor Fund Management, which provides fund management services, said that fund management norms are now in place at GIFT City. “AIFs are much sought after. Regulation and norms here are globally competitive. NRIs can invest in dollar-denominated funds, and other inbound funds with relaxed norms,” said Shah. Fund management companies are also coming to GIFT City, creating demand for real estate. “So, there is an opportunity in real estate investment as well. However, equity investments may take more time to take off,” he said.  

According to data, 194 fund management entities are operational at GIFT City, offering 310 schemes and registering investor commitments worth US$26.30 billion (of which funds worth US$12.27 billion have been raised). The investors include Angel Funds, Venture Capitalists, and retail investors. 

The GIFT IFSC has recorded customer deposits worth US$7.93 billion, of which corporate deposits have a share of US$ 6.71 billion, while retail deposits are to the tune of US$1.23 billion. It has 35 International Banking Units (IBUs), of which close to half are foreign entities, mainly from the US, the UAE, Singapore, and the UK.

Steady Growth

“We have been steadily moving ahead. Compared to over 100 registrations in the first year, the second quarter of the current fiscal year witnessed 105 registrations [at GIFT City]. Amid global uncertainties, India is now better positioned to offer stability and continuity,” said Kaul.

GIFT City offers ready-to-move office spaces with a plug-and-play facility, benchmarked in line with its peers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, London, and New York. The centre plans to offer a "walk-to-work facility", with in-house residential spaces to ensure work-life balance.