GIFT City to host 10 lakh people, work on to attract ship, aircraft leasing businesses: Hasmukh Adhia

GANDHINAGAR : When complete, the Gujarat International Finance-Tec (GIFT) City will provide living and working spaces for around 10 lakh people, even as changes in the regulatory framework are being worked out to attract ship and aircraft leasing businesses from countries like Ireland, said GIFT City non-Executive Chairman Hasmukh Adhia at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) on Thursday.

The announcement came a day after Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, along with Union Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, met 26 global CEOs at the GIFT City during the Global FinTec Leadership Forum to get suggestions on making GIFT City a world class city and India a hub of fintech.

Among the global CEOs who attended the forum were Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron Technology, Lakshmi Mittal of ArcelorMittal, Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

Speaking at a session on ‘GIFT City: An aspiration of Modern India’ at the VGGS on Thursday, Sitharaman said, “GIFT City should be the place for finance and technology related entrepreneurs. We aim to build here a diverse fintech laboratory for the world that addresses several needs. India fintech firms wanting to go global should be here. Foreign fintech firms, wanting to come to GIFT IFSC (International Financial Services Centre) naturally have to be here and Indian fintech firms aiming to grow their business or wanting to work on regulatory sandbox, through which they can have a proof of concept, should be here.”

Maintaining that there were certain “nuts and bolts that we are trying to fix” to bring offshore activities onshore, Adhia said that the finance ministry was making sure the “regulatory hitches were removed” to enable leasing activities to happen from Indian shores.

“Yesterday, the PM was mentioning that as of now, there are 900 wide body aircraft in India and all have been taken on lease by companies… Indian companies together have ordered 2,000 more aircraft. Now that is a huge number. All this leasing services at present happens from Ireland. We need to bring that activity to GIFT City.”

“That will be a big business for GIFT City but there are some issues with these companies, lessors have some issues, we will sort them out. We will make sure that all these activities that are right now offshore are brought onshore,” Adhia added.

Crediting the PM for prioritising GIFT City, Adhia said, “Three hours he heard 30 CEOs. It is because such attention is given at the top… and then, the finance minister was there yesterday along with the RBI Governor in the meeting, and we had a very good discussion. So, the kind of confidence which is expressed by global CEOs now about GIFT City makes us believe that within no time, GIFT IFSC will compare with the best in the world, including Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai.”

Later, speaking to mediapersons, Managing Director and CEO of GIFT City, Tapan Ray, gave a list of announcements made by companies for the smart city, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority becoming the first sovereign fund to be set up in GIFT City.

Ray also said that following relaxation of liquor prohibition law at GIFT City, two hotels there have been granted FL-III license to serve liquor on their premises. The two hotels include Grand Mercure and GIFT City Club.

Ray said that the two hotels had applied for the license and a committee has approved the applications.

“We are running out of space in GIFT City now. In fact, demand is far outstripping supply. Suddenly, you find there is a speed acceleration happening in GIFT City. Everyone wants to come to GIFT City now,” said Adhia.

He explained how the city would be built in two parts – the originally planned 900-acre space comprising the central business district and some residential units will make up Phase 1 while Phase II will include the expanded 2,000 acre to be added by integration of villages, which will comprise the GIFT township.

“The Phase I of GIFT City will work towards accommodating 2 lakh people working… in Phase II, we will make residential space available… there can be a town for 80,0000 people… one of the best towns in the country. That is our vision,” he added.