GIFT City
gift city
An offshore jurisdiction, inside India
GIFT City’s International Financial Services Centre sits in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, about an hour from our own base in Ahmedabad. It is physically in India and treated as offshore for exchange-control purposes — which is the whole reason it exists.
its own regulator
The IFSC is overseen by the International Financial Services Centres Authority, separately from SEBI, RBI and IRDAI.
foreign currency by design
Transactions there are denominated in foreign currency rather than rupees. That single fact changes the currency exposure of anything held in it.
at a glance
How this one behaves
A jurisdiction rather than a product. What changes is the regulator, the currency and the rulebook — not necessarily the strategy.
- Regulator
- IFSCA, separately from SEBI, RBI and IRDAI
- Currency
- Foreign currency, not rupees
- Open to
- Non-residents; residents within the LRS annual limit
- Products we can arrange
- TO_BE_CONFIRMED
how it works
What the jurisdiction actually changes
An International Financial Services Centre is a zone set up to let financial business be conducted in foreign currency under a distinct regulatory regime. India’s is at GIFT City, and it is supervised by a single unified authority — the IFSCA — rather than by the four domestic regulators that govern the rest of the market.
For exchange-control purposes, an entity in the IFSC is treated much as an offshore one, even though it stands on Indian soil. That is what makes it usable by two quite different groups: non-resident investors who want exposure to India-linked strategies without operating inside the domestic rupee framework, and resident Indians who want foreign-currency exposure, within the annual ceiling of the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme.
The currency point cuts in opposite directions depending on where you sit, and it is worth being clear which one you are. If you earn and spend in rupees, moving money into a dollar-denominated vehicle adds a currency exposure you did not previously have. If you earn and spend in dollars, the same vehicle removes one. Neither is better in the abstract. It depends entirely on the currency your future obligations are in.
Tax treatment, eligibility and investor-protection arrangements in the IFSC are governed by their own framework and are specific to the vehicle and to the investor’s residence. They should not be assumed to mirror the domestic market in either direction — more favourable or less. This is a case for checking the particular structure against your particular circumstances rather than reasoning from the general rule.
The specific GIFT City products KD Finvest can arrange, their minimum commitments and their eligibility conditions are TO_BE_CONFIRMED. They will be set out in full on this page once confirmed. In the meantime, if a GIFT City route is relevant to what you are trying to do, raise it in your first conversation and we will tell you plainly whether it is something we can currently help with.
risk
What can go wrong
Whatever you hold inside the IFSC carries its own risks. These three come from the jurisdiction itself.
currency risk is the headline
For a rupee-based investor these holdings are a foreign-currency position. The exchange rate can move against you independently of how the investment performs.
a different rulebook
Investor protection, disclosure and grievance routes follow the IFSCA framework, not the domestic SEBI one. Do not assume the recourse is identical.
eligibility and limits
Residents are constrained by the annual LRS ceiling, and eligibility varies by vehicle and by where you are resident. Check before planning around it.
faqs
Questions about GIFT City
Both, in a specific sense. It is physically in Gujarat, but for exchange-control purposes business conducted in the IFSC is treated broadly as offshore and is denominated in foreign currency. That combination — Indian location, offshore treatment, separate regulator — is the whole design of the zone.
In certain cases, under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme and within its annual per-person ceiling, and subject to what the particular vehicle permits. It is not an unlimited route and it is not open to every structure. If you are a resident considering it, the LRS limit and the permitted end-use are the first two things to establish.
No — the IFSC has its own regulator and its own rules. That is not a statement that protection is weaker; it is a statement that it is different, and that the disclosure standards, dispute routes and remedies you may be used to in the domestic market should be checked rather than assumed for any specific vehicle.
That is TO_BE_CONFIRMED and we would rather leave it blank than fill it with something we have not confirmed. The specific vehicles, minimums and eligibility conditions will be published here once they are settled. Ask us directly and you will get a straight answer about what is and is not available today.
Risk and important information
Investments made through an International Financial Services Centre are subject to market risk, including the possible loss of capital, and to the specific risks of whatever underlying strategy is held. They are additionally exposed to exchange-rate movement, because they are denominated in foreign currency rather than rupees. The IFSC operates under the International Financial Services Centres Authority and under a regulatory, disclosure and grievance framework distinct from the domestic SEBI, RBI and IRDAI regimes. Eligibility, permitted routes, applicable limits and tax treatment depend on the vehicle and on the investor’s residential status, and remittance by resident individuals is subject to the limits of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme. Returns are not guaranteed and past performance does not indicate future results. Nothing on this page is investment, tax, legal or exchange-control advice. Please read all offer documents carefully and take qualified advice before investing.
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Let's start with a conversation
There's no obligation, no pressure — just a conversation about where things stand and where you'd like to go.