Finance Minister Arun Jaitley urges states to study GIFT city model

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has urged states to study the GIFT City model and emulate the experiment. In a Facebook blog on Monday, the FM said the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, is intended to be a global financial hub that will have an international financial service centre, which is a special economic zone for the financial sector.

“For creation of smart cities in other parts of the country, this experiment deserves to be emulated by others. Different state governments would be well-advised to send their teams to study this success story,” the minister wrote. The GIFT City is an equally owned joint venture between the Gujarat Urban Development Company and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS).

It is spread over 800 acres, allotted by the Gujarat government for a nominal Rs 1. The first phase of the city is to be completed in 2016. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in three phases, concluding in 2026. “All financial sector activities, which include banking, insurance, capital market operations, intermediaries from all over the world, are going to be located in the city. Both Central and the state government have announced several tax cuts for the international financial sector,” he wrote.

The Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority have already announced relevant rules for the GIFT City.

The city will have commercial and office buildings, serviced apartments, hotels, restaurants, food courts shopping arcades medical centres, schools, colleges, exhibition centres and affordable housing.