Vision of India’s future linked to GIFT City: PM Modi
Modi said he had conceived the idea of GIFT City as the chief minister of Gujarat amid the “global recession” and a domestic “policy paralysis” in 2008.
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PM Narendra Modi with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Gandhinagar on Friday. PTIThe Gujarat International Finance Tech (GIFT) City “celebrates wealth and vision” and is an important gateway to connect to global opportunities, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of the country’s first international bullion exchange Friday.
“The vision of the country’s future is connected with GIFT City. It is also connected to the dreams of India’s golden past… GIFT City was an idea ahead of its times,” PM Modi said while addressing a gathering at GIFT City where he laid the foundation stone for “IFSCA Tower”—the 27-storeyed headquarters of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA). He also launched the India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) and the NSC (National Stock Exchange) IFSC (International Financial Service Centre) and SGX (Singapore Exchange Ltd) Connect platform at the event.
PM Modi also asked IFSCA, the unified regulator, to make GIFT-IFSC competitive with the rest of the world. “I wish that GIFT-IFSC becomes a gateway for global debt and capital for sustainable and climate projects. Similarly, India needs innovations in aircraft leasing, ship-financing, carbon-trading, digital currency, and investment management. IFSCA should work in this direction. It should make GIFT-IFSC competitive with regard to regulation and operation cost when compared to even Dubai and Singapore. It should be your target to become a leader in regulations, set high standards for the rule of law and become an arbitration centre of choice for the world,” he said, adding that GIFT IFSC should emerge as a “global laboratory for the fintech sector.”
Modi said he had conceived the idea of GIFT City as the chief minister of Gujarat amid the “global recession” and a domestic “policy paralysis” in 2008. “I am happy that the idea has progressed so far. It is making a mark as a hub of commerce and technology. GIFT City celebrates wealth and vision,” he said, adding that through GIFT City, India is progressing in the services sector.
“GIFT City is being built in such a place that is giving birth to new ideas, (where) wealth creation is happening and the best minds are learning and growing. In a way, GIFT City is becoming a medium to regain India’s economic glory,” PM Modi said at the event where diplomats and officials from Singapore, Luxembourg, Qatar and Sweden were present. Like the US, the UK and Singapore, India is now standing in the queue of countries providing a pathway for global finance, he said.
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“Another importance of GIFT City is that it is a major pillar of the tri-city approach. Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and GIFT City are 30 minutes away from each other. Each of them have a special character. Ahmedabad has a glorious past, Gandhinagar is the centre of administration, policies and decision-making, while GIFT City is a major centre of economy. In other words, if you got go (in) any of these three cities, then you are just 30 minutes away from past, present or future,” he remarked.
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