Skip to main content

A revdi-funded dream? Tax breaks, hype, unease: PwC reveals GIFT City’s fragile foundations

By Rajiv Shah 
Backed by generous subsidies (or so-called "revdis") channeled to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship project, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report claims it is “uniquely positioned to connect India to international markets and foster next-generation FinTech and IT innovation.” 
Titled Moving the Needle on Gujarat’s GIFT City, authors Gayathri Parthasarathy and Amitabh Mukherjee explore “what it will take for GIFT City to surpass established global hubs and emerge as a leading international financial center.” They argue strongly for this politically supported initiative, highlighting its “world-class infrastructure and seamless connectivity.” 
The report describes GIFT City as “India’s first operational smart city,” hosting the country’s “first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).” It projects that within a decade, GIFT City will become a vibrant financial ecosystem, housing 32 banks, over 150 capital market intermediaries, 47 insurance and reinsurance firms, 32 FinTech and TechFin entities, over 250 alternative investment funds, and more than 30 aircraft/ship lessors and bullion market traders. 
To demonstrate GIFT City’s growing appeal to global businesses and investors, the report cites its 46th ranking on the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) in March 2025, a notable improvement from previous years. It also ranks fifth among 15 emerging centers expected to gain prominence in the next two years and leads the reputation index among them. In May 2025, GIFT Nifty recorded a monthly turnover of USD 102.35 billion, signaling strong global investor confidence. However, the PwC survey underpinning the report reveals a contrasting perspective.
Despite claims that GIFT City is “increasingly seen as a strategic base for multinational corporations” and poised to drive FinTech and IT innovation, stakeholder interviews conducted across GIFT City, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Pune, and Mumbai from April to June 2025 tell a different story. About 51% of respondents believe GIFT City lacks “very high growth potential” as a financial services hub. Additionally, 60% doubt it will become a “leading international business and financial hub within five to ten years,” with only 40% optimistic about its long-term prospects. Moreover, 80% do not expect it to evolve into a niche hub for finance, FinTech, and technology.
While 77% of senior executives acknowledge talent availability in GIFT City, they note a “gap in specialized expertise, especially in key industries.” Only 17% believe ample talent exists across key sectors, while 34% describe talent as limited, 26% report moderate availability, and 23% highlight a shortage of skilled professionals. Furthermore, 54% of senior executives cite ecosystem maturity as a key limitation, with 62% pointing to challenges in attracting experienced professionals due to relocation issues. Another 46% note the absence of a robust talent pool as a drawback.
Senior executives are hesitant to relocate to GIFT City, with 63% citing limited personal and professional networks. HR departments observe that freshers are more open to relocation, while professionals with 8–15 years of experience are less willing. HR executives from financial services firms in GIFT City report high attrition rates in Global Capability Centres, ranging from 30–40%, compared to 10–20% in metro cities, indicating weak talent retention and workforce stability.
The survey also reveals that while students and freshers show high relocation willingness, this declines among experienced professionals. Compensation in GIFT City is 10–15% lower than in major metropolitan areas, with few competitive salary packages or clear career advancement pathways offered. Gujarat’s TechFin talent pool ranks seventh in India, and Ahmedabad, the state’s largest talent hub, ranks eighth among Indian cities. The report concedes that GIFT City has yet to match the maturity of India’s traditional financial hubs.
Among optimists, 78% of working professionals see “strong potential” in GIFT City, citing regulatory benefits, tax incentives, and a business-friendly environment tailored for financial institutions. These include no Goods and Services Tax on procurement, a 10-year tax holiday within a 15-year window for income-tax exemptions, exemptions from Minimum Alternate Tax for companies opting for reduced tax rates, interest income exemptions, concessional tax rates on dividend income for non-residents, and no reverse charge GST on imported services.
Based on 200 respondents, including mid-to-top-level executives, recruitment specialists, working professionals, undergraduate students, and educational institutions, the report acknowledges that 66% of senior executives view GIFT City as a potential business hub, primarily due to its tax incentives, which are seen as a key driver for business expansion.

Comments

Anonymous said…
"Singapore transformed into a major financial hub over roughly 30 to 40 years following its independence in 1965." https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-many-years-it-took-for-sin-R1bk67SDTuKuQa_Fzb4HMw#0
October 07, 2025
krishna said…
Well gift city was started in 2005, it's been 20 years so where are we or you want to give another 30 years and you think executives will move to Ahmedabad suburbs when they can get jobs in Chennai, Hyderabad, noida, mumbai, Kolkata or maybe even Singapore. It was all optics from the beginning like viksit bharat is slated for 2047, how convinient.
November 04, 2025
Post a Comment

TRENDING

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

  By A Representative   A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.
Post a Comment
»

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

  By Rajiv Shah   This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.
1 comment
»

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative   The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress. 
Post a Comment
»

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative   A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...
Post a Comment
»

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.
Post a Comment
»

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.
Post a Comment
»

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey  The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians. 
Post a Comment
»

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan*  A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .
Post a Comment
»

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah  Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".
51 comments
»