Direct listing of Indian companies on foreign exchanges at GIFT City to be approved soon: Report

The direct listing of Indian companies on foreign exchanges at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat International Financial Tech (GIFT) City is getting closer as the official notification regarding the same is to be released very soon, as reported by Money control

IFSCA chairperson K Raja Raman, speaking to Money control during the Asia Securities Forum AGM in Mumbai, shared, "It is currently awaiting the PMO approval and could be out anytime soon. Recommendations by the working group, coordinating with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will also be out in 10โ€“15 days. Then, we can make the necessary amendments to enable the procedure by the end of the year, he told Money control during the event.

Further, Raja Raman told Money control that โ€œnearly about 68 alternate investment funds which have been launched by about 78 fund managers in GIFT City have a targeted focus of about $20 billion, of which nearly about $4 billion have been committed and about $1 billion have been invested into India as well. These include a mix of hedge funds, venture capital funds, as well as the private equity funds.โ€

The report said that the advantages of trading in GIFT City are simple, all trades are dollar-denominated. This, according to the report, will eliminate the need for foreign investors to incur additional costs related to currency conversion and hedging. In September 2023, the monthly turnover on IFSC international stock exchanges stood at $67.3 billion, as stated by Money control.

According to the report, a non-resident investorโ€™s income from offshore investments that go through an AIF set up in an IFSC is not taxed. The report said that legally, IFSC is considered a jurisdiction separate from the rest of India that provides financial services in foreign currency.