City Gift Financial News

NEW DELHI : Iran's reprisal attacks on Israel are unlikely to significantly dent the Indian stock market unless Tel Aviv responds, in which case crude oil prices could spike on supply disruptions, market analysts said on Sunday. Their comments came after the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's (TASE) benchmark TA-35 index closed up 0.27% at 1938.18 on Sunday despite Iran's overnight drone and missile attacks. The TASE runs from Sunday through Thursday.

DevX is looking to double its portfolio to over 2 million sq ft over the next two years with focus on tier-2 and -3 cities, as adaption of distributed workforce option by larger enterprises leads to a rise in demand, said a top company executive. The company currently has operational centres in key cities like Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Noida, Raipur, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Last week, it set up a new co-working centre spread over 25,000 sq ft with 300 seats in Udaipur. DevX is also working on plans for its foray into the international market, starting with Dubai and Singapore.

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City may soon enjoy a five-day work week, months after the government eased alcohol consumption rules in GIFT City to make it more attractive to global financial institutions. A working group set up by the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) on uniform working hours and a holiday list for IBUs has recommended a five-day work week and a decision in this regard may be announced soon, according to two officials aware of the matter. «The recommendations are being examined, and we expect a nod for a five-day work week within the first quarter of 2024-25,» said one of the officials, who did not wish to be identified, adding that IBUs will also adopt the Mumbai holiday calendar. «This is required because most of the IBUs are involved in treasury operations, which, for Indian lenders, are mostly done through Mumbai, and also because overseas units of Indian banks follow the Mumbai holiday calendar.» The working group said in its recommendations that a five-day work week will align with practices adopted in international financial centres and offshore units of Indian banks. «The government wants to position GIFT City as a major financial hub. All these steps are very important benchmarks for an aspiring international financial centre like GIFT IFSC,» said another official.

Mumbai: Homegrown Care Ratings Ltd plans to start its sovereign debt ratings service with countries in Asia and Africa, followed by Europe in the long term, a top executive said. The agency, which is creating a subsidiary in GIFT City for the purpose, will start with countries where it already has some presence, such as Nepal, Mauritius and South Africa. The board of Care Ratings last month approved setting up CareEdge Global IFSC Ltd for the purpose, managing director and group chief executive of CareEdge—a group level brand identity—Mehul Pandya said in an interview.

open for trading despite being a national holiday on account of Holi. Gift Nifty, which is a futures contract based on the Nifty50 index of NSE, is closed on five days in the entire year. These five days include Republic Day, Special Holiday in January on account of Ram temple opening, Independence Day, Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti and Diwali.

Nitin Gadkari has said it was not possible to run a political party without funds, and added that the Centre had introduced the electoral bonds scheme, now struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, in 2017 with a «good intention». The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said all political parties need to sit together and deliberate if the Supreme Court gives any further direction on the matter. He made the comments at an event organised by a media house in GIFT City near Gandhinagar on Friday. «When Arun Jaitely was (Union finance) minister, I was part of that discussion (regarding electoral bonds). No party can survive without resources. In some countries, governments fund political parties. There is no such system in India. Thus, we chose this system of financing political parties,» said Gadkari on a question about electoral bonds.

electoral bonds scheme was struck down as “unconstitutional" by the Supreme Court. However, it was started by the central government with a “good intention", the BJP leader said. Gadkari said all political parties need to sit together and deliberate if the Supreme Court gives any further direction on the matter, PTI reported.

HDFC Bank, the country's largest lender by market value and the biggest Nifty constituent by weight, has doubled its overseas borrowing through a term loan syndication from a clutch of 23 global banks in a greenshoe option to the primary facility, having initially borrowed $500 million from Japan's largest lender MUFG in December. HDFC Bank, which merged its mortgage lending parent into itself last year, chose to exercise the green shoe option to raise another $500 million, taking the total proceeds to $1 billion in what is the largest three-year overseas loan organised by an Indian bank. «The syndication was completed on Thursday and the full green shoe option was exercised by HDFC Bank due to the strong demand from foreign banks,» said a person aware of the deal. «Banks from Asia, the Middle East and Europe participated in this syndication, which is the largest three-year syndication by an Indian bank for general corporate purposes.»

Lilavati Hospital are in talks with private equity investors and pension funds for its proposed Rs 4,000-crore pan-India expansion plan which entails setting up five to six multispecialty hospitals over the next five years. «We will be funding the expansion through internal accruals, and are also in discussions with PE investors, pension funds and donors,» said Prashant Mehta, promoter, Lilavati Hospital. «We will retain the controlling stake,» Mehta added. He said Lilavati is looking at both greenfield and brownfield hospitals as part of its expansion strategy. The proposed expansion will be carried out by Lilavati Foundation, a distinct and separate entity from Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai. «We believe there is still a huge potential for growth of healthcare services in India,» Mehta said. The expansion will encompass 3,000 hospital beds. Lilavati is setting up a greenfield 300-bed multi-specialty hospital in GIFT City, Gujarat with an investment of Rs 300 crore. The hospital is slated to open by 2025-end. Lilavati is also considering opening hospitals in Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh), Noida (Uttar Pradesh), Pune (Maharashtra), and Bengaluru (Karnataka) and Guwahati (Assam), Mehta said. He said they are also looking at expanding the 319-bed Lilavati Hospital & Research Centre in Bandra, Mumbai by adding a 150-bed oncology block, which might involve acquiring adjoining property.

German Formula 1 racetrack designer Tilke, real estate consultancy company CBRE and architecture firm Arcop ranked the highest on a list of six international consultants that are competing for designing a racetrack in Gujarat's GIFT City that could position the financial centre also as an international sporting destination, according to people in the know. The Tilke-led consortium scored 98% marks in an evaluation conducted by Sports Authority of Gujarat during March 7-8 and is likely to be granted the work order to develop a design for the F1 track, the people said. The project could cost up to ₹10,000 crore.

Anirudh Kejriwal, a vice president at JPMorgan Chase & Co, took to social media to narrate his experience of buying a flat in a society at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. He alleged caste discrimination, saying that the society is barring his entry due to his caste. He also alleged that he was threatened by a gathering of around 30 people who warned him against buying the flat. In a series of tweets, the JP Morgan executive, who works in GIFT City, said: «Shocked to face blatant caste discrimination in Sant Vihar 1 Society, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. My attempt to buy a flat turned into a nightmare as society's management is barring my entry due to caste. After paying a significant advance, planning was underway to finalize the sale deed. But the seller’s evasion on providing the NOC from the society was the first red flag. Little did I know, the real issue lay deeper.» «My concerns were confirmed when the society’s chairman and management openly stated their refusal to allow people from ‘other’ castes to move in. In the heart of Gujarat, this open discrimination left me in disbelief.»

GIFT City and the IFSCA and noted that they were creating new opportunities for the startups and fintechs. The number of startups in India has grown significantly from just over 300 in 2016 to over 1.17 lakh in 2023 as recognised by DPIIT, generating more than 12.4 lakh jobs, and 47% of the startups have at least one Women Director.

GIFT City have reached out to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for consultations in setting up a dollar payment system mechanism that aims to bring about greater efficiency in transactions conducted in the US currency, sources aware of the developments told ET. «There are initial discussions about this matter because at present when a dollar transaction happens from one bank's nostro account abroad, it takes several hours for a subsidiary in GIFT City to receive the dollars,» one of the sources said. A potentially new dollar payment system could be akin to the existing Real-Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), said the source.

Ahmedabad-based realty firm Savvy Group has emerged the highest bidder for developing the largest commercial and recreational project in the special economic zone of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City. The project — spread over 2.8 million sq ft and entailing an investment of more than ₹1,200 crore — will also include an innovation and startup hub. The company has pipped three other bidders to bag the proposed project that surpasses all existing developments within the GIFT City, which previously boasted the largest development covering a million sq ft.

real estate developer Savvy Group has emerged as the highest bidder to develop the GIFT Special Economic Zone’s largest commercial and recreational project, including an innovation and startups hub, spread over a total 2.8 million sq ft with a total investment of over Rs 1,200 crore. The company has pipped three other bidders to bag the proposed project that surpasses all existing developments within the GIFT City, which previously boasted the largest development covering a million sq ft. This is the first project conceived by the GIFT City authority following the recent declaration by the Gujarat government to grant an exemption to GIFT City from a long-standing liquor prohibition law dating back 63 years. This exemption aims to bolster the city's appeal to foreign corporations, encouraging increased investment in the region.

Eureka Forbes, Vodafone Idea Eureka Forbes Eureka Forbes Ltd promoter Advent International on Thursday sold 10% stake in the company through the open market for Rs 979 crore.

Wipro is expected to see a decline. Additionally, the top firms collectively reduced their headcount by nearly 50,000 since last April, “GCCs will continue to grow. We have seen a lot of continued interest from the GCC ecosystem and GCCs coming into India in just the first two months of 2024," said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice-president, Nasscom.

GIFTCL) has invited bids to build the first ultra-luxury hotel in the domestic tariff area of GIFT City with at least 300 keys and development rights for at least 500,000 sq. ft. The development tracks the Gujarat government’s recent decision to exempt GIFT City from a 63-year-old liquor prohibition law in the state to attract foreign companies to invest in the city. GIFT City currently has a hotel and a club designated in the five-star segment. However, the proposed development will be the first to cater to the ultra-luxury segment.

I think things like GIFT City is a great way, it is clearly an initiative designed to bring money into India and those kind of incentives are incredibly effective, says Jenny Johnson, President & CEO, Franklin Templeton. Edited Excerpts

NEW DELHI : The finance ministry on Wednesday notified direct listing of Indian companies on GIFT City’s exchanges, a move expected to enable startups and unlisted companies access global capital. Indian companies can now list on the financial hub’s India International Exchange and NSE International Exchange at Gandhinagar, the ministry said.

Mint that the response to the scheme from NRIs has been overwhelmingly good. “The response from the customers is also very good and we see good traction getting built up, as customers have the flexibility of planning their short-term cash flows starting from 7 days, which is a unique feature that customers can’t get in the FCNR (B) deposits at the domestic branches," said the Federal Bank spokesperson. Earlier, most of these banks relied mainly on institutional depositors and borrowings from their parent companies for capital requirements.