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

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

Disappearing schools: India's education landscape undergoing massive changes

The other day, I received a message from education rights activist Mitra Ranjan, who claims that a whopping one lakh schools across India have been closed down or merged. This seemed unbelievable at first sight. The message from the activist, who is from the advocacy group Right to Education (RTE) Forum, states that this is happening as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, which floated the idea of school integration/consolidation.

Caste, class, and Patidar agitation: Veteran academic 'unearths' Gujarat’s social history

Recently, I was talking with a veteran Gujarat-based academic who is the author of several books, including "Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature", "Untouchability in Rural India", "Public Health and Urban Development: The Study of Surat Plague", and "Dalit Identity and Politics", apart from many erudite articles and papers in research and popular journals.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. I don't know who owns this site, for there is nothing on it in the About Us link. It merely says, the Nashik Corporation site "is an educational and news website of the municipal corporation. Today, education and payment of tax are completely online." It goes on to add, "So we provide some of the latest information about Property Tax, Water Tax, Marriage Certificate, Caste Certificate, etc. So all taxpayer can get all information of their municipal in a single place.some facts about legal and financial issues that different city corporations face, but I was least interested in them." Surely, this didn't interest...

Varnashram Dharma: How Gandhi's views evolved, moved closer to Ambedkar's

My interaction with critics and supporters of Mahatma Gandhi, ranging from those who consider themselves diehard Gandhians to Left-wing and Dalit intellectuals, has revealed that in the long arc of his public life, few issues expose his philosophical tensions more than his shifting stance on Varnashram Dharma—the ancient Hindu concept that society should be divided into four varnas, or classes, based on duties and aptitudes.

A story Gujarat forgot: Dalits and the Dakor temple movement

The other day, I was talking with Martin Macwan, a well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader. He revealed to me an interesting chapter of the Gandhian movement in Gujarat — how Ravishankar Maharaj (1884–1984), a prominent Gandhian social reformer of the state, played a pivotal role in the struggle for temple entry for Dalits (then referred to as Harijans) in the late 1940s.

Did Bank of India send a fake SMS, or is its website under attack?

On the evening of February 14, after banking hours, I received a strange SMS from Bank of India (BOI)—where I maintain a very small, largely inactive account. I had opened it years ago simply because a branch was located near my home. However, finding their services quite poor, I rarely use it anymore.

Top Hindu builder ties up with Muslim investor for a huge minority housing society in Ahmedabad

There is a flutter in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur area, derogatorily referred to as the "border" because, on its eastern side, there is a sprawling minority area called Juhapura, where around five lakh Muslims live. The segregation is so stark that virtually no Muslim lives in Vejalpur, populated by around four lakh Hindus, and no Hindu lives in Juhapura.

Beyond sattvik: Purity, caste and the politics of the Indian kitchen

A few week ago, I was forwarded an article that appeared in the British weekly The Economist . Titled “Caste and cuisine: From honeycomb curry to blood fry: India’s ‘untouchable’ cooking”, it took me back to what I had blogged about what was called a “ sattvik food festival”, an annual event organised by former Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

Search This Blog