How to read the timeline
The framework grew in three phases. From 2005 to 2019, the IFSC rested on the SEZ Act and on rules issued separately by RBI, SEBI and IRDAI. From 27 April 2020, IFSCA took over regulation and began replacing the sector regulators' rules with its own. Since 2024, IFSCA has been consolidating and second-generation instruments have arrived, such as the 2025 fund management and intermediary regulations and the 2026 sandbox framework. In 2026 the new Income-tax Act took effect.
Where only a year is given, we have not been able to confirm the exact date from an official text, and the entry should be read at that level of precision.
Timeline
| Date | Instrument or event |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 enacted. Section 18 provides for an IFSC within an SEZ. |
| 2 March 2015 | RBI notifies the Foreign Exchange Management (International Financial Services Centre) Regulations, 2015 (FEMA 339/2015-RB), published as G.S.R. 218(E) on 23 March 2015. |
| 2015 | The Government of India takes the initiative, in April 2015, to develop an IFSC at GIFT City, and India's first IFSC is notified. SEBI issues capital-market rules for the IFSC in the same year. |
| October 2015 | The first IFSC Banking Unit is set up at GIFT IFSC. |
| 2016 | Budget 2016 tax measures for the IFSC; international exchanges established in the IFSC. |
| 19 December 2019 | International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 (Act 50 of 2019) receives Presidential assent. |
| 27 April 2020 | IFSCA established under the IFSCA Act. |
| 4 August 2020 | Ten-year Gujarat stamp-duty exemption for setting up IFSC units and acquiring property begins, according to the State's GIFT City guide. |
| 31 August 2020 | Bullion spot delivery contracts and bullion depository receipts notified as financial products, and related services as financial services. |
| 10 February 2021 | IFSCA Framework for enabling Ancillary Services in IFSCs issued. |
| 27 April 2022 | IFSCA Framework for FinTech Entity in the IFSCs issued, with direct authorisation and sandbox tracks. |
| 2022 | First IFSCA (Fund Management) Regulations issued. |
| 29 January 2024 | IFSCA (Payment Services) Regulations, 2024 notified; in force from 30 January 2024. |
| 2024 | Direct listing of Indian public companies on IFSC exchanges permitted; IFSCA (Listing) Regulations, 2024. |
| 14 October 2024 | IFSCA (Payment and Settlement Systems) Regulations, 2024 made; RBI's Payment and Settlement Systems Regulations, 2008 cease to apply in the IFSC. |
| 26 February 2025 | IFSCA consultation paper on a regulatory approach to tokenisation of real-world assets (a consultation, not a rule). |
| 2025 | IFSCA (Fund Management) Regulations, 2025 and IFSCA (Capital Market Intermediaries) Regulations, 2025. |
| 8 July 2025 | IFSCA (TechFin and Ancillary Services) Regulations, 2025 made; published in the Gazette on 10 July 2025. |
| 12 September 2025 | IFSCA (Payments Regulatory Board) Regulations, 2025. |
| 24 December 2025 | IFSCA (Global In-House Centres) Regulations, 2025; the 2020 regulations repealed. |
| 16 March 2026 | FinTech Sandbox Framework, 2026 issued; earlier sandbox provisions, including those of the 2022 framework, superseded. |
| 1 April 2026 | Income-tax Act, 2025 replaces the Income-tax Act, 1961. Section 147 gives eligible IFSC units a deduction for 20 consecutive tax years out of 25, in place of section 80LA. |
| 10 April 2026 | IFSCA circular requiring prior permission for payment service providers to join rupee drawing arrangements. |
| 5 May 2026 | TechFin and Ancillary Services (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 add trust and company service providers for leasing activities. |
| July 2026 | IFSCA publishes its SWIT set-up workflow, V1.0. |
What the sequence means in practice
- Check the version. Many IFSCA instruments have been replaced within a few years. The 2022 fund management regulations gave way to the 2025 regulations, and the 2022 FinTech framework's sandbox provisions to the 2026 framework. Documents and policies drafted against an earlier instrument need review. See Entities authorised under the 2022 framework.
- Transitional provisions matter. Replacement instruments often let existing entities continue under the old rules for a period, as the 2026 sandbox framework and the 2025 TechFin regulations do. Diary the end dates.
- Tax moved separately. The change from section 80LA to section 147 came through tax legislation, not IFSCA. See From the 1961 Act to the 2025 Act.
- Consultations are not law. Consultation papers, such as the 2025 paper on tokenisation, show the regulator's thinking but do not create permissions.