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Aircraft Leasing from GIFT City
Operating and financial leases of aircraft, helicopters, engines, aircraft ground-support equipment and aviation training simulation devices - under a single regulator. Cape Town primacy via the Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Act 2025; Section 80LA + 10(4F) tax profile. 38 lessors, ~370 leased assets, USD 5.8 bn under management at GIFT (Q1 2025).
What does the aircraft lease framework require, and what supporting notifications apply?
Aircraft lessors and financiers operate from GIFT IFSC under IFSCA's aircraft operating lease framework (updated 15 November 2023, revised in 2025). IFSCA reports 454 aircraft and ship assets leased as on June 2026.
Aircraft Leasing & Financing - The Practitioner's Booklet
A treatise-grade working reference on the licensing, capital, conduct-of-business and tax framework for Aircraft Leasing & Financing at GIFT IFSC - every conclusion anchored in verbatim statutory and regulatory text.
The case for Aircraft Leasing & Financing - before the rulebook.
GIFT IFSC competes head-on with Singapore, Dubai and Mauritius - on tax, on currency, and on access to India. Here is what actually moves the decision, before the regulatory detail below.
A 20-year tax holiday
100% deduction on business income for any 20 consecutive years in a 25-year block under Section 147 of the Income-tax Act 2025 (Finance Act 2026), then a 15% concessional rate. MAT capped at 9%.
US-dollar, offshore by law
An IFSC unit is treated as a person resident outside India under FEMA - raise, hold and transact in USD / EUR / GBP, with full foreign-currency freedom and no rupee-conversion drag.
100% foreign & NRI capital
Foreign and NRI investors can hold up to 100% - without the aggregate ownership caps that constrain comparable onshore vehicles.
An on-ramp to India
Unlike a purely offshore hub, GIFT IFSC sits on Indian soil and aligns with national policy - an offshore base that is also a door into one of the world's largest growth markets.
Zero STT, CTT & stamp duty
IFSC-exchange transactions are free of Securities and Commodity Transaction Tax and stamp duty; services rendered by IFSC units are zero-rated for GST.
One regulator, India's rule of law
A single unified regulator (IFSCA) under the IFSCA Act 2019, an independent judiciary, and a treaty-anchored legal order - certainty, not just headline rates.
The opportunity is real, but every benefit carries a condition - and that is where counsel at the threshold earns its place.
The framework - at a glance
Aircraft Lease Structuring Wizard
Map your lease type, lessee, asset and funding to the IFSCA framework profile, capital floor and tax positioning.
IFSCA Framework for Aircraft Lease (consolidated 15 Nov 2023); IFSCA (Finance Company) Regulations 2021. Indicative only - not legal advice.
Related reading
- Booklet XIV - Aircraft Leasing from GIFT City (PDF, May 2026) · Full Firm handbook on the IFSCA Aircraft Lease Framework.
- Finance Company / Finance Unit · Aircraft Lease is registered as a Finance Company / Finance Unit under the FC Regs 2021.
- Ship Leasing · Parallel framework for maritime asset leasing.
- Resources page · IFSCA Aircraft Lease Framework, Cape Town Convention, CBDT notifications.