Head 14 / 20 · IFSCA ITFS Guidelines 2024 · Live
International Trade Financing Services Platform
Cross-border, multi-currency, multi-financier trade-finance venue at GIFT-IFSC. Factoring, forfaiting, supply chain finance, reverse factoring, bill discounting under LC, pre-shipment credit - settled in convertible foreign currency on an IFSCA-regulated electronic platform. The cross-border complement to the Reserve Bank's domestic TReDS architecture. Four operators live: M1NXT, Vayana, RXIL Global, KredX.
How do ITFS platforms and factor registration work?
Trade finance in GIFT IFSC runs through International Trade Financing Services (ITFS) platforms and factoring and forfaiting businesses.
Factoring & Forfaiting (ITFS) - The Practitioner's Booklet
A treatise-grade working reference on the licensing, capital, conduct-of-business and tax framework for Factoring & Forfaiting (ITFS) at GIFT IFSC - every conclusion anchored in verbatim statutory and regulatory text.
The case for Factoring & Forfaiting (ITFS) - 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
ITFS Participant Pathway Selector
Map your role (Operator / Seller / Buyer / Financier), trade direction, instrument and sector sensitivity to the applicable IFSCA pathway, net-worth and registration requirements, tax positioning and AML/sanctions/export-control overlay.
IFSCA Guidelines on setting up and operation of International Trade Finance Service Platform 2024 (dated 23 December 2024, updated 11 April 2025). Indicative only - not legal advice.
Related reading
- Booklet XXI - International Trade Financing Services Platform (PDF, May 2026) · Full Firm handbook.
- Finance Company / Finance Unit · ITFS Operator is registered under the FC Regulations 2021; Financier (cat. b) is an IFSC FC/FU.
- Payment Service Providers · If the Operator clears and settles funds itself, separate PSP authorisation under the IFSCA Payment Services Regulations 2024 is required.
- Resources page · IFSCA ITFS Guidelines 2024; Factoring Regulation Act 2011; CBDT Notification 28/2024; UNCITRAL Model Law; ADB Trade Finance Gap Survey.