2 May 2026Insurance / Foreign Exchange
FEMA NDI (Second Amendment) Rules 2026 operationalise 100 per cent FDI in insurance through the automatic route
The Ministry of Finance notified S.O. 2186(E) on 2 May 2026, permitting 100 per cent FDI in Indian insurance companies and intermediaries on the automatic route, while retaining the 20 per cent cap for LIC. The rules impose governance conditions including a Resident Indian Citizen among the Chairperson, MD or CEO; investments remain subject to IRDAI verification.
Read the report →
10 Apr 2026Fund Management / Governance
IFSCA segregates the role of fiduciaries in IFSC schemes
A circular dated 10 April 2026 — ‘Governance and oversight of Schemes in IFSC: Segregation of the role of Fiduciaries’ — clarifies the obligations of trustees, boards and designated partners overseeing funds at GIFT IFSC.
Read the update →Apr 2026Fund Management / Conduct
Mandatory certification for fund-management personnel
IFSCA has mandated a certification course on the regulatory framework for fund management in IFSC (AIFs and retail schemes) for KMPs and employees discharging core fund-management activities, to be obtained on or before 30 September 2026.
Read the update →Apr 2026Tax / Statute
Section 147 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 replaces Section 80LA
From 1 April 2026, the IFSC deduction moves to Section 147 of the new Income-tax Act, 2025 — a 100% deduction for twenty consecutive years in a twenty-five-year block, then a 15% rate, with MAT held at 9%.
Read Section 147 →16 Mar 2026FinTech / Sandbox
IFSCA issues a consolidated FinTech Sandbox Framework
Effective 16 March 2026, the new framework centralises innovation activity in one place, superseding the 2020 Regulatory Sandbox circular and the 2022 Framework for FinTech Entity.
Read the analysis →16 Feb 2026Capital Markets / Registration
IFSCA completes the Master Key unified-registration transition
From 16 February 2026, IFSCA fully transitioned to its Master Key strategy, allowing an entity to house several capital-market activities under a single unified registration rather than stacking separate applications.
Read the update →Feb 2026Banking (IBUs) / Market
IBU assets reach USD 106.7 billion across 37 banks
GIFT’s International Banking Unit assets have grown from roughly USD 14 billion in 2020 to USD 106.7 billion, supported by 37 operational domestic and foreign banks consolidating their international books into the IFSC.
Read the report →1 Feb 2026Tax / Budget
Budget 2026 confirms the twenty-year IFSC tax horizon
The Union Budget presented on 1 February 2026 reinforced long-term certainty for IFSC units, formalising the extended tax holiday and 15% concessional rate that the Finance Act 2026 carried into Section 147.
Read the note →Feb 2026Regulatory / Ecosystem
GIFT City crosses 1,150 registered entities
As at February 2026, GIFT IFSC hosted more than 1,150 IFSCA-registered entities — a measure of how quickly the ecosystem has deepened across banking, funds, insurance and allied services.
Read the report →28 Jan 2026Fund Management / FME
IFSCA (Fund Management) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 take effect
Effective 28 January 2026, the amendment rationalises requirements for Fund Management Entities — easing practical difficulties and permitting multiple six-month PPM extensions for venture-capital and restricted schemes — while safeguarding investor interests.
Read the analysis →5 Jan 2026Regulatory / BATF
IFSCA removes the office-space requirement for BATF providers
By notification dated 5 January 2026, IFSCA dropped the minimum office-space requirement for Book-keeping, Accounting, Taxation and Financial-crime-compliance service providers, lowering the entry barrier for professional firms.
Read the update →2026Aircraft Leasing / Ecosystem
IFSCA consults on a TCSP and SPV framework for aircraft leasing
To deepen the aviation ecosystem, IFSCA has proposed formally recognising specialised service providers that assist with incorporation, administration, governance, compliance and transaction structuring through SPVs — the supporting layer seen in mature leasing jurisdictions.
Read the analysis →Jan 2026Education / Foreign Universities
Coventry and Queen’s Belfast join GIFT’s campus roster
Two UK universities — Coventry University (the first English university in India’s GIFT City) and Queen’s University Belfast — are set to begin academic operations at GIFT IFSC from January 2026, joining Deakin and Wollongong.
Read the announcement →24 Dec 2025Global In-House Centres
IFSCA notifies revised Global In-House Centres (GIC) Regulations 2025
The IFSCA (Global In-House Centres) Regulations 2025 (F. No. IFSCA/GN/2025/012; in force 29 December 2025) repeal the 2020 GIC Regulations and redefine eligible Financial Institution Groups, permissible operating models and registration procedures via SWIT. Existing GIC Units must align with the new framework within 90 days — a regulatory push to onshore India-centric financial services currently performed offshore.
Read the press release →
23 Dec 2025Regulatory / Ease of Doing Business
IFSCA eases norms for fund managers, GICs and market intermediaries
At its December 2025 board meeting, IFSCA relaxed several requirements across fund management, Global In-House Centres and market-infrastructure institutions, and approved the new GIC rules — part of a sustained ease-of-doing-business push.
Read the report →20 Dec 2025Insurance & Reinsurance
Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Act 2025 receives Presidential assent
Parliament passed the Bill on 17 December 2025 and the President assented on 20 December 2025, amending the Insurance Act 1938, the LIC Act 1956 and the IRDA Act 1999 to raise the FDI cap in Indian insurance companies and intermediaries from 74 per cent to 100 per cent. The substantive provisions came into force 5 February 2026 by Central Government commencement notification.
Download the Act →
5 Dec 2025Banking (IBUs)
GIFT IFSC banking assets cross USD 100 billion — HSBC-EY compendium released
A joint HSBC-EY India compendium confirmed that consolidated International Banking Unit (IBU) assets at GIFT IFSC had crossed USD 100 billion as of September 2025, with trade finance, treasury and structured products driving incremental growth; assets reportedly reached USD 106.7 billion by February 2026. The compendium also notes GIFT City has crossed 1,000 registered entities and that fund management — with 310 AIFs and USD 26 billion in commitments — is the fastest-growing vertical.
Read the EY release →
Dec 2025Fund Management / Market
202 FMEs and 327 AIFs targeting USD 77 billion
As at December 2025, 202 Fund Management Entities had registered under the 2025 regulations and launched 327 Alternative Investment Funds with a total targeted corpus of about USD 77 billion — the centre’s fastest-growing vertical.
Read the report →Dec 2025Aircraft Leasing / Market
38 lessors managing 370 aviation assets worth USD 5.8 billion
As at December 2025, 38 registered lessors at GIFT managed 370 leased aviation assets — 196 aircraft and helicopters, 89 engines and 85 auxiliary power units — valued at about USD 5.8 billion.
Read the report →Dec 2025Capital Markets / Market
Monthly IFSC derivatives turnover crosses USD 100 billion
Turnover on the IFSC exchanges has passed USD 100 billion a month, with the NSE IX–SGX Connect facilitating average daily derivatives turnover of about USD 4.8 billion following GIFT Nifty’s relocation.
Read the report →27 Nov 2025Insurance & Reinsurance
IIOs may invoice reinsurance in the contract currency, including rupees
An IFSCA circular dated 27 November 2025 permits IFSC Insurance Offices transacting reinsurance to raise invoices on Indian and foreign cedants in the underlying contract currency, including INR, while realisation into the IIO’s IBU account remains in specified foreign currencies.
Read the update →17 Nov 2025Regulatory / AML-CFT
Mandatory AML/CFT certification for designated officers
An IFSCA circular dated 17 November 2025 requires all Designated Directors and Principal Officers to complete the NISM-IFSCA-01 certification on anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing within four months — by 18 March 2026.
Read the update →28 Oct 2025Payment Services
Infibeam Avenues secures the first IFSC payment-service-provider nod
IFSCA granted in-principle approval to IA Fintech IFSC, an Infibeam Avenues subsidiary, to operate as a Payment Service Provider at GIFT — enabling escrow settlement, cross-border remittances and merchant payment processing.
Read the report →10 Oct 2025Bullion / Imports
IFSCA widens Qualified-Jeweller access and eases bullion imports
A circular dated 10 October 2025 broadened Qualified-Jeweller eligibility (Chapter-71 dealers with a ₹15-crore net worth and a turnover test) and aligned IIBX gold and silver imports with RBI advance-remittance rules.
Read the update →13 Aug 2025Banking (IBUs) / FEMA
IBUs may open foreign-currency accounts for residents; RBI treats IFSC accounts as ‘outside India’
An IFSCA circular dated 13 August 2025 lets IFSC Banking Units open foreign-currency accounts for persons resident in India without prior approval; the RBI codified this in October 2025 through the FEMA (Foreign Currency Accounts) (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2025.
Read the analysis →5 Aug 2025Banking (IBUs) / Trade Finance
RBI liberalises Special Rupee Vostro Account (SRVA) regime — prior approval requirement removed
By press release dated 5 August 2025, RBI dispensed with the case-by-case prior approval previously required for AD Category-I banks to open SRVAs for overseas correspondent banks, and allowed SRVA holders to invest surplus rupee balances in Central Government Securities (including Treasury Bills) under both FAR and the General Route. Operationalised through FEDAI circulars on 12-13 August 2025; expected to accelerate INR-denominated international trade settlement and feed IFSC banking business.
Read the RBI press release →
30 Jul 2025Alternate Risk Transfer
IFSCA Working Group recommends Special Purpose Insurer (SPI) sidecar framework
The IFSCA Working Group on Alternate Risk Transfer recommended that the Authority recognise a new class of insurance business — Special Purpose Insurers — that can assume insurance risk from other insurers or reinsurers and issue Insurance-Linked Securities (including catastrophe bonds) to investors at GIFT IFSC. Given India's exposure to cyclones, floods and earthquakes, the report positions India as a natural domicile for cat-bond issuance.
Read the ART report →
29 Jul 2025Capital Markets / Sustainable Finance
IFSCA issues Framework for Transition Bonds under the (Listing) Regulations 2024
Building on the ESG-debt regime in the IFSCA (Listing) Regulations 2024, the Authority introduced a dedicated framework allowing issuers in hard-to-abate sectors — steel, cement, energy — to raise capital at GIFT IFSC against credible, externally-reviewed transition plans. By mid-2025, IFSC exchanges had listed over USD 15 billion of ESG-labelled debt, roughly a quarter of total IFSC debt listings.
Read the transition-bonds circular →
1 May 2025Aircraft Leasing / Cape Town
The Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Act, 2025 comes into force
Receiving Presidential assent on 16 April 2025 and effective 1 May 2025, the Act gives domestic primacy to the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol — strengthening lessors’ repossession and enforcement rights for IFSC aviation finance.
Read the PIB release →May 2025Education / Foreign Universities
Deakin’s GIFT campus reports its first placements
Deakin University’s GIFT City campus concluded its first placement cycle in May 2025, with a quarter of its inaugural Master of Business Analytics cohort securing offers from the NAB Innovation Centre India.
Read the report →11 Apr 2025Trade Finance / ITFS
IFSCA notifies revised ITFS Guidelines, 2025
Notified on 11 April 2025 and superseding the 2021 guidelines, the revised International Trade Financing Services framework widens eligible financiers to include factors under the Factoring Regulation Act, 2011 and IFSC finance companies.
Read the guidelines →7 Apr 2025Ship Leasing / Maritime
IFSCA revises the Framework for Ship Leasing
By circular dated 7 April 2025, IFSCA clarified the Ship Leasing Framework — including the Clause O.1 restriction on serving Indian residents — as the regime matured to cover operating, financial and hybrid leases, voyage charters, shipping pools and sale-and-leaseback.
Read the guide →4 Apr 2025Banking / Treasury (GRCTC)
IFSCA revises the Global/Regional Corporate Treasury Centre framework
An updated framework for Finance Companies and Units undertaking Global or Regional Corporate Treasury Centre activity was issued on 4 April 2025, enhancing ease of doing business and aligning with international best practice after public consultation.
Read the framework →26 Feb 2025Aircraft Leasing & Aviation Finance
IFSCA amends Aircraft Lease Framework — sale-and-leaseback for first-time imports permitted
The IFSCA amendatory circular modified Clause O.2 of the Aircraft Lease Framework so that IFSC lessors cannot lease solely to Indian residents, but carved out sale-and-leaseback for aircraft being imported into India for the first time and acquisitions from Indian residents that are not group entities of the lessor. As of early 2025, 33 registered lessors at IFSC have leased 242 aviation assets, including 90 aircraft and 67 engines.
Read the amendatory circular →
19 Feb 2025Fund Management / FME
IFSCA notifies consolidated Fund Management Regulations, 2025
IFSCA replaced its 2022 framework with the IFSCA (Fund Management) Regulations 2025, reducing the minimum corpus for venture capital and restricted schemes from USD 5 million to USD 3 million and extending PPM validity from six to twelve months. The Regulations also relaxed KMP eligibility (postgraduate-diploma threshold cut from two years to one) and were amended on 30 July 2025 to add Part D on Third-Party Fund Management Services.
Read the IFSCA press release →
1 Feb 2025Tax / Budget
Budget 2025 extends IFSC sunset dates to 31 March 2030
The 2025 Budget extended the sunset for several IFSC reliefs — including fund relocation neutrality under Section 47(viiad) and leasing and insurance benefits — to 31 March 2030, lengthening the planning runway for the centre.
Read the analysis →2025Banking / FEMA (LRS)
RBI liberalises LRS access to GIFT IFSC
A revised RBI Liberalised Remittance Scheme circular for the IFSC widened the purposes for which resident individuals may remit funds to GIFT City, easing retail participation in the centre.
Read the analysis →7 Oct 2024Credit Ratings
CareEdge Global issues India’s first home-grown sovereign ratings
CareEdge Global, an IFSC entity, became the first Indian agency to enter global-scale ratings — publishing sovereign ratings for 39 economies and assigning India BBB+ — a milestone for the IFSC credit-rating head.
Read the release →16 Sep 2024Regulatory Architecture
Prime Minister inaugurates IFSCA Single Window IT System (SWIT) at GIFT City
SWIT consolidates registrations and NOCs from IFSCA, SEZ Authorities, RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and GSTN into a single digital interface for entities setting up in GIFT IFSC. A common application form, API integration with SEZ Online and an integrated payment gateway compress the previously fragmented multi-regulator approval cycle.
Read the SWIT circular →
2024Payment Services
Payment Services Regulations, 2024 establish a single authorisation
The IFSCA (Payment Services) Regulations, 2024 created one certificate of authorisation across five payment services, benchmarked to Singapore’s PSA, the UK PSRs and EU PSD2 — the legal base for the centre’s payments vertical.
Read the framework →
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