Curated regulatory developments, framework launches, statutory amendments and market milestones across the 20 IFSC business heads. Every entry is verified against its primary source at the time of publication and refreshed continuously.
Last updated 16 October 2026
Before it was a skyline, GIFT City was an idea in a statute book. This is the constitutional history of India’s international financial centre - from a greenfield special economic zone to a single unified regulator and, today, a twenty-year fiscal promise.
Gujarat announces an international finance city at Gandhinagar - a greenfield ambition to bring offshore financial activity onto Indian soil.
GIFT rises as a Special Economic Zone under the SEZ Act, 2005 - the legal vehicle on which an International Financial Services Centre could later be built.
GIFT City hosts the country’s first International Financial Services Centre - a slice of regulatory ‘offshore’ inside India’s own borders.
India INX, the nation’s first international exchange, is inaugurated on 9 January 2017; NSE IFSC follows. The centre is still regulated in slices - by RBI, SEBI and IRDAI.
Parliament enacts the statute creating a single, unified authority for the IFSC - ending the era of three regulators sharing one centre.
The Authority is established on 27 April 2020 and, from 1 October, assumes the powers of RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA over the IFSC. One rulebook replaces four.
Banking Regulations 2020; Insurance, Finance Company, Ancillary and Market-Infrastructure frameworks in 2021 - the IFSC acquires its foundational law, head by head.
Frameworks for aircraft and ship leasing, fintech, foreign universities and fund management arrive; the India International Bullion Exchange launches on 29 July 2022.
The GIFT Nifty contract relocates from Singapore on 3 July 2023, anchoring India-linked derivatives liquidity onshore.
Listing & Direct-Listing, BATF, ITFS and Payment-Services regulations; the SWIT single-window system folds multi-regulator approvals into one interface.
Fund Management, Global In-House Centre, Bullion Market and Capital-Market-Intermediaries Regulations 2025; India opens insurance to 100% foreign capital.
The Income-tax Act 2025 (Section 147) and the Finance Act 2026 extend the IFSC tax holiday to twenty years; GIFT’s banking assets cross USD 100 billion.
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Circular IFSCA/CMD-DMIIT/ALGO/2026-27/01 sets the rules for algorithmic trading by brokers and their clients on the IFSC stock exchanges. It applies from the date of issue; exchanges have three months to put it into effect.
Exchanges to implement: 16 January 2027
Read the report →A press release announces a technical working group to examine credit information companies in the IFSC. It is an announcement, not a rule.
Read the report →IFSCA has issued Good Delivery Guidelines for the bullion ecosystem, setting responsible-sourcing standards for gold delivered through IIBX.
Read the report →IFSCA has extended the deadline for key managerial personnel and employees of fund management entities (circular of 29 September 2026) and of capital market intermediaries (circular of 30 September 2026) to complete the specified certification course.
Certification deadline: 31 December 2026
Read the report →A framework issued on 25 September 2026 lets fund management entities make differential distributions among investors in venture capital and restricted schemes, within the conditions it sets.
Read the report →The IFSCA (Fund Management) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2026 took effect on 10 September 2026; among other changes, a scheme's annual report is now due within six months of the year end. Work from IFSCA's consolidated text.
Read the report →IFSCA has consulted on allowing exchange traded funds to be listed in the IFSC by way of secondary listing. It is a proposal, not yet a rule.
Read the report →A circular of 26 August 2026 requires every fund management entity to maintain a website or webpage with the disclosures it specifies, from 1 December 2026.
In force: 1 December 2026
Read the report →IFSCA has consulted on letting IFSC lessors offer operating leases of GPUs and other data-centre equipment. It is a proposal; no framework has been issued.
Read the report →Notification 80/2026 (S.O. 3743(E), 10 July 2026) exempts specified payments to eligible IFSC units from tax deduction at source, subject to the conditions in the notification, including a declaration in Form No. 1(N).
Read the report →Notification 75/2026 (S.O. 3610(E), 3 July 2026) removes tax deduction at source on lease rent for ships paid to IFSC units that meet its conditions.
Read the report →IFSCA's workflow sets out the sequence for setting up in the IFSC through SWIT, from premises to certificate of registration, as one joint application with IFSCA acting as SEZ Administrator.
Read the report →The IFSCA (Managing General Agents) Regulations, 2026 took effect on 12 June 2026, and the provisions on managing general agents were removed from the insurance office regulations.
Read the report →A circular of 5 June 2026 prescribes the format and norms for the annual compliance audit report of capital market intermediaries in the IFSC.
Read the report →IFSCA has advised regulated entities on heightened cyber security risks from frontier artificial intelligence models.
Read the report →Most of the 2026 amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code took effect on 26 May 2026. Group insolvency, cross-border insolvency and the creditor-initiated process are not yet in force.
Read the report →IFSCA notified amendments to the TechFin and Ancillary Services Regulations on 5 May 2026 (IFSCA/GN/2026/008).
Read the report →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.
IFSCA has issued cyber security and cyber resilience guidelines specific to IFSC exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories.
Read the report →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 →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 by 31 December 2026 (extended from 30 September 2026 by circular of 29 September 2026).
Read the update →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 tax at 15% under section 218. The 9% minimum alternate tax rate applies only to units whose income is solely in convertible foreign exchange.
Read Section 147 →A circular of 10 April 2026 sets the requirements for payment service providers entering rupee drawing arrangements, including IFSCA's prior permission and an overview of their AML controls.
Read the report →A circular of 8 April 2026 sets quarterly and other reporting norms for capital market intermediaries in the IFSC.
Read the report →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 →DPIIT's Press Note 2 of 2026 revises the FDI policy on investment from countries sharing a land border with India. It takes effect from the corresponding FEMA notification.
Read the report →IFSCA has amended its guidelines on cyber security and cyber resilience for regulated entities in the IFSC.
Read the report →Circular IFSCA-DTFA/1/2026 sets the fees for applications, registration and recurring charges from financial year 2026-27, superseding four earlier fee circulars.
Read the report →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 →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 →The Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing and Lending) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2026 name IFSC financial institutions as recognised lenders and replace the all-in-cost ceiling with prevailing market conditions.
Read the report →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 →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 →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 →By the IFSCA (BATF) (Amendment) Regulations dated 8 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 →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.
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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →The Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code were brought into force on 21 November 2025. Central and State rules are being finalised.
Read the report →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 →Eighteen months after notification, the remaining provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 apply, including notice, consent, rights-handling and breach procedures.
Remaining provisions in force: 13 May 2027
Read the report →The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 were notified on 13 November 2025. The provisions on consent managers apply from 13 November 2026 and most remaining duties of data fiduciaries from 13 May 2027.
Consent manager provisions in force: 13 November 2026
Read the report →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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.
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 →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 →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 →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 →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.
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.
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 →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 →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 →Dates on which issued instruments take effect, and deadlines that fall under them.
Bhatt & Joshi Associates publishes a quarterly digest of GIFT IFSC and cross-border regulatory developments to advisers, in-house counsel, and management committees. Drop us a line at [email protected] to be added.