Browsing: GIFT City

So, you've started a startup in India. You've got a great product and service. And the startup is growing and you're getting investors. Do you continue to set up shop in India itself? Or do you set up a base in a foreign country? Usually, that was what would happen. Indian companies would go to countries, like Singapore or the US.

But, there's been an interesting trend afoot: Indian companies, that were domiciled in foreign countries, may be opting to return to their home countries. There's even a term for it: reverse-flipping. What companies are returning to their roots?

Take Groww, for example. According to Groww CEO Lalit Keshre, as of March 2024, the company completed its domicile transition from the US back to India. Or Pine Labs, which was said to have received approval from Singapore in May 2024 to shift its operations to India. Or think of PhonePe, which moved its domicile from Singapore to India in October 2022. Plus, Razorpay's parent entity, which was registered in the US, is said to be looking to bring its Indian units under a single local holding company and shift its headquarters back to India.

But, why could this be happening?

In September 2023, it was announced that Saudi Arabia may be considering setting up an office of its Sovereign Wealth Fund in GIFT City. So, GIFT City, located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, seems to be positioned as a hub for India's financial services sector, boasting high-quality physical infrastructure and providing numerous incentives to attract finance and tech firms, including tax benefits, stamp duty exemptions and more.

What's going on? It seems like the goal is to transform India into a global financial and tech leader. And since being established in 2015, it's said to be designed to host international and domestic financial services, IT companies and other businesses. It's said to have attracted investment from tech firms, banks, insurance companies and more.