Union Budget 2023-24: Govt To Facilitate Setting Up Data Embassies In IFSC GIFT City

During the Budget announcement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government will facilitate setting up data embassies in the IFSC GIFT City.

“For countries looking for digital continuity solutions, we will facilitate setting up their data embassies in the IFSC GIFT,” Sitharaman said.

The minister announced the move while talking about the measures to be taken to enhance business activities in GIFT IFSC.

Sitharaman said that a single window IT system for registration and approval from IFSCA, SEZ authorities, GSTN, RBI, SEBI and IRDAI, will be set up.

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) was set up in 2019 and assumed the power of four domestic sector regulators, RBI, SEBI, IRDAI & Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDAI), from October 1, 2020.

International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) is an initiative by the Government of India to encourage foreign capital to participate in India’s growth journey. Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), the first IFSC was set up in Gujarat in 2015.

India’s maiden IFSC in GIFT City at Gandhinagar has been a path breaking financial reform, underpinning the country’s increasingly liberal outlook towards capital account convertibility, Economic Survey 2022-23 said.

“It is envisioned as the embodiment of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, a hub of ingenuity and innovation. The vision is to transform GIFT City into a bustling financial hub, a vibrant city bearing a distinctively international character and pioneering solutions to complex problem statements involving finance,” the economic survey added.