Gujarat’s GIFT City Named Among Top Three Emerging Financial Centers in the World

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Ahmedabad has toppled Mumbai and New Delhi to emerge as India’s new financial powerhouse, according to a recent report. GIFT City will become a more significant hub over the next two-three years, the report, released by London-based Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI), said.

GIFT City, which made its debut in the index this year, was ranked 77 globally with a rating of 578. Mumbai, which was for years held as India’s de facto financial capital, moved 19 notches down to rank at 92 with a global rating of 558. Last year, Mumbai was ranked 73. New Delhi, on the other hand, was placed ahead of Mumbai, at No. 82 with a rating of 572, according to the report. The national capital slipped down four ranks from last year.

In response to a questionnaire sent by GFCI, asking respondents about the global financial centers that they think will become important over the next 2-3 years, GIFT City came in third. The Indian center received 101 mentions in the last 24 months, ranking behind the 198 and 109 mentions for the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Qingdao, respectively.

Globally, London lost its status as the world’s top financial center as New York overtook the British city for the first time since 2015. New York is ahead with only two points. According to the report, Asia is replacing Europe and America as the top choice for financial matters. In Asia, Hong Kong retained its position at the third spot, trailing behind London by three points. Singapore took the fourth place, followed by Shanghai, which gained 25 points to push Tokyo to the sixth position in the ratings. Sydney was at No. 7, ahead of Beijing, Zurich, and Frankfurt, which moved into the top 10, replacing Toronto, Boston, and San Francisco, respectively.

GIFT City, conceived during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit in 2007, today has around 200 companies employing approximately 7,500 people.

According to GFCI, which rates 100 top financial centers, GIFT City is a top international contender along with top-ranked Busan in South Korea, and Chengdu and Dalian in China.

A majority of the leading centers in the Asia/Pacific region rose in the ratings, the report said. GIFT City and Hangzhou were new entrants to the index.

GFCI researched 110 centers for the 24th edition of the Global Financial Centers Index. The number of financial centers in the main index has increased from 96 to 100, with the addition of Cape Town, GIFT City, Hangzhou, and Sofia from the associate center’s list. The rating list was compiled using data provided by third parties, including the World Bank, The Economist Intelligence Unit, the OECD, and the United Nations. Later the data was combined with 31,326 financial center assessments provided by respondents to the GFCI online questionnaire.