GIFT City, India's ambitious Global Finance-Tec hub, has achieved a significant milestone by climbing nine places to secure the 37th position globally in the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 40). This marks a notable improvement from its previous rank of 46th in GFCI 39.
The updated ranking also establishes GIFT City as a prominent player within the Asia-Pacific region, where it now stands among the top 15 financial centers. Notably, it is the only Indian center to be included in this elite group, highlighting its growing international stature.
Advancements in FinTech and Future Focus
Beyond its overall standing, GIFT City has also shown strong progress in the GFCI FinTech ranking, moving up three places to 26th globally from 29th in the previous index. The GFCI report, which evaluates 115 financial centers on their FinTech offerings, identifies key components of a competitive FinTech hub, including an innovation-supporting ecosystem, access to finance, skilled talent, a conducive regulatory environment, and robust ICT infrastructure.
Respondents to the GFCI survey also recognized GIFT City as one of 15 centers expected to gain more significance over the next two to three years. This optimism stems from the continued expansion of its financial services ecosystem and the deeper integration of finance, technology, and innovation within the hub.
Strategic Priorities for Continued Growth
GIFT City has outlined its ongoing strategic priorities, which include a strong focus on deepening market participation, strengthening international connectivity, and building advanced capabilities to support increasingly sophisticated cross-border financial activities. These efforts are crucial for sustaining its upward trajectory in the global financial landscape.
The GFCI 40 report itself emphasizes several priority areas for financial centers over the next five years. These include enhancing digital infrastructure, such as cloud services, data connectivity, and cybersecurity resilience. The report also highlights the importance of attracting FinTech and digital asset businesses, implementing stronger anti-money laundering and financial crime frameworks, and fostering deeper capital markets.
The Global Financial Centres Index is a comprehensive assessment that combines qualitative evaluations from financial-sector respondents with a wide array of quantitative instrumental factors. GFCI 40, for instance, drew upon 144 instrumental factors and incorporated 39,531 assessments from 6,147 respondents to its online questionnaire, ensuring a robust and well-rounded analysis of global financial centers.