India's global finance-tech hub GIFT City has achieved a significant milestone by advancing nine places to rank 37th globally in the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 40), up from 46th in GFCI 39. According to NDTV Profit, this stellar performance demonstrates the international financial hub's growing prominence in global markets. Financial capital Mumbai also showed positive momentum, advancing three spots to rank 49th in the same index. The latest data confirms GIFT City's continued ascent in global financial rankings, highlighting how quickly India's finance scene is growing.
GIFT City's performance extends beyond overall rankings to achieve the 26th position globally in FinTech, representing a three-place improvement from 29th in the previous edition. As reported by NDTV Profit, the GFCI report assesses 115 financial centres on their FinTech offering and identifies an innovation-supporting ecosystem, access to finance, skilled talent, the regulatory environment and ICT infrastructure as important elements of a competitive FinTech centre. The GFCI 40 also features GIFT City among the 15 centres expected to become more significant over the next two to three years, based on mentions by respondents to the GFCI survey. GIFT City is now the only Indian financial centre among the top 15 in the Asia-Pacific region, cementing its standing as a leading financial hub in the region.
The report was published by London-based think tank Z/Yen Partners and the China Development Institute, evaluating 139 hubs worldwide using 144 quantitative measures alongside 39,531 professional assessments. As reported by NDTV Profit, the improvement in the overall and FinTech rankings reflects the continued expansion of GIFT City's financial services ecosystem and the closer integration of finance, technology and innovation. The GFCI 40 also identified digital infrastructure, including cloud services, data connectivity and cybersecurity resilience; the attraction of FinTech and digital asset businesses; stronger anti-money laundering and financial crime frameworks; and deeper capital markets as priority areas for financial centres over the next five years.
GIFT City has outlined plans to focus on deepening market participation, strengthening international connectivity and building capabilities to support increasingly sophisticated cross-border financial activity. According to NDTV Profit, the hub will also emphasize attracting FinTech and digital asset businesses, strengthening anti-money laundering and financial crime frameworks, and deepening capital markets. GIFT City is India's maiden International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and is positioned as a financial and IT services hub for global and domestic companies across banking, financial services, insurance, IT/ITeS, FinTech and other service sectors. The strong government support, steady regulations from IFSCA, and modern infrastructure are fueling GIFT City's momentum in the global financial landscape.
Sanjay Kaul, Managing Director and Group CEO of GIFT City company Ltd., attributed the ranking improvement to strong policy support from the Government of India and the Government of Gujarat, a unified and responsive regulatory framework under IFSCA, world-class infrastructure, and the rapidly increasing depth of our financial-services ecosystem. As reported by NDTV Profit, he emphasized that global institutions are viewing GIFT IFSC not merely as an attractive location but as a credible and competitive platform for banking, fund management, insurance, fintech, capital markets and aircraft and ship leasing. The hub's progress from 46th to 37th globally, inclusion among Asia-Pacific's top 15 financial centres, and rise to 26th in fintech demonstrates the movement from promise to scale, with plans to strengthen talent, connectivity, social infrastructure and ease of doing business.
