GIFT City Ecosystem Is Very Supportive: Edelweiss MD Radhika Gupta To NDTV

It's early days for GIFT City - India's first operational smart city and international financial services centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project in Gujarat - but the regulator is very supportive and keen to make it successful, Edelweiss Mutual Fund MD and CEO Radhika Gupta has said. 

Speaking to NDTV's CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal on Walk The Talk, Gupta said Edelweiss has launched two products out of GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) for money coming into India as well as for Indians working abroad. 

GIFT City is located on the banks of the Sabarmati River, between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, roughly 12 km from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. 

"So I think it's a work in progress. I think it's like making an investment in the mutual fund business 20 years ago. And, hopefully, 20 years later, we can say GIFT is what mutual funds are today. So it's early days. But I think the ecosystem is very supportive. If you look at IFSCA (regulator International Financial Services Centres Authority), you say something and they want to do it.

"They're ready to engage, whether it is on technology or product. So it feels like everyone wants to come together and make this happen," Gupta said. 

Asked about Edelweiss being among the first AMCs (Asset Management Companies) to actually launch a multi-manager fund out of GIFT City, the MD said, "We are actually doing two products. We have taken both bets. We want this to be a destination for NRIs coming into India via multi-manager and that has got very good uptake because NRIs find doing this via GIFT a lot more convenient. So we have actually got large NRI checks and we have just started international marketing."

"We are also enabling something else, which is a big need - Indians investing abroad," she added, explaining that people can now invest in Greater China digitally, in a few clicks. 

Gupta said Edelweiss will also target the US, including US tech, as well as Asian markets.

"I think when GIFT was conceived, the use cases were not known. We have also started with use cases that are closer to home, which is Indians. But, globally, as I talk to foreign investors and FIIs, I think the acceptance of GIFT will grow. Some of the funds listed here are actually channelling even their foreign investor money via GIFT. And I think that's going to grow as the destination acquires more stability," she said. 

To a question on how GIFT City compares to places like Dubai, London, Singapore, and Hong Kong, Gupta pointed out that the project is still young and has potential because the ecosystem is buzzing and the social infrastructure is great.