Gujarat International Finance Tec-City

Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City located on the banks of the Sabarmati River and is around 12 km (7.5 mi) from Ahmedabad International Airport and is India's first operational smart city and international financial services centre. It was promoted by the Gujarat government as a green field project.[2][3][4] [5] The city is designed for walk to work concept and includes commercial and residential complexes.

Gujarat

Gandhinagar Metropolitan Region
GIFT City
GIFT City Progress (As of early 2018)
Nickname(s): 
GIFT
Gujarat
Location in Gujarat, India
Gujarat
Gujarat (India)
Coordinates: 23.159626°N 72.684512°E / 23.159626; 72.684512
Country India
StateGujarat
DistrictGandhinagar
Government
 • BodyGujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Limited
Area
 • Total3.99 km2 (1.54 sq mi)
Area rank3.58[1]
Languages
 • OfficialGujarati, Hindi, English
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Telephone code+91
Vehicle registrationGJ18
Websitegiftgujarat.in

The city is easily accessible from all directions through 4-6 lane State and National Highways. A double corridor metro system is being constructed to connect GIFT City to the nearby airport and various parts of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

The idea for GIFT was conceived during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit 2007 and the initial planning was done by East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (ECADI), credited for planning of much of modern-day Shanghai . The City’s Master Plan is for the 359 hectares (886 acres) of land area to have approximately ~110 buildings with ~5,800,000 m2 (62,000,000 sq ft) of built-up area, of which around 67% is commercial, 22% is for residential and 11% is social facilities. Currently ~190,000 m2 (2,000,000 sq ft) of commercial space is operational, and another 280,000 m2 (3,000,000 sq ft) is under development. The city has an integrated development model which has been spread out in three phases. Each phase is designed as integrated sustainable development, for example the first phase itself includes development of office space, residential, school, hotel, club etc.

Currently approximately 225 units/companies are operational with more than 12000 professionals employed in the City.[6]

The City is easily accessible from all directions through 4-6 lane State and National Highways. A double corridor metro system is being constructed to connect GIFT City to the nearby airport and various parts of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

The idea for GIFT was conceived during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit 2007 and the initial planning was done by East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (ECADI), which is credited with planning of much of modern-day Shanghai . GIFT City’s Master Plan is for the 359 hectares (886 acres) of land area to have approximately ~110 buildings with ~5,800,000 m2 (62,000,000 sq ft) of built-up area, of which around 67% is commercial, 22% is for residential and 11% is social facilities. Currently ~190,000 m2 (2,000,000 sq ft) of commercial space is operational, and another 280,000 m2 (3,000,000 sq ft) is under development. As of now an investment of Rs 10,500 crore has already been committed for GIFT City.[7] The city has an integrated development model which has been spread out in three phases. Each phase is designed as integrated sustainable development, for example the first phase itself includes development of office space, residential, school, hotel, club etc.


Utilities
Utility Tunnel GIFT City

Electricity

The 400MW electricity supply is planned to be 99.999% reliable (about 5.3 minutes of outage per year). All the electricity cables are laid in the Utility Tunnel in dry area protected by thick concrete wall in redundant paths .

Piped gas

Natural gas is distributed to every house and building via pipes, which is cheaper and safer than cylinders. Gas supply to the City is done from the existing gas network of GSPL, the state-owned company for gas transmission pipelines. Piped natural gas is already in distribution in the nearby cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

Air conditioning

India's first city-level DCS (district cooling system) is operational at GIFT City. It reduces the operational cost by 30-40% and avoids the capital cost of implementing individual air conditioner in each building.[8]

Solid waste management

All waste in the city are collected and taken to processing plant by vacuum chutes installed at every floor of all buildings . The waste is automatically sucked through underground chutes at a high speed of 90 km/h (56 mph), and is being treated through various methods including Plasma Gasification plasma gasification.

Transportation
Gift City night view

GIFT aims at providing a transportation network that ensures accessibility, easy and fast mobility and accidental free traffic. This is being achieved by:

  1. Using a multimodal mix of transport systems (MRTS/LRTS/BRTS, etc.) for both intercity transport (to Ahmedabad, Airport, and Gandhinagar) and intra-city transport.
  2. Using a walk-to-work concept as part of urban planning with a nodal split of 10:90 between private and public transport.
  3. Use of electric personal rapid transit systems within the city.

GIFT City will also have its own metro stations and will be connected to Ahmedabad metro network by March 2024 .[9][10]

Indian Railways railway lines pass the city on the east and west sides; the closest stations are in Dabhoda and Naroda.

Landmarks
  • GIFT Diamond Tower
  • GIFT Gateway Towers - will be located in the main avenue of the city. It would have elaborate terrace gardens and a rooftop restaurant. The towers draw inspiration from Buland Darwaza. It will have a total 680,000 square metres (7,300,000 sq ft) built up space.
  • GIFT Crystal Towers - With a total 790,000 square metres (8,500,000 sq ft) built up area, four Crystal Towers will overlook the Sabarmati River.
  • GIFT Convention Centre - Inspired by the structure of Salt crystals and Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March, the convention centre would have an opera and have a seating capacity of 10,000. The centre would have total built up area of 600,000 square metres (6,500,000 sq ft).
  • World Trade Centre - GIFT City.

Current status
  • Currently 10 buildings are operational .Another 05 buildings are under construction.
  • GIFT City has already allotted development rights of around 11 Million sq feet.
  • Currently approximately 12000 people are working in BFSI & IT & ITeS sector .
  • A TIA-942 certified TIER IV Datacenter is operational in the city with rack capacity of 900 racks.
  • GIFT City has functional City Command & Control Center C-4 . This is an IoT based C-4 where are all public utilities are monitored & managed.
  • Public infrastructure in GIFT CITY is based on concept of 'Predictive Maintenance'.
  • A world class Corporate Club named 'GIFT Club' is operational and very popular in the vicinity.
  • A five star Hotel 'Grand Mercure' by one of the worlds biggest hotel chain ' Accor Hospitality' is operational in GIFT City with 95 rooms.
  • Currently there are two International Stock Exchanges named 'Indian International' & 'NSE International' are operational in the city with daily turnover of approximately 5 billion US$.
  • International Arbitration Center -Singapore has a bench operational in GIFT City . This bench provides resolution of all disputes referred for International Arbitration.
  • GIFT City is governed by GUDA ( GIFT Urban Development Authority ).
  • GUDC is designated as Area Development Authority for the GIFT Project.
  • Phase 1 of development has been completed in the year 2017. Second phase of development is under progress.
  • Currently there are 10 Telecom operators providing Telecom services in GIFT City .
  • Investment to the tune of around INR 12,000 /- Crores have been committed in the GIFT city.
  • Government of India has provisioned for Single regulator for GIFT City in the annual budget of the year 2020.
  • The major customers in the city are Oracle Inc., TCS , Bank of America , Cybage , BSE , NSE , MCX , STT ( Singapore Telemedia ), Beefree , SBI , Bank of Baorda , Syndicate Bank , LIC , GIC , Bank of India , STPI ( Software Technology Parks of India ) etc.
  • GUDC ( Gujarat Urban Development Corporation ) is developing their software development center for various IT companies of Gujarat . This center will focus of new innovations in the field of IoT , Analytics , BI and Robotics .
  • There is a International Bullion Exchange planned in GIFT City in near future .
  • Major real estate developers in the City are IL&FS , Govt. of Gujarat via GUDC , Hiranandani , Brigade , Sobha Developers , ATS Savy , Prestige group , LIC , SBI , Befree , Janadhar Group , BSE Brokers forum , Veradian Group etc.
  • The World Trade Center -GIFT City, is final phase of completion for financial and allied services. The centre will connect businesses around 343 locations worldwide. The cities of Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, and Mumbai all have their own WTCs.
  • GIFT City's first housing project of affordable housing 'Janmangala' was inaugurated in the year 2017.The project has around 300 dwellings . This project provides affordable housing for the people of LIG AND MIG segment of society working in GIFT City .
  • India's biggest real estate developer Sobha Developer is constructing premium housing in GIFT City . This will be 32 storied building with world class amenities .

As part of Phase-I development, around 780,000 square metres (8.4×10^6 sq ft) of BUA has already been allotted from the 1,200,000 square metres (13×10^6 sq ft) of BUA (built-up area) available for commercial, residential and social uses.[11]

In an interview with Financial Express on Sept 11, 2019, Mr. Tapan Ray, Managing Director and Group CEO of GIFT City, said that GIFT City has been able to attract committed investment of around Rs 11,000 crore so far.[12]

Construction timeline

Two commercial towers, each of 28 floors called the GIFT ONE and GIFT TWO have been finished. Tendering for the next bunch of towers is going on.[13] This phase will also include building up of basic infrastructure. The second phase construction has already begun and the Hiranandani Signature building has been built which hosts India International exchange. The WTC is under construction apart from a couple of buildings as part of the SEZ. The road connectivity to and in GIFT City has increased with the construction of new roads. The third phase's planned period for construction and commencement of the fully built city is 2020-2023. The fourth phase, termed "The Enpeoplement", fills the planned city with humans to experience commerce and labour.

Consultants
  • Design and Architecture - East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (ECADI) and Fairwood Consultants India
  • ICT Advisory Services - British Telecom
  • Market Demand Assessment - McKinsey & Company
  • Talent Demand Assessment - Hewitt Associates
  • Environmental Assessment - IL&FS Ecosmart Ltd
  • Process Management - IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd
  • Power Management - ABB Group[14]
Presenting key of GIFT City to the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, at the inauguration ceremony of the India International Exchange in GIFT City

News

In November 2018, The Wire reported that Gujarat State govt. of Gujarat will buy out the 50% stake of beleaguered Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) in the GIFT City, to minimize delays to the project.[15] In June, 2020, IL&FS concluded sale of its stake in GIFT-City for 32 crore equity value to the state government.[16]

On 20 January, 2020, The Economic Times reported that GIFT is set to begin trading in rupee-dollar in futures market.[17]

On 6 January, 2020, Accor opens the first international hotel in GIFT City.[18]

On 5 December, 2019, Business Standard reported that Bank of America opens Global Business Services Center at GIFT-IFSC [19]

On 15 December 2011, The Economic Times reported that city officials in GIFT are inviting companies from Singapore who wish to expand but cannot do so due to a lack of land in Singapore to open their businesses in GIFT. Among the investments being encouraged are investments from banks, private equity companies, insurance companies and asset management companies.[20]

On 26 December 2011, The Times of India reported that China's technology giant Huawei is likely to provide technology to GIFT. According to Eric Yu, president, enterprise business, Huawei India, this technology includes networking solutions and setting up of data centres and surveillance as well as other opportunities.[21]

On 2 October 2014, NetIndian reported that a new World Trade Center would be set up in GIFT City as per an agreement between World Trade Center India Services Council (WTCS) and Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Ltd (GIFT City). It would be completed within 4 years.[22]

According to the news report from The Times of India on 18 October 2014. The Bangalore-based Brigade Group will invest Rs.500 crore over the next few years to develop 100,000 square metres (1.1×10^6 sq ft) of built up area with future option of investing another Rs. 600 crore to develop 160,000 square metres (1.7×10^6 sq ft).[23]

BSE Broker's Forum would invest 120 crore to build a commercial tower to set up back office operations to lower their costs and enjoy modern facilities. They have been allocated 28,000 square metres (300,000 sq ft) to develop the commercial tower. With the likelihood of setting up an exchange office.[24]

According to Business Standard (Boost for AIF biz at Gift city as top fund administrator gets license) OPS Fund Services, a subsidiary of OPS Global, Singapore, which is a strategic partner of Basiz Fund Services, received the license to set up shop in International Financial Service Centre at Gujarat International Fin-Tec City (GIFT).[25]

References
  1. "Gujarat International Finance Tec-City - Global Financial Hub | GIFT Gujarat". Giftgujarat.in. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  2. "THE GUJARAT INTERNATIONAL FINANCE TEC-CITY (GIFT)". www.gudcltd.com. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  3. "GIFT makes steady progress; witnesses a 'hockey stick growth curve'". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  4. Subramanian, N. Sundaresha (1 February 2018). "More gifts for GIFT City may stop flight of capital to Singapore". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  5. "Developments of Ahmedabad".
  6. "Gift city may see 3-4 foreign banks set up shop soon - Times of India". Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  7. "Rs 10,500 crore investment committed for GIFT City: CEO". 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018 – via The Economic Times.
  8. "India's First District Cooling System at GIFT City: REHVA". www.rehva.eu. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  9. "India News, Latest Sports, Bollywood, World, Business & Politics News - Times of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  10. "Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro Rail: Work on phase 2 of the project to begin in June 2020; details". The Financial Express. 18 November 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  11. "News Update 2015 | VG 2015 | Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017". Vibrantgujarat.com. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  12. Business, Rishi Iyengar, CNN. "30,000 jobs in next 3 years immediate priority, says Tapan Ray, MD, Gujarat International Finance Tec-city". CNN.
  13. "India's tallest proposed building Diamond Tower showcased(Video) | DeshGujarat News from Gujarat". Deshgujarat.com. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  14. "ABB will power up the world's biggest financial district". Abb.com. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  15. "Gujarat Will Buy Crisis-Hit IL&FS Stake in 'Gift City', Says CM Vijay Rupani". The Wire.
  16. "IL&FS sells 50% stake in GIFT City to Gujarat govt, reduces consolidated debt by over Rs 1,200 crore". The Economic Times. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  17. Das, Saikat (20 January 2020). "GIFT City to begin trading in rupee-dollar in futures market". The Economic Times. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  18. "Accor opens the first international hotel in GIFT City". Travel Daily. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  19. Umarji, Vinay (6 December 2019). "Bank of America opens Global Business Services Center at GIFT-IFSC". Business Standard India. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  20. "Singapore firms get Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT) invite - The Economic Times". Articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  21. "India News, Latest Sports, Bollywood, World, Business & Politics News - Times of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  22. "GIFT City, GCCI and World Trade Centre in pact for trade development | NetIndian". Netindian.in. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  23. "Brigade Group to invest Rs 500 crore in GIFT City as co-developer - Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  24. "BSE to set up commercial tower at GIFT city in Gujarat | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". Dnaindia.com. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  25. Bhayani, Rajesh (14 January 2019). "Boost for AIF biz at Gift city as top fund administrator gets license" – via Business Standard.
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