Bank of Maharashtra gets RBI go-ahead to set up branch in GIFT City

New Delhi: Government-owned Bank of Maharashtra announced on Sunday that it has received the RBI’s approval to set up an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Banking Unit at GIFT City in Gujarat. The branch will be the Bank of Maharashtra’s first unit for offshore banking operations from India.

Bank of Maharashtra Managing Director & CEO Nidhu Saxena said, “This is a significant opportunity for our bank as we continue to expand our operations across geographies. The opening of IBU in GIFT City will be yet another milestone in the bank’s growth story.”

The new branch will help expand the international banking business and also enable the bank to provide specialised banking services to its customers, he added.

Aligned with the government’s vision of making India an international financial hub, the GIFT City, located in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, is the first IFSC in India, aimed at revolutionising the country’s financial ecosystem by providing world-class banking services locally and reducing reliance on offshore financial hubs, Bank of Maharashtra said in a statement.

The centre has also become a hub for fintech innovation and global investments, generating jobs and attracting institutions across banking, education and technology centres, the statement added.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several incentives in the Union Budget including a slew of incentives aimed at promoting investment, employment and off-shore funding at GIFT’s International Financial Services Centre.

To increase off-shore funds relocation to IFSC, the government has proposed to extend the existing relocation regime to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which track popular market indices such as the Sensex and Nifty, and retail schemes which are willing to relocate from off-shore locations such as Mauritius and Singapore to GIFT City.

The relocation of an original fund to a resultant fund will also be considered a tax-neutral transaction. Non-residents availing life insurance from IFSC-based insurance offices will also benefit from amendments to the existing Clause 10D of Section 10, set to take effect on 1 April 2025.

Non-resident investors will benefit from a provision extending the scope of tax benefits. Along with the existing tax exemption on any income earned by the NRIs via derivative trades or participatory notes, benefits will extend to those investing through GIFT city-based foreign portfolio investors.

Earlier in August, the Finance Ministry eased requirements for Indian companies seeking to list on international exchanges within International Financial Service Centres (IFSCs) at par with global standards. The amendments will facilitate easier access to global capital for Indian start-ups and companies in the sunrise and the technology sectors.

‘Direct Listing of Equity Shares of Companies Incorporated in India on International Exchanges Scheme’ under the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments), 2019 and Companies (Listing of Equity Shares in Permissible Jurisdictions) Rules, 2024 together, provide an overarching regulatory framework to enable public Indian companies to issue and list their shares in permitted international stock exchanges at GIFT-IFSC.

These initiatives are aligned with the Government’s goal to provide an agile and world-class regulatory and business environment in the IFSCs, thereby strengthening India’s position in the global financial system.

–IANS