IFSC will be headquartered in Gujarat

The long-cherished dream of becoming the International Financial Services Center (IFSC) in metropolitan Mumbai is now buried. Until now, there were arguments on this matter but now it has become official. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said the central government’s decision to set up the newly formed International Financial Services Center (IFSC) Authority in Gandhinagar was disappointing and against the established status of Mumbai as the country’s economic capital. Expressing frustration and disappointment over the issue, Sharad Pawar said that the status of the Prime Minister was so vast that he should take a decision above his own. His decision should be comprehensive, inclusive and national. We therefore urge Prime Minister Modi to reconsider his decision. Mumbai has a special identity in the country. When IFSC. The decision to set up the authority in Gujarat is shocking. I hope the political parties will unite to oppose this decision. This authority will regulate international financial services in the country. Its head office will be at Gujarat International Finance Tech City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. This decision is not correct. “I will take up the matter with Prime Minister Modi and request him to shift the authority to Mumbai,” Pawar said. “Given the challenge posed by the lockdown across the country, we should now focus on the project in agriculture, industry and infrastructure,” Pawar said. Investment in these areas should be increased. Together with financial institutions, the Reserve Bank should offer various incentives, including lending and interest rates.





The Reserve Bank should take bold decisions. This is not the time to play politics. The Prime Minister should convene an all-party meeting for a comprehensive discussion. The industrial belt of Mumbai, Pune and Nashik will have to be reactivated to keep Maharashtra’s economy afloat. For the safety of the people, the government will have to take a pragmatic approach to relaxing the lockdown, Pawar added. It may be mentioned that the Central Government had announced in its gazette notification dated April 9 that the capital of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, would be the headquarters of the IFSC Authority. It is pertinent to note here that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream project Gujarat International Finance Tech City (GIFT) is taking shape in Gandhinagar itself. In the last few years, it has become clear that Modi wants to give Gandhinagar the benefit of IFSC. It became clear that Mumbai was not going to play a role when Prime Minister Modi forced his own party government in Maharashtra to hand over the land reserved for the IFSC in BKC for the bullet train terminal. It may be recalled that in 2006, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the setting up of an IFSC in Mumbai. Since then, work on the project has been slow. Mumbai falls between the two major IFSCs in Singapore and London in terms of time-zone. The project was conceived to give Mumbai the advantage of its unique geographical position.


Click Here to Read in Gujarati