What NRIs should know about GIFT City

GIFT City's International Financial Services Centre is treated as an offshore jurisdiction for regulatory purposes, even though it sits in Gujarat. For a non-resident, that combination — Indian expertise, offshore treatment, dollar denomination — is unusual and useful.

The three most common use cases we see are: dollar-denominated funds that invest into India without the operational friction of an NRE/NRO structure; global diversification for Indian-resident family members via the Liberalised Remittance Scheme; and holding structures for families whose members hold multiple passports.

Repatriation is where planning pays. Money that enters through the right channel leaves cleanly. Money that enters casually creates paperwork years later, usually at the least convenient moment.

Tax residency, not citizenship, drives most outcomes. Before choosing a structure, map where each family member will be tax resident over the next five years.