GIFT City Expands Investment Suite with Commodity Trading and Global Real Estate Trusts

The International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City is poised to significantly expand its investment offerings. New rules for global commodity trading are expected to be introduced in three to six months, while frameworks for real estate investment trusts (Reits) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) are due in just 30 days, according to three officials aware of the development.

These initiatives are vital to shielding India from global price volatility in oil and metals while reclaiming high-value trading activity currently lost to offshore hubs such as Dubai and Singapore. Global commodity trading is a near-term regulatory priority for the IFSC Authority (IFSCA), the GIFT City regulator, with groundwork largely complete and only final government approvals pending.

“… internally, all approvals in place… our expectation is that once the government approval is in place we should be able to bring in the regulations around it in the next three to six months,” said the first person cited above. However, the government is still examining the proposal, said the second person. “First let the department of economic affairs examine it,” this person added, indicating that the final rollout timeline would depend on inter-ministerial approvals.

The initiative is crucial because, as a top global importer of crude oil and metals, India is heavily exposed to price volatility and geopolitical shocks. Establishing a domestic hub would provide a much-needed buffer against these external supply chain risks. In August 2025, an expert committee submitted its report on positioning GIFT IFSC as a global commodity trading hub to the regulator. The committee stated, “Unlike other major economies which actively mitigate these risks by investing in upstream assets and controlling significant portions of their supply chains, India has limited strategic leverage in international commodity markets.”

Beyond risk mitigation, the move is a targeted attempt to reclaim Indian commodity trading currently handled in Dubai and Singapore. A large number of Indian conglomerates currently run commodity trading desks from these jurisdictions because of regulatory and tax efficiencies. Policymakers see GIFT City as a natural alternative that could bring these activities onshore, improve price discovery, and integrate trading with treasury operations. There are currently four major global commodity trading hubs – Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Switzerland.

Market participants backed the move, warning that India will continue losing trading volumes to overseas markets without a proper domestic framework. Jaiman Patel, Partner at EY GIFT City, called it a fantastic opportunity. “GIFT City is a perfect platform for such kinds of global treasury activities because as such FEMA is not applicable to global transactions of GIFT City units. There is a lot of appetite among Indian companies and global companies to come and set up here,” he said.

Patel suggested that GIFT City should replicate the success of its existing fund investment models by creating a feeder mechanism even for REIT/InvIT structures. Under this framework, an entity in GIFT City while eligible for tax concessions, could pool global capital and channel it directly into Indian Reits and InvITs in India.

IFSCA is also working on expanding the ecosystem for Reits and InvITs at GIFT City. “On Reits and InvITs, I think we will have to iron out some tax issues… once that is done, Reits and InvITs can take off,” said a third official, adding that a committee examining these aspects is expected to submit its report in a month. One of the key proposals under consideration is allowing Indian investors to access Reits backed by foreign assets through the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS). “If the Reit is on a foreign asset, then Indians can also invest through LRS,” the third official added.

While Reits and InvITs are already well-established in the domestic market, their GIFT City versions are expected to evolve differently, potentially acting as cross-border investment vehicles. Patel suggested that GIFT City should replicate the success of its existing investment models by creating a feeder mechanism. Under this framework, an entity in GIFT City could collect global capital and channel it directly into Indian Reits and InvITs, bypassing the usual regulatory hurdles that often deter foreign investors from the domestic market.

These proposals come as the IFSCA pushes for more corporate treasury offices to be established in GIFT City, a move that signals growing interest in the offshore hub. On 1 May, Mint reported that six listed companies have already applied for licenses to set up such treasury centres.