What they learned running a fund in GIFT City? | Subtext by Zerodha

Nishit and Ankush from Phillip Capital have spent years working with NRI and global investors navigating India's financial ecosystem — and they are two of the clearest voices explaining why Gift City is changing everything. Gift City sits in a 34-kilometre stretch between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar — technically in India, but operating as an offshore jurisdiction. NRI onboarding, which used to take 30 to 45 days, now happens in two. Funds that would cost a fortune to set up in Singapore or Mauritius are being built here at a fraction of the price. And yet, most retail investors still think it's just a tax haven — which it isn't. We sat down with Nishit and Ankush to explain what Gift City actually is and why it matters now. We spoke about why India needed its own offshore financial hub in the first place, how Gift City compares to Mauritius and Singapore as a gateway for global capital, what the onboarding nightmare for NRIs looked like before and why it's now largely gone, how the unified regulator IFSCA differs from SEBI and RBI and why that matters, what feeder funds are and how they give even smaller investors access to global equities, why the tax-free label is a myth and what the actual tax picture looks like, and what to actually watch if you want to track how Gift City grows from here — hint: it's not the headline NRI inflow number. Nishit Shah:   / nishit-shah-a0591315   Ankush Datar:   / ankush-datar-b00233126   Listen to this on Spotify: Listen to this on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast... If you prefer to read: https://open.substack.com/pub/subtext... Timestamps - 00:00 – Introduction: Should Retail Investors Care About Gift City? 0:58 – Guest Introductions & About Phillip Capital 1:12 – What is Gift City & Why Does It Exist? 2:17 – The Problem: Why Offshore Jurisdictions Were Needed 7:50 – Tax & Ease of Investing Advantages 10:25 – NRI Onboarding: 30-45 Days vs 2 Days 11:47 – Gift City's Unified Regulator (IFSCA) vs SEBI/RBI 16:34 – Money Going Out: Investing in Global Markets 17:05 – Options Before Gift City for Global Investing 19:29 – Feeder Funds Explained & How They Differ from MF FOFs 22:19 – Operational Differences: Fund Manager's Perspective 24:03 – Flip Side: Money Coming Into India 24:19 – Key Players in Gift City Today 26:02 – Tax Deep Dive: Gift City vs Direct Investing 34:57 – Three Reasons to Invest Globally via Gift City 33:51 – Common Misconceptions About Gift City 34:54 – Gift City as the Safest Route for Outside Investors 37:20 – Closing Remarks & Wrap Up