Siddartha Karnani of KSK Comments on the Potential Expansion of Treasury Centre Operations at GIFT-IFSC

Siddartha S. Karnani, Partner at King Stubb & Kasiva (KSK), was quoted in Business Standard in a feature examining the growing interest among corporate treasury centres in establishing a presence at GIFT International Financial Services Centre (GIFT-IFSC).

Commenting on the potential recognition of commodity trading as a financial service under the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) Act, Siddartha highlighted that such a move could significantly broaden the scope of activities undertaken by corporate treasury centres in GIFT City. “If commodity trading gets formally classified as a financial service under the IFSCA Act, it won’t just open a new product line, it will change what a treasury centre in GIFT City can actually do for a multi-national group,” he said.

Siddartha further noted that activities such as hedging, trade financing and re-invoicing involving commodities, including crude oil, metals and agricultural products, are still routed through international financial centres such as Singapore, Dubai and Switzerland in many cases. The absence of regulatory recognition for these activities within the Indian framework has contributed to this reliance on overseas centres. Formal recognition could create opportunities for GIFT-IFSC to support a wider range of commodity-related treasury operations for multinational groups.

Read the full article here: https://www.business-standard.com/markets/news/corporate-treasury-centres-queue-up-to-establish-base-at-gift-ifsc-126101301220_1.html 

Last Updated on 23 October, 2026