Gujarat Government Appoints Uday Kotak as Chairman of GIFT City

THE GUJARAT government on Friday appointed Kotak Mahindra Bank founder Uday Kotak as Chairman of the Gujarat International Finance-Tec (GIFT) city, Gandhinagar. Kotak replaces Hasmukh Adhia, a former bureaucrat, ex-union finance secretary and principal adviser to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. An order to this effect was issued by the Urban Development and Urban Housing department of the Gujarat government on Friday afternoon. Reacting to the development, Adhia described Kotak as a “Much better leader to lead GIFT City”. Sources in the government told The Indian Express , “Someone from the industry, like Kotak, might work better for the job.” Adhia was appointed as non-executive chairman of the GIFT City, a greenfield smart city and brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on June 19, 2023. While Friday’s order states that the “terms and conditions of the appointment will be decided later on” , it does not mention if Kotak’s post will be executive or non-executive, unlike in the case of Adhia. In July last year, the Gujarat government appointed Gujarat cadre IAS officer Sanjay Kaul as GIFT City MD and CEO. GIFT City, claimed to be India’s first operational smart city and maiden International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), month, participated in the World Economic Forum at Davos for the first time last month. Its banking assets, as of September last year, stood at $100.14 billion, while its cumulative banking transactions were worth $142.98 and it has 35 IFSC Banking Units which includes the Kotak Mahindra Bank . GIFT City’s country-wise is as follows: US: 4.95 per cent (%), UAE: 3.14%, Singapore: 2.78% and UK: 2.41% and India: 77.15%.