Mumbai – Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new foreign‑currency settlement system in GIFT City on Tuesday, aiming to make trading and investment easier for businesses and boost India’s standing in the global financial market.
The launch takes place during the Global Fintech Fest 2025 and highlights a key priority for the government: removing friction from cross‑border payments. “The system will let companies settle foreign‑currency trades in real time, improve liquidity and keep us compliant with regulations,” Sitharaman said.
What will the new platform do?
* It operates inside the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in GIFT City, the Gujarat hub that already powers India’s first offshore financial zone.
* It replaces the old correspondent‑banking chain that routed deals through several banks and left settlements taking 36‑48 hours.
* Under the new Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS), trades close on a real‑time or near‑real‑time basis, giving firms instant access to cash and reducing risk.
* The system also ensures that all activity is flagged for regulatory audit under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act.
Sitharaman noted that GIFT City now sits on a list of elite financial centres—alongside Hong Kong, Tokyo and Manila—that can settle foreign‑currency trades locally. The move reflects India’s rapid growth in fintech; the country ranks third worldwide for the number of fintech firms and led the world in digital payments last year, processing more than 18,580 crore UPI transactions worth Rs 261 lakh crore in the 2024‑25 fiscal year.
Standard Chartered India has been chosen to handle the US dollar part of the settlement. The bank will act as the primary clearing partner for dollar‑denominated trades, a critical role in a system expected to handle huge volumes of international trade.
GIFT City, formally the Gujarat International Finance Tec‑City, is a purpose‑built business district in Gandhinagar that hosts a growing cluster of multinational banks, trading firms and fintech innovators. With the FCSS now operational, India’s financial ecosystem looks set to close the gap with the world’s leading trade hubs and offer businesses an inside‑country solution for global payments.
Source: ianslive
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