In an interview with Reinsurance News, PB Fintech’s Joint Group Chief Executive Officer, Sarbvir Singh, emphasised that a more open and predictable regulatory environment is attracting global reinsurance companies to India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).
Insurance and reinsurance volumes have expanded rapidly at GIFT City, hitting $1.2 billion in 2025 from $102 million in 2020, driven largely by non-life insurance and reinsurance segments.
The growth marks an over 11-fold increase in the last five years, and signals a strong scale-up of India-linked risk underwriting within IFSC. The roster of participants at the hub now includes global re/insurers and brokers from Europe, Australia, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.
Further, the IFSC recently reported that total registrations and authorisations granted rose to 1,213 as of March 2026, compared with 1,114 in December 2025, highlighting continued expansion.
According to the regulator, there was strong growth in the insurance segment. Insurance Offices (IIOs), insurance entities licensed to underwrite or service international insurance, increased to 36 in March 2026, up from 24 in December 2025. IIIOs, which facilitate cross-border insurance broking and intermediary services, also rose over the quarter from 31 to 34.
Meanwhile, reinsurance and direct insurance activity reported robust quarterly gains. Direct insurance gross written premium generated by IIOs increased to $15.38 million in Q4 FY2025–26 from $9.25 million in the previous quarter. Reinsurance gross written premium rose from $148.13 million to $186.93 million over the same period.
“For years, it hasn’t been the easiest task to navigate the Indian reinsurance market. Jurisdictional challenges, entry barriers and the rupee not being freely convertible made India a potential that the world could see, but never fully tap. Today, GIFT City stands as India’s definitive answer to global offshore finance hubs like Singapore, Dubai and London. A unified regulatory framework under the IFSCA has been able to resolve onshore complexity and invite global participation,” said Singh.
He went on to explain that a key factor behind this momentum is the clarity provided by the IFSCA. “By bringing regulation under a single, internationally aligned framework, GIFT City has made market entry far more straightforward for global firms.
“The policy environment has also evolved meaningfully. While the onshore insurance sector has historically operated with foreign ownership limits, GIFT City allows 100% FDI in insurance and reinsurance entities. This gives global reinsurers full control over their operations, enabling them to bring in their underwriting expertise, risk models and governance frameworks without compromise. For Boards of global reinsurers, the ability to maintain total ownership while accessing one of the world’s fastest-growing insurance markets makes the GIFT City route an irresistible proposition for long-term growth.”
On the tax front, Singh noted that IFSC units benefit from a 100% tax exemption for 10 consecutive years within a 15-year window under Section 80LA of the Income Tax Act.
“This provides a clear and efficient structure for deploying capital. At the same time, recent policy signals suggest a continued focus on extending tax certainty over longer horizons, reinforcing GIFT City’s positioning as a competitive international financial centre,” he said.
Alongside a more open and predictable regulatory environment, Singh highlighted increased capital efficiency driven by the IFSCA’s efforts to open doors in order to free up trapped capital, a challenge for global financial institutions operating across geographies, and which Singh feels was a long-standing detriment to reinsurers targeting the Indian market.
He explained: “By allowing IFSC Insurance Offices to operate under the solvency norms of their home regulators (whether that be the Prudential Regulation Authority in the United Kingdom or the Monetary Authority of Singapore), GIFT City allows global firms to leverage their existing international capital pools. This makes underwriting high-value regional risks a lot simpler without having to maintain a separate capital reserve. Cost of capital is the ultimate competitive advantage in this industry, so this creates a trickle-down effect and brings down the cost of doing business. It ensures that the world’s largest balance sheets can support the Indian market with the same efficiency they bring to London or Zurich.”
In the past, the onshore Indian insurance sector was somewhat limited by ownership caps, with many global carriers having joint ventures in order to access the market. However, GIFT City has opened another new door with 100% Foreign Direct Investment, which enables global players to have strategic and operational control.
“This lets them bring home their global best practices, proprietary underwriting models and corporate governance with flexibility. Not to mention, the deal has been further sweetened by the much-talked-about 10 year tax holiday, which has created a tax neutral environment so that 100% of the profits can be reinvested or repatriated globally,” said Singh.
“Much of the recent influx of global heavyweights can be attributed to this seamless route to GIFT City. Reinsurers are now able to establish a fully-owned, tax-efficient global hub that can operate like an extension of their headquarters but leverage the benefits that Indian markets have to offer. For boards in Paris or New York, the ability to maintain total ownership while accessing one of the world’s fastest-growing insurance markets makes the GIFT City route an irresistible proposition for long-term growth,” he added.
Given the new operating environment for insurers and reinsurers, supported by the ease of entry highlighted by Singh, “GIFT City is attracting global reinsurance capital at scale,” which ultimately grows the risk-bearing capacity available to domestic insurers.
“This added depth allows for sharper underwriting, better risk segmentation, and more accurate pricing, particularly for segments that have long sat in the ‘missing middle’. With progressive policy support and a steady inflow of global best practices, GIFT City is enabling a shift from capacity constraints to capital abundance.
“With global reinsurance capital becoming easily accessible and cheaper to deploy through GIFT City, insurers can access deeper capacity and more sophisticated risk management. Over time, this translates into more competitive premiums, especially in complex or underpenetrated segments,” said Singh.
Singh expects that, as PM Modi’s global ambition of GIFT City grows and matures into a premier destination, the focus will be to build an ecosystem that can handle complex risk innovation.
“The IFSCA is already acting as a bridge between Western capital and Global South,” he said. “The future holds immense potential for newer areas like cyber or climate risk and specialised protection. The integration of Insurtech is providing the framework for more transparent and tech-driven underwriting and product innovation.
“Whether it’s the Middle East or Africa, global reinsurers are converging on this square mile in Gujarat. The reason is GIFT City harmonising a business-friendly regulatory environment with India’s massive talent pool. As the number of global players in India goes up, GIFT City will serve as a stabiliser for the next decade of borderless, resilient economic growth.”
