The aim is to develop a worldclass smart city that becomes a global financial hub with the development of an International Financial Services Centre. The government is also trying to bring back the financial services and transactions that are currently carried out in offshore financial centres by local corporate entities and overseas branches or subsidiaries of financial institutions (FIs) to India.

Entities regulated by RBI, Securities & Exchange Board of India, and the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India can set up offices in IFSC. For instance, banks, insurance companies, stock broking firms, alternate investment funds and investment advisors, among others, can be part of it. The key aim of GIFT City is to bring global financial services on-shore which are currently being rendered from other overseas jurisdictions .

IFSC will offer state-of-the-art infrastructure, facilities and regulatory environment comparable to other leading international financial centres like London and Singapore. It is expected that the project will provide 500,000 direct and an equal number of indirect jobs. The infrastructure promised at GIFT City includes a data centre, state-of-the-art connectivity and transportation access with built-in technologies for a sustainable ecosystem. It will maximise resource recovery/minimal emission .

GIFT City Co Ltd, which is implementing the GIFT City project in Gandhinagar, is a 50:50 joint venture between Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) and state government-owned Gujarat Urban Development Company Ltd. It is estimated that GIFT requires 5.76 million sq m of real estate office and residential space.