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GIFT City / IFSC

Open a USD-denominated brokerage or fund account inside Gujarat's IFSC zone (HDFC Securities IFSC, ICICI Direct IFSC, Kotak IFSC). Global markets, Indian regulator, cleaner tax.

Best for
HNIs and sophisticated retail
Tax
Zero STT, zero CTT, tax-efficient
Complexity
Medium
Effort
Weekend setup

[ 01 / THE ROUTE ]

Onshore-offshore brokerage from Gujarat

GIFT City's International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) is a regulated zone where Indian brokerages and banks operate USD-denominated accounts under IFSCA rules. You get global market access through an Indian-regulated entity wrapper, sidestepping the US estate-tax exposure of direct US-situs ownership. The structure is most useful when your corpus is large enough that estate-tax exposure starts to matter.

[ 02 / WHY IT WORKS ]

Indian regulator, global markets

IFSCA-regulated brokerages give you access to US, European, and select Asian markets without leaving the Indian regulatory perimeter.

Entity-wrapper protection

Holdings sit in the IFSC entity, not in your individual name in US records. This sidesteps the USD 60,000 US estate-tax threshold.

Tax efficiency at the wrapper

No STT, CTT, or stamp duty at IFSC. Returns to Indian residents are still taxed in India at standard capital-gains rates.

USD-denominated by design

Account is held in USD throughout, naturally hedging your rupee exposure on the holding (not just on the underlying).

[ 03 / THE NUMBERS ]

Limit / Access

USD 250,000 per FY (LRS still applies when remitting from India)

Tax treatment

Indian capital gains rates apply to residents. No STT or CTT at IFSC.

IFSC-domiciled holdings sit in an Indian-regulated entity wrapper, avoiding the US estate-tax exposure of direct US-situs ownership.

US estate tax risk

No. Assets sit in an Indian-regulated IFSC entity wrapper.

Min ticket

USD 1,000+ (demat) or USD 5,000+ (fund schemes)

Effort

Weekend setup. USD account funding plus KYC at an IFSC-registered intermediary.

[ 04 / WHERE YOU CAN OPEN ONE ]

GIFT IFSC brokerages and AMCs

Indian banks and brokerages with IFSC entities

Editorial mentions only. AskNivesh does not earn referral fees from any provider listed here.

Sources and as-of dates