Business Opportunities in India’s maiden IFSC at Gift City

Shri Injeti Srinivas belongs to the 1983 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (Odisha cadre). He superannuated in May 2020 after serving 37 years in various leadership roles in the Government of India and the Government of Odisha. He is Graduate in Economics (Honours) from the Shriram College of Commerce (University of Delhi) and did his Masters in Business Administration from Srathclyde Graduate Business School (University of Srathclyde, the UK.

As Union Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (2017-2020), he played a key role in the implementation of several major economic reforms, including the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which has deeply impacted the borrowingculture in the country and helped banks effectively tackle the problem of non-performing assets. He is also credited with implementation of several initiatives aimed at enhancing the ease of doing business, including MCA 21 (version 3) and decriminalization of various offences under the Companies Act. He was also responsible for major initiatives on the corporate governance front, including strengthening the institution of independent directors. He chaired several committees constituted by the Government of India, the prominent ones including the Insolvency Law Committee, Competition Law Review Committee, Committee on Decriminalization of Companies Act and High Level Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility. He is currently a member of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) and the Sub-committee under it.

As Director General Sports Authority of India and Union Secretary of Sports (2015-17) and earlier as Joint Secretary, Sports (2007-2011), he is credited with having revitalized the National Sports Development Fund, developed the National Sports Development Code, conducted South Asian Games-2016 and formulated Khelo India Scheme. As Chairperson, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (2014-15), he is credited with bringing many critical medicines, including medical devices under price control to make essential medicines more affordable. As Director, Foreign Investment Promotion Board in the erstwhile Union Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (now known as the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) during 1998-2003, he was closely associated with the liberalization of foreign direct investment policy and industrial policy reforms.

His areas of specialization include, among others, corporate law, industrial policy, foreign direct investment, development financing and MSME development. He assumed the responsibility of the first chairperson of the newly established International Financial Services Centres Authority, a unified financial regulator for international financial centres in India, in July 2020.

Sujit Ghosh is a career diplomat and belongs to the 2001 batch of the Indian Foreign Service. Prior to joining the High Commission of India in London as Deputy High Commissioner, he was the Consul General of India to Guangzhou from 2018-2021. He has also served at India’s Missions in Beijing, Bejing, Tel Aviv and Dhaka. At the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi, he served in various capacities including as Under Secretary in the Gulf Division and Americas Division and as Director, East Asia/China in the East Asia Division.

Sujit Ghosh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Patna University and an M. Phil degree in International Relation from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

He enjoys playing Cricket, badminton and hockey, listening to music and reading. He speaks Hindi, Bangla, Chinese and English.

Sujit Ghosh is married to Dr Sumitra Ray, an Ophthalmogist by profession. The couple have a college-going daughter, Gayatri

Mr Peter Cook, British Deputy High Commissioner for Gujarat and Rajasthan, India

Born in Kolkata, West Bengal where he grew up until aged 7. Educated in Scotland, Peter joined the Foreign Ministry in 1982 and has served in several different countries over his 40 year diplomatic career. His last diplomatic appointment was as HM Consul General in Belgium having previously served as Deputy Consul General in Istanbul in Turkey. His most recent role was as Managing Director of the British Chamber of Commerce in Doha Qatar. Previous postings include Denmark, the United Nations in New York, Barbados, Guyana as well as several appointments within the Foreign Ministry in London. He is a proud Scotsman and enjoys reading, drama, and a number of sports especially golf.

Deepak Bagla has a professional career of over three decades, with the World Bank, Citibank, and Private Equity having responsibilities across Europe, Africa and Asia.

He is currently the Managing Director and CEO of Invest India, the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency promoted by the Government of India. Invest India is also the execution agency for Start-up India and the Prime Minister’s Science and Technology
initiative.

He is a member of several High-level Government committees including Fintech and Innovation. Mr. Bagla was on the Investment Committee for the Government US $ 1.5 billion “Fund of Funds for Start-ups” and is on the Advisory Board of the Government $7 billion “Fund of Funds for MSMEs”. He is also a special invitee to the Prime Minister’s Science Technology & Innovation Advisory Council.

Mr Bagla has a bachelor’s degree with Honors in Economics from St Stephens College, New Delhi and a dual Masters in International Diplomacy and International Trade and Finance from The School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington DC.

He is the President of the Geneva based World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies with membership of 105 countries.

Mr. Bagla has been conferred “Grande Ufficiale dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia” by the President of the Republic of Italy.

Subramanian K V (Prakash) is currently Managing Director & Head – Strategy, Process & Governance and Subsidiaries for Standard Chartered Bank India. Prakash has over 3 decades of Banking experience across Investment Banking, Treasury, Senior Management and Governance. He has worked across multiple markets in Asean and Middle East apart from India. Prakash has a Masters Degree in Management and a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

He joined ANZ Grindlays Bank in 1989 as a Management Trainee and in 1991 was appointed as Manager Capital Markets.

In 1992 he moved to TAIB Bank, Bahrain to set up the India Investment desk for the Bank and was also responsible for their proprietary equity and debt investments. He set up the first Middle East based FII in India and also a fund for the Bank out of Luxemborg to route Middle East investments into India through the FII route.

In 1996 he moved back to ANZ Grindlays Bank, India to run the Debt Capital Markets Sales business. Post the merger of SCB and ANZ Grindlays, he ran the Institutional Sales business for South Asia and from 2006 to 2011 was MD & Regional Head Capital Markets for South Asia. He has been responsible for leading some of the large Capital Market transactions in India.

From 2011 till 2017, he was Managing Director & Head Financial Markets and a Member of the Country Management Group at Standard Chartered Bank, Indonesia. He has led some of the Sovereign Bond Issuances from Indonesia. He was also responsible for the ASEAN Financial Markets Governance.

Since 2017, he has been based in India driving Strategy, Process & Governance. He is a Member of the SCB India Country Management Group. He is also Head of Subsidiaries and represents SCB on the Board of their subsidiaries in India. He manages the Strategic Investments of the Bank. He is on the Board of CDSL Ventures and NGL Fine Chem and on the Advisory Committee of NSDL.

He has been associated with Gift City over the last 3 years and with the IFSCA since its inception. He set up the first foreign bank branch in the International Financial Centre at Gift City, Gandhinagar.  He was appointed to the Regulatory Committee of the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA). He was appointed in Nov 2020 as Advisor to the Chairman of IFSCA for regulations and development of Gift IFSC

He is also the Co-Chair of the India UK Financial Partnership Group (IUKFP) on the Gift City Committee.

Tushar Sachade is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of India.

He is a Partner at Price Waterhouse & Co LLP and is based out of Mumbai. He has over 26 years of experience in the field of Financial Services.

He has worked with a large number of clients in the Financial Services space and specializes in entry strategies and fund structuring of global, institutional and startup funds from the tax and regulatory perspective.

Tushar has also worked with various industry bodies. He has helped IVCA and FICCI and advised them on making representations on several industry issues. He has also been interacting regularly with regulators, including SEBI, on REITs-related legislation and AIF funds. He has also worked with GIFT and IFSC Authority to help frame regulatory and tax framework for IFSC. He is part of several committee such as VCC Committee, Investments Fund Committee and Longevity Finance Committee established by IFSC Authority.

Richard spent 18 years as a battlefield helicopter pilot in the British Royal Air Force, before becoming Master of the Household of Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, a COO role, over a 10 year period.

From 2014 he was Vice Chairman of Standard Chartered Private Bank globally, covering Ultra High Net Worth Families for 4 years. He has been travelling and living in India for 30 years, including on exchange with the Indian Armed Forces and as the CEO of an Indian holding company.

In 2019, he co-founded a Bangalore-based wealth management company, True Beacon, along with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath serving Ultra High Net Worth Individuals in India and across the globe.

Mr. V. Balasubramaniam (Bala) has over 32 years of experience in Indian Capital and Derivatives Markets industry. Currently, he serves as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at NSE International Exchange (NSE IX) at GIFT City IFSC and oversaw the execution of successful liquidity switch of SGX Nifty to GIFT Nifty with daily peak notional volume of USD 15.25 billion dollars. Prior to that he was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of INDIA INX, a subsidiary of BSE Limited, from Dec 2016 – Dec 2022. He steered the exchange to a dominant position with market share in IFSC of 90 %. Before joining INDIA INX, he was Chief Business Officer of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) comprising markets, listings, data & indices business and responsible for all operating revenues.

With a career in the Capital Market Industry spanning over three decades, Mr. Bala has played a key role in the development of Indian Capital Markets. He was a part of the core team involved in setting up the National Stock Exchange of India. He was instrumental in creating the Capital Market segment, Nifty Index creation, setup of NSCCL as the first clearing corporation in India, NCFM certification creation and the Futures and Options segment inter-alia. Mr. Bala has also worked with Reliance Group as Vice President.

Mr. Bala was a co-founder of BSE Technologies Pvt Ltd (acquired by BSE), which is the pioneer in introducing web-based technology solutions for exchanges, clearing corporations, depositories, and their members in Indian marketplace. He has contributed to various committees formed by market regulator IFSCA (International Financial Services Centres Authority) on Sustainable Finance, Investment Funds and on positioning IFSC as a hub for offshore trading in INR. He has also served in the board of Futures Industry Association – Asia, Co-Chair of FICCI Capital Market Committee, Central Depository Services (India) Limited, Indian International Exchange IFSC Limited, India International Clearing Corporation (IFSC) Limited, India International Bullion Holding IFSC Limited, India International Bullion Exchange IFSC Limited, India International Depository IFSC Limited, India INX Global Access IFSC Limited, BSE Institute Limited, etc.

Mr. Bala has master’s in commerce from the University of Mumbai, Rank holder from the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, Diploma from Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India and is a Certified Information Systems Auditor.

Nitin Jaiswal is Head of Government Affairs & External Relations for Bloomberg in Asia-Pacific, the world’s most trusted source for real-time and historical financial data, news, research and analytics.

Based in Singapore, Mr. Jaiswal works with government, regulators, business leaders and think tanks to help advance market development in emerging and developed countries. Through strategic initiatives, spanning financial market structure to green finance, he looks to leverage Bloomberg’s global network and expertise as a leading data and information company to affect positive change and accelerate development in Asia, a region that is shaping global markets.

Mr. Jaiswal has held various senior leadership roles managing key business for Asia-Pac since joining the company in India in 1997.

Adhil Shetty is the Co-founder and CEO, BankBazaar: India’s largest fintech co-branded credit card issuer and online platform for free credit score with a registered customer base of 50 Mn.

Adhil’s vision is to democratize finance and increase financial inclusion in India through BankBazaar by making personal finance entirely contactless. Under his leadership, BankBazaar has grown to become India’s leading online fintech platform that attracts 250 Mn organic visits per annum.

A Fintech thought leader, Adhil is one of the most widely read expert and influencer on personal finance in India. As a Fintech advocate, he has been working closely with the regulatory bodies to promote a strong digital ecosystem to facilitate greater access to personal finance products. He is also the Co-Chair of the FICCI Fintech Committee.

Jyoti is a business economist by training with over 2 decades of experience with Industry Associations. Her main areas of specialisation are Financial Sector, Corporate Laws, Corporate Governance and Economic Affairs. She has done several joint projects with World Bank, European Commission, IMF and other UN organisations. She has also been on some important committees of RBI, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Corporate Affairs. She was part of the Rules Committee of Companies Act 2013 including that on CSR provision as FICCI representative. With her strong Industry and Government network, she has been instrumental in influencing several policy reforms.

Mr. Sandip Shah, Head of IFSC Dept. at Gujarat International Finance Tec – City Co. Ltd (GIFT City). GIFT City is developing an International Financial Services hub in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Mr. Shah has over 11 years of professional experience in Project Development, Policy Matters, International Financial services regulations and Securities market.

Ranjan Bhattacharya is a career HSBC banker, with close to two decades of specialized experience in banking solutions for Financial Institutions and Corporates. Ranjan heads Strategy & Planning for HSBC in India, a global priority market for HSBC, within the top five in terms of PBT contribution. He is a part of the India Executive Committee (EXCO) of the Bank, and also a nominee Director of the Board of HSBC’s insurance Joint Venture in India. He has led various strategic initiatives for HSBC in India including GIFT City branch licensing, and is a part of the India-UK working group on GIFT City. Ranjan also has EXCO ownership for the Bank’s priority sector lending and strategic business development.

In his previous role, Ranjan was heading the Custody business for Institutional investor clients of HSBC in India. He has been involved across multiple leadership roles in HSBC successfully leading strategic initiatives, and high performing teams, across both FI and Corporate clients of HSBC Global Banking and Markets as well as Commercial Banking.

He is a key thought leader supporting HSBC’s role in various industry advocacy and policy initiatives in India, and represents HSBC and the BFSI sector at various roundtables with policy makers and influencers. Ranjan has co-authored leading policy transformation papers, including a pivotal paper on Internationalization of Indian Rupee presented to the Finance Minister of India; and, has also led HSBC’s recognition in several industry awards, including the highest recognition in India – the Skoch award, for contribution to Indian capital market development.

Ranjan is a keen supporter of diversity and inclusion, and was founding co-chair for HSBC’s ‘Balance’ in India, a voluntary employee platform. He is also an advocate for sustainability initiatives and has represented HSBC at various industry forums, and was a founder member of a Rotary International club in Mumbai. In his spare time, Ranjan loves to indulge in gardening and cycling.

International Business, Project Development, Corporate Affairs, Corporate Law & Policy matters.

His most prominent achievement includes setting up and operationalizing India’s 1st Smart City and International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

Before joining IFSCA in Dec 2020, in his last 12 years tenure at GIFT City, City made substantial progress in getting recognition as India’s model Smart City, starting India’s first Multi Services SEZ and only approved International Financial Services Centre. He brought in the regulatory and business changes in the GIFT IFSC to bring in Banks (now transacting more than US$ 200 Billion), International Exchanges, inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India (now daily turnover > USD 15 bn) and Insurance & re-insurance companies for undertaking offshore transactions.

He is Executive Director (Development) at IFSCA. He is responsible for the overall development of IFSC.

Mr. Shah is a Bachelor of Commerce and is Chartered Secretary from Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) & Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators, UK and has Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDM – MBA) from Nirma University, India with specialization in International Business & Finance. He is currently pursuing his Doctoral Program (PHD) in International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).