Maharashtra to release blueprint of international finance hub in June

The Maharashtra government will release in June the master plan for the proposed International Finance Centre at the Bandra Kurla Complex. IFC will have connectivity to the bullet train and metro network being currently undertaken.

The state government downplayed the emergence of a Gift City in Gujarat as IFC saying that it will co-exist with the Mumbai financial hub. The state government's view was shared by leading bankers and financial experts who said Mumbai is ideally positioned to be the IFC due to telecom infrastructure and government's push for transportation infrastructure.

Kaustubh Dhavse, joint secretary and leading member of the state government's war room said Mumbai evokes amazing sentiments and the state government is creating a conducive environment for the city to become IFC. '' 
The master plan will be out in June and the IFC will be linked with bullet train and metro rail corridors,'' he said at the 'Magnetic Maharashtra: Convergence Summit 2018'.

According to Dhavse, the government has already put in place an arbitration mechanism in Mumbai while issues relating to housing and mobility are being addressed on a priority basis.

Uday Kotak, executive vice chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank said that government is committed to maintaining Mumbai's competitiveness as it is the place to do business. ''The participants, regulators and government will have to make Mumbai an island of excellence. Mumbai will not have to compare with averages but should think bigger,'' he opined.

State information technology secretary SVR Srinivas said the government has undertaken a slew of projects to improve transport infrastructure and also taken series of steps to boost construction of houses in the Mumbai Metropolitan region. He informed that the government would facilitate the establishment of 300 start-ups and a venture capital fund of Rs 200 crore for the fintech sector in the next three years.

Shikha Sharma, CEO and MD of Axis Bank said Mumbai has always been a hub in terms of talent and it has every potential to become IFC.

‘IDEALLY POSITIONED’

• Experts said Mumbai is ideally positioned to be the IFC due to telecom infrastructure and govt push for transportation infrastructure
   
• The state said the BKC hub will co-exist with the Gift City in Gujarat, which has emerged as an IFC