Govt keen to transform Mumbai into global financial hub: Sihna

Mumbai: The long-pending proposal to develop Mumbai into an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) on Friday got a boost with the government saying it is keen to transform the city into a global financial hub.

"We are keen to transform Mumbai as a global financial centre... It is a necessity that we have to create Mumbai as a global financial centre," Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said on Friday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the state government is already working in this regard, but much of the work was to be done by the Centre and the pending issues in this regard should be addressed in the upcoming Union Budget.

Centres like Dubai and Singapore have made their presence in the international financial map. For such a facility to materialise here, firms within such centres, which would be handling money from across the world, should enjoy special treatment on regulatory and taxation fronts.

"We understand that if we get banks and investment firms here, there will be more capital deployed into the economy, there will be more jobs," Sinha said addressing a 'Mumbai Next' here.

Government and various financial sector regulators including RBI and Sebi are mulling over a new set of norms to be applicable to IFSCs (International Financial Services Centres), which can be set up in different parts of the country for domestic and international investors, sources have said.

The GIFT City in Gujarat can be the first off the block under this new regime, which another IFSC can be developed in Mumbai, the country's financial capital.

Fadnavis said the world over such centres have been developed with the help from the respective federal governments and welcomed the support assured by the Centre in this regard.

"I feel the first thing, which was expected from the government towards making BKC a global financial centre...We have already started working on it and our role as the local government is to create the ecosystem," Fadnavis said.

While Mumbai already hosts the highest economic activity in the country, experts have been stressing on the need to elevate its stature to a global level, citing advantages like the city's position on the international time zones.

According to experts, India get at least four working hours with the financial powerhouse of London which can attract the stakeholders in trove here.

"The strategic location, stable environment and industrious people in Mumbai make it very well placed," Sinha said, adding a place like the centrally located business district of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) can play host to all the storied names in high finance.

"It is a necessity that we have to create Mumbai as a global financial centre," he added.