Narendra Modi inaugarates tallest building in the state at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat

Narendra Modi inaugarates tallest building in the state at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the tallest building of the state at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) while hoping it will be a new benchmark in financial services sector.

He pointed out that GIFT will be an inspiration and a point of reference for such initiatives coming up in the future and termed it as a catalyst that would enhance the development process. 

Modi inaugurated the tallest of ten towers-GIFT, one which is 129 metres high and has 29 floors. It will house offices of international finance, investment, trade and other financial and information technology sector companies.

The GIFT city project aims at state-of-the-art internal infrastructure encompassing all basic urban infrastructure elements along with an excellent external connectivity by roads, metro rail and Bus Rapid Transport Service (BRTS).

Spread over an area of 886 acres, GIFT city is being developed by Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Co Ltd (GIFTCL), a joint venture company of Government of Gujarat and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS).

The Rs 60,000-crore GIFT City project will house a financial services-based multi-services SEZ, a centre for domestic financial sector, corporate offices, regional offices of companies, a trade centre, housing colonies, social infrastructure and other associated amenities. 

The project is expected to create ten lakh new jobs in ten years. The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, 2011 saw investment commitments worth Rs 11,700 crore in the project. 

Banks from Singapore, agencies of the United Nations and organizations such as the International Monetary Fund will open offices in GIFT.

The city will use the energy-efficient district cooling system instead of air-conditioning. It will also use an automated waste collection system that sucks away garbage from buildings at high speed. 

Automated waste collection can be combined with biomass energy generation systems, so GIFT will burn waste to generate energy. Greenfield cities such as GIFT have an opportunity to test new technologies before they are adopted in existing Indian cities.

GIFT was conceived in 2007 and the idea was developed initially by a set of consultants such as McKinsey and urban development specialist Fairwood Consultants. It is being planned as a top-notch global financial centre to rival London, New York and Hong Kong.

More details here