The International Financial Services Centre at GIFT City is set to significantly expand its investment offerings, with new rules for global commodity trading expected in three to six months, and frameworks for real estate investment trusts (Reits) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) due in just 30 days, three officials aware of the development said.

These initiatives are vital to shielding India from global price volatility in oil and metals while reclaiming high-value trading activity currently lost to off­shore hubs such as Dubai and Singapore, according to a report by LiveMint.

Global commodity trading is a near-term regulatory priority for the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA), the GIFT City regulator, with ground­work largely complete and only final government approvals pending, said the first per­son cited above.

“… internally, all approvals in place… our expectation is that once the government approval is in place we should be able to bring in the regulations around it in the next three to six months,” this person added.

However, the government is still examining the proposal, said the second person. “First, let the department of economic affairs examine it,” this person said, indicating that the final rollout timeline would depend on inter-ministerial approvals.

“Our expert committee has recommended that we promote commodity trading from here because that is the other side of treasury operations. So, both put together will make a very whole­some business and I think all of them can be managed very efficiently if you can put them in the same bucket,” the second person added.

The initiative is vital because, as a top global importer of crude oil and metals, India is heavily exposed to price volatility and geopolitical shocks. Establishing a domestic hub would provide a much­needed buffer against these external supply chain risks.

In August 2025, an expert committee submitted its report on positioning GIFT IFSC as global commodity trading hub to the regulator.