India@FDI Magazine

A growing number of
Indian banks, insurance
companies and other
financial sector players are
setting up their presence
at the Dubai International
Financial Centre, in a bid
to cater to clients across
the Middle East, Africa
and Asia
The Dubai International Financial
Centre (DIFC), which was
established in 2004 in a sprawling,
110-hectare district in the financial hub
of the Middle East, saw the first Indian
institution being set up in 2007.
But nine years later, it has more
than 25 Indian firms operating at the
centre and the figures are expected to
jump sharply over the coming years.
Increasingly, Indian firms are looking
at the DIFC – which has emerged as an
engine driving ever-closer economic
ties between the two countries – as the
ideal gateway for investments into the
Middle East, Africa and other parts of
Asia.
As part of its 2024 growth strategy,
DIFC expects the number of Indian
banks and financial service institutions
at the centre to top 100. It also expects
to expand its physical and legislative
infrastructure for financial institutions
looking to fully realise their growth
potential.
The centre, under its ambitious
2024 growth plan, aims to increase
its assets under management to $250
billion (from about $10 billion), host
a thousand financial services firms
and more than double its workforce
to 50,000. Its balance-sheet is set to
expand to $400 billion.
Officials from Dubai have been
interacting extensively with the Indian
government and private and public
sector executives, besides bodies such as
the Gujarat International Finance Tec-
27