Two GIFT City funds run by Artha Bharat Investment Managers IFSC, a fund management entity with more than $800 million in assets in the centre, are moving to Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM): the master fund of the $112 million Artha Global Multiplier Fund and the new Artha Bharat Absolute Return Fund, Business Standard reported on October 20. Founder and CEO Sachin Sawrikar cited tax uncertainty, including a disallowed deduction under Section 80LA and withholding tax on payments to overseas service providers, and said the firm is not leaving GIFT City.
Why it matters: The $150,000 minimum ticket for these GIFT City funds compares with $55,000 in ADGM and sits close to the $250,000 a year Indians can send abroad under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, which shrinks the pool of investors the funds can reach. One manager moving two funds is small against the roughly 235 fund managers registered in GIFT City, but the reasons it gives are the ones IFSCA and the tax authorities would have to address to keep new funds from being domiciled in Abu Dhabi, Mauritius or Singapore.
Source: Business Standard, October 20, 2026
Image: Gujaratin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
