Government Sets Up Panel To Help Startups Domiciled Abroad Return Home
Many Indian startups are domiciled outside India despite having the majority of their market, personnel and founders in India.
The International Financial Services Centres Authority has set up an expert committee including Zerodha Broking Pvt.'s Nikhil Kamath and Groww's Lalit Keshre to help Indian startups legally based outside the country to return to India.
Many Indian startups are domiciled outside India despite having the majority of their market, personnel and founders in India, according to a release by IFSCA on Tuesday. "These 'externalised' or 'flipped' startups constitute a large number of India's unicorns."
To help identify the measures needed to make the Gujarat International Finance Tech-City the preferred location for these startups, the government is setting up a committee chaired by G Padmanabhan, former executive director of the Reserve Bank of India.
The panel is aimed at bringing back several Indian founders, including those heading large startups such as Fractal Analytics Inc., Innovaccer Inc., and MindTickle Inc. and have chosen to set up their ventures abroad, mostly in the U.S. or Singapore.
These locations bring access to a larger pool of capital, favourable tax and incorporation laws, and mature markets for listing leading to better valuations. The panel also comes at a time when PhonePe Pvt., which is valued at $12 billion, has moved its domicile from Singapore to India ahead of its listing.
The committee has been tasked with providing measures required to encourage Indian startups domiciled abroad to relocate to GIFT International Financial Services Centre. It will also look into measures for the development of GIFT IFSC as a global fintech hub and is expected to submit its recommendations to IFSCA within three months.
Here's the full list of committee members:
G Padmanabhan, former executive director, RBI.
Dipesh Shah, executive director, IFSCA.
Nishith Desai, founder, Nishith Desai Associates.
Anjali Bansal, founding partner, Avaana Capital.
Siddharth Pai, founding partner and CFO, 3one4 Capital.
Lalit Keshre, co-founder and CEO, Groww (Nextbillion Technology Pvt).
Nikhil Kamath, co-founder, Zerodha.
Anjani Sharma, partner, financial services, BSR & Co LLP.
Sandip Shah, general manager, GIFT City Ltd.
Ankit Bhansali, deputy general manager, IFSCA.