GIFT City still short on talent retention, housing and social life, feature finds

What the feature reports

The feature, written by Satish Jha and published on 4 October 2026, says Gujarat International Finance Tec-City faces high staff turnover, limited social infrastructure and high housing costs. It also acknowledges that the hub still attracts global banking entities and offers tax incentives to offshore firms.

The piece describes the campus as business-oriented with strong infrastructure, but socially isolated. Young professionals interviewed for the story say there is little social life. The feature also says the city is the country's first operational International Financial Services Centre and a greenfield smart city, conceived in 2007.

Who said what, and what was decided

The feature does not report a new decision. It is an analysis of conditions on the ground, built on interviews. Those quoted include young professionals and an academic who argues that workplaces and homes should sit close together. A senior-level staffer quoted in the piece says leadership-level officials find the infrastructure good, but junior executives cannot afford the housing that exists.

No new rule, tax change or allotment was announced alongside the feature. The Union government's description of the project as a bold step towards a world-class financial and IT hub appears in the article as background, not as a fresh announcement.

Talent numbers: the sources disagree

Attrition figures differ by source. A PwC report, cited in a PwC India blog post, puts annual attrition for certain specialised GIFT City roles at 22-25%, above the broader industry average. It also estimates talent demand could nearly double over five years.

A Whalesbook article, a secondary news aggregator, reports higher attrition of 30-40% for specialised financial roles and names senior unit heads who left DBS Bank, Standard Chartered and Mashreq Bank. Its figures are not from an official dataset and should be treated with caution. Both sources agree that most staff who work in the zone do not live there. Whalesbook says many commute from Ahmedabad or Gandhinagar.

Housing and social infrastructure

The master plan allots 22% of built-up area to residential use, against 67% to commercial. Outlook Business quotes a Gandhinagar property agent who puts two-bedroom apartments at up to ₹1.5 crore, with monthly rents of ₹30,000 to ₹50,000. The same report says junior and mid-level staff often share flats or live outside the district.

Schools and local transport also come up as concerns, especially for senior staff thinking about moving with families. Outlook Business notes that a welcoming urban culture can matter as much as talent policy in drawing people to a city.

What is in the pipeline

The developer's announcement, reported by Construction World, targets a multi-sport arena for September 2026, with box cricket, football, pickleball and golf-related facilities. A golf and entertainment destination is expected to start in January 2027, and a Destination Mall is in development. The arena's completion has not been confirmed in the sources reviewed for this page.

A review meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, reported by The Secretariat, flagged a limited talent pool, a weak lifestyle ecosystem and lack of campus vibrancy. The same report says GIFT City and the International Financial Services Centres Authority are expected to prepare a long-term Vision Document. As of October 2026, that document had not been published in the sources reviewed.

What this does and does not change

The feature does not change incentives, land allotments, approvals or regulation. The social infrastructure projects and the Vision Document are announced or in progress, not completed. Operational figures for buildings date from November 2025 and may have moved since. Anyone relying on attrition or price figures should check the primary source before drawing conclusions.