NRI investment in India gets a GIFT City route: What the Wealth Company’s new fund offers

Non-resident Indians (NRIs) and other eligible overseas investors seeking exposure to India’s mutual fund market now have a new route through GIFT City. The Wealth Company has launched The Wealth Company IFSC FoF, a US-dollar-denominated, open-ended Category III Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) based in GIFT City IFSC.

The fund is designed to provide eligible non-resident investors with a single professionally managed structure through which they can access a broad universe of Indian mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), instead of selecting schemes individually.

How does the fund work?

The fund is managed by Wealth Company Asset Management Private Limited (IFSC Branch), a Fund Management Entity registered with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).

Rather than investing directly in individual Indian mutual fund schemes, the Fund-of-Funds (FoF) will select and allocate across the wider mutual fund and ETF universe. Its portfolio can include diversified equity funds, sectoral strategies, fixed-income funds, hybrid funds, gold and silver ETFs, index strategies and SIFs, subject to the fund’s mandate.

The investment process will consider factors such as historical performance, risk metrics, quantitative parameters, relative performance and forward-looking market positioning.

This is aimed at addressing one of the challenges facing overseas investors: India’s mutual fund market now has more than 50 AMCs and over 1,600 active schemes, making selection increasingly complex.

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For overseas investors

For an NRI, the proposition is not simply about gaining access to Indian equities but about outsourcing the selection and rebalancing of investments across a large and diverse fund market. The portfolio can be adjusted across asset classes and strategies as market conditions and valuations change, potentially reducing the need for investors to track individual schemes themselves.

The fund is therefore positioned as a single India allocation for eligible global investors who want professional management without navigating the entire domestic mutual fund universe.

Who can invest?

The fund is targeted at eligible global investors, including NRIs, global family offices, institutional investors, accredited investors and HNIs/UHNIs.

The fund is denominated in US dollars, providing an investment structure designed for investors managing wealth internationally. It is based in GIFT City IFSC, which is increasingly positioning itself as a financial bridge between international capital and Indian investment opportunities.

However, the fund is not available to everyone. It does not accept resident Indians and currently excludes investors resident in the US and Canada, as well as investors from FATF-restricted jurisdictions.

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What about direct access to Indian mutual funds?

The structure is intended to simplify access. According to the fund's proposition, eligible non-resident investors do not separately need to undertake the SEBI FPI registration process merely to access the underlying Indian mutual fund portfolio through the FoF structure.

The fund materials also state that, subject to applicable conditions, an NRI investor may not have an Indian income-tax return filing obligation where relevant tax deductions have been made and there are no other circumstances requiring a return.

Tax treatment

The fund is structured as an IFSC-based Category III AIF and is expected to qualify as a “Specified Fund” under applicable provisions of the Income-tax Act, 2025, subject to prescribed conditions.

For eligible non-resident investors, the fund materials outline potential Indian tax exemptions on specified income and distributions, subject to statutory requirements. However, tax treatment can differ in the investor’s country of residence.
Therefore, investors will need to evaluate both Indian tax rules and their local tax obligations, including any applicable Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement.

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The launch comes as India’s mutual fund assets reached ₹82.22 lakh crore as of June 30, 2026, up sharply from ₹13.81 lakh crore a decade earlier. SIP contributions stood at ₹31,781 crore in June 2026, underscoring the scale of the domestic investment market.

For The Wealth Company, the broader proposition is to connect this expanding Indian investment opportunity with global Indian wealth through a structure built in GIFT City and denominated in a global currency.