Indian firm going global
Motilal Oswal Asset Management
Indian asset manager using a GIFT City dollar-fund platform to sell India equity to NRIs, foreign family offices and institutions.
Dedicated NRI team
No
Strategy tenure
GIFT City fund platform live since June 2024
India onshore arc
Onshore active
Hubs
GIFT City, India onshore
Motilal Oswal AMC runs a GIFT City (IFSC) fund platform, through Motilal Oswal Alternative IFSC Private Limited, built to sell dollar-denominated India equity exposure to non-resident Indians, foreign investors and family offices. It operates two Category III AIF vehicles — a Founders-tilt strategy (the Alternative Investment (IFSC) Trust) and a feeder into its onshore Large & Midcap fund — and self-reports over $250 million of investor commitments on the platform. This is a product-manufacturer's route into the NRI wallet: no offshore branch, but a GIFT City wrapper that removes Indian capital-gains friction for dollar investors.
Why it matters
Motilal Oswal shows the second, cheaper way Indian firms reach the NRI: not a private-banking branch in Dubai but a GIFT City fund wrapper that lets a non-resident buy Indian equity in dollars without PFIC or Indian capital-gains drag. That the platform crossed $250m of commitments in roughly two years — with reported traction from Dubai and Africa — signals GIFT City is becoming the default product rail for diaspora money that once went through Singapore or Mauritius structures.
By the numbers
$250m+
Investor commitments on Motilal Oswal's GIFT City Category III AIF platform (self-reported)
Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund (GIFT City page) · Aug 2026 · self-reported
$115m
Motilal Oswal GIFT City Fund AUM garnered to date, per Akhil Chaturvedi (ED & CBO)
PMS Bazaar · 2025 · self-reported
The journey
GIFT City dollar India-equity fund launched for NRIs and foreign investors
Motilal Oswal launched an open-ended, multi-cap, long-only India equity fund domiciled in GIFT City, registered as a Category III AIF with the IFSCA. The platform's eligible investors explicitly include NRI/PIO, foreign investors, corporates/family offices and institutions; the two vehicles are the Founders-tilt Alternative Investment (IFSC) Trust (targeting companies where the founders' stake is more than 26%) and a dollar-denominated fund-of-funds feeding the onshore Large & Midcap fund.
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