This announcement came ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024, and the company said that it would invest over some time and after necessary approvals.
A global financial hub
According to the official announcement, GIFT City is set to become a global financial hub putting India on the world map for innovation and cross-border activity. Moreover, Paytm seeks to prove its capability to build new tech for users across the globe looking to invest in India. As a player in real-time payments and settlements in India, the company also aims to reduce friction in cross-border remittances with faster and cost-effective solutions, driven by Artificial Intelligence.
Leveraging its position as a tech company that seeks to innovate, Paytm set up a development centre in GIFT City to build solutions and provide a technology foundation. This centre would create jobs and house engineers to develop a suite of financial products and services. Furthermore, the company intends to leverage this investment to establish a dedicated development centre.
As per Paytm's official statement, this investment in GIFT City represents an important step towards building an Artificial Intelligence-driven cross-border remittance and payments technology landscape, presenting global opportunities. This will enable the company to provide fast, reliable, and cost-effective remittance solutions, reducing friction, at a global scale. Moreover, it is projected to encourage overseas investors due to its flexibility to maintain foreign currency accounts.
More about Paytm's previous developments
India-based fintech specialised in digital payments and financial services Paytm offers consumers and merchants a comprehensive suite of payment solutions, aiming to bring Indian communities into the mainstream economy through technology-led financial services. At the beginning of September 2023, the company launched Card Soundbox, a Soundbox in the region set to accept all local and international card payments. Through this, Paytm enabled merchants to accept both mobile and card payments across all Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and RuPay networks through its Soundbox with tap-and-pay functionality.
Moreover, in August 2023, Ant Group announced that it wanted to substitute approximately 50% of its equity stake in Paytm in exchange for convertible debt. Reportedly, the decision was based on the recently increasing geopolitical tensions in the area, as New Delhi imposed a crackdown that singles out Chinese enterprises.