India’s economy has seen a major transformation over recent decades. Today, it is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing major economies, an increasingly important destination for international capital and home to a new generation of businesses, investors and financial institutions with ambitions that extend far beyond its borders.
As India enters its next phase of growth, its story is becoming increasingly international, with capital and business moving in both directions.
While international investors have long sought exposure to India’s growth, Indian businesses are increasingly expanding into new markets, investment managers are looking for opportunities overseas and financial institutions are developing a greater global footprint.
This represents an important evolution, moving from a major destination for global investment to an increasingly significant source of international business and capital in its own right.
But as businesses and capital become more international, so too must the financial infrastructure supporting them.
Internationalisation requires international financial infrastructure
Companies operating across multiple markets need structures that match their ambition. A business that wants to raise capital from investors in multiple different jurisdictions, hold assets across several more, and give comfort to international co-investors and regulators alike cannot rely solely on domestic structures built for domestic purposes. It needs vehicles that are trusted internationally, understood by banks and law firms in every major financial centre, and flexible enough to accommodate complex, cross-border ownership and investment structures.
International financial centres (IFCs) such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) have long played this connective role in the global economy, and it is a role that is becoming more, not less, relevant as India’s outward ambitions grow.
There is an established relationship to build on
Importantly, the relationship between India and the BVI is not starting from scratch.
BVI structures have supported Indian cross-border investment for more than two decades. Between 2000 and 2026, US$9.55 billion of Indian overseas direct investment flowed to the BVI, placing it among the top ten destinations for cumulative Indian ODI over the period, providing a significant foundation on which to build.
The opportunity now is to consider what this relationship could look like as the next generation of Indian businesses, family offices, asset managers and investors becomes increasingly international.
India’s expanding economic relationships with markets around the world, including across BRICS and other major growth economies, mean its businesses are operating across a broader and more complex network of markets. As those relationships deepen, trusted international partners capable of connecting businesses and capital across different legal and financial systems will become increasingly valuable.
For the BVI, the opportunity is to support that expansion, helping Indian businesses establish international structures, connect with global investors and deploy capital overseas, while also providing international investors with established structures through which they can participate in India’s continued growth.
The opportunity is about partnership, not competition
India is itself building a fast-developing and internationally connected financial services ecosystem. The development of GIFT City is an important part of that story, creating a growing international financial centre within India and strengthening the infrastructure available to Indian and international financial institutions.
That is a welcome and necessary development. The opportunity for the BVI sits alongside it, not against it. International centres like the BVI are not a substitute for a domestic financial hub, they are a complement to it, offering routes into other markets, other pools of capital and other regulatory environments that a business will need at various points in its international journey.
Indian fund managers, for example, can use domestic and GIFT City structures alongside international vehicles where appropriate, allowing them to connect Indian investment expertise and opportunities with investors and pools of capital across multiple markets.
The same principle applies more broadly to Indian companies expanding overseas. International structures can sit alongside their Indian operations, providing platforms for joint ventures, international holding structures, capital raising, acquisitions and investment into new markets.
The result is a more connected financial ecosystem in which different jurisdictions contribute different capabilities, making it easier for businesses and capital to move efficiently and responsibly across borders.
A partnership for India’s next phase
What can BVI structures offer Indian businesses?
The BVI brings an established proposition for international growth. Its role as an IFC has been built around providing businesses and investors with structures that can operate efficiently across different markets, legal systems and pools of capital.
It also combines flexible corporate and fund structures with an internationally familiar common-law legal system and a deep professional services ecosystem, including specialist lawyers, accountants, corporate service providers and fund professionals experienced in supporting cross-border business and investment.
This is underpinned by robust regulation, transparency, regulatory cooperation and adherence to international standards, providing businesses and investors with a trusted platform through which to raise and deploy capital, establish joint ventures, make acquisitions and manage investments internationally.
These capabilities have been developed over decades of facilitating international investment for businesses and investors setting out to operate, raise capital and grow across borders with confidence.
As India’s outward economic story gathers pace, the question for its businesses, investors and financial institutions will increasingly be less about whether to go global, and more about how to do it well. The BVI has a long history supporting those with international ambitions, providing trusted financial infrastructure that connects Indian businesses and investors with markets, opportunities and capital around the world.
The BVI’s first dedicated financial services trade mission to India is an important step in building that partnership and ensuring the financial connections are in place to support the next chapter of India’s global growth.
