In 2015, Indian startups were racing to “flip” their holding companies to Singapore, Delaware, or Dubai for easier capital, lower taxes, and global swagger. A decade later, the script has flipped, literally. In 2025, a quiet but powerful “reverse flip” wave is bringing India’s biggest unicorns back home. PhonePe kicked it off in 2023, followed by Pine Labs, Zepto, Meesho, and now even Razorpay and Groww are shifting their headquarters back to India. This isn’t nostalgia; it’s cold, hard business sense.
Why the U-turn makes perfect sense now
- India finally fixed the playbook The 2024-25 Union Budget delivered the knockout punch to inversion: capital gains tax parity between listed and unlisted securities, removal of angel tax, and a simpler TDS regime. The message was clear: stay Indian, still get world-class treatment.
- Global investors don’t care about the passport anymore Sequoia, Tiger Global, and SoftBank have poured billions into GIFT City entities and Indian holding companies without blinking. The old argument that “foreign LPs only invest in Delaware/Singapore structures” is officially dead.
- Pride + Profits = Patriotism 2.0 Founders are openly saying it: listing on BSE/NSE gives them hero status, deeper local liquidity, and ESOP wealth creation for thousands of Indian employees. When Zepto’s Aadit Palicha said, “We want our IPO to ring the bell in Mumbai, not New York,” the internet broke with pride.
- The math is brutal in reverse Keeping a Singapore/Delaware parent now means double taxation headaches, higher compliance costs, and RBI scrutiny every time money moves. Reverse flipping often saves 8–12% in effective tax and compliance drag. That’s real money at unicorn scale.
- GIFT City is the new Singapore (but better) Zero tax on offshore funds, 10-year income tax holiday for fund managers, and dollar accounting; GIFT City has become the cheat code founders always wanted, except it’s on Indian soil.
Who’s already home (2025 leaderboard)
- PhonePe: Completed ₹8,000 Cr shift in 2023
- Pine Labs: Back in 2024
- Zepto: Announced full domicile shift in Jan 2025
- Meesho: Finalizing reverse flip by March 2025
- Razorpay & Groww: In advanced stages
- KreditBee, slice, and five others in the pipeline
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Last Updated on: Saturday, December 6, 2025 4:17 pm by Economic Edge Team | Published by: Economic Edge Team on Saturday, December 6, 2025 4:17 pm | News Categories: Startup
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