550 Foreign Portfolio Investors register in April-May

As many as 550 new Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have registered with capital markets regulator Sebi in the first two months of the ongoing fiscal, indicating their willingness to be part of India’s growth story. This is over and above the nearly 2,900 additional FPIs who got approval from Sebi during 2015-16. A total of 550 additional FPIs got approval from Sebi in the first two months (April-May) of the current fiscal 2016-17, taking the total number of such investors to 4,861, data from Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed. FPI investors consider India as a preferred and stable market given its macro-economic stability, long-term growth prospects and ongoing economic and social reforms, market experts said. 

They pumped in nearly Rs 13,000 crore in the capital markets (debt and equity) in April-May. In a major revamp, Sebi in 2014 had released norms that clubbed different categories of foreign investors into a new class called FPIs. FPIs have been divided into three categories as per their risk profile and the KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements, while other registration procedures have been made simpler for them. They are granted permanent registration, as against the earlier practice of approvals granted for one year or five years to the overseas entities seeking to invest in Indian markets.