Foreign investors tend to take out their investment from the Indian capital markets by selling the equity shares and bonds worth Rs.19,810 crore and Rs.12,167 crores respectively. Hence the nation has to face capital plunge of total Rs.31,977 crores immediately after the second quarter.
The probable reason behind this decision of the Foreign investors is the changes of the global markets and slowing down of the world economy. Also the trade war between the two neighbouring nations, India and China has led to the pull out, is estimated till now.
FDI in India is a major monetary source for economic development. Foreign companies invest directly in the fast growing private Indian companies to take benefits of cheaper wages and changing business environment in the country. Foreign investment was introduced in 1991 under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), driven by the then finance minister Manmohan Singh. As Singh subsequently became the prime minister, this has been one of his top political problems, even in the current times.
According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) the total FDI in India in the first quarter (April–June 2018) stood to $12.75 billion, and that raised by almost 7% as compared to the previous year, indicating that government’s efforts to improve ease of doing business and relaxation in FDI norms.
“Rising rates in US, strengthening dollar and higher US earnings have been triggers for money moving out of India and other emerging markets to the US. There may be other reasons too, like US sanctions on Iran as it is the major source of crude oil in India. Besides India has some key elections coming up, which may provide cues to FPIs for next year’s central elections.”, said Vidya Bala, Head of Mutual Fund Research at FundsIndia, explaining the reasons for the pull out.
The World Bank had stated that private investments in India had to grow by 8.8% in 2018-19 to overcome the private consumption growth of 7.4% and thereby drive the growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in India in 2018-19. With this pull out from the Indian capital, it is captivating to note the further change in the Industrial and the business sector.