‘China-plus: India not a natural choice’
Edited excerpts: From a markets point of view, liquidity is back in some form. Whether from foreign investors’ point of view, FOMO or whatever it maybe, the fact is that our markets outperformed our neighbours. The broad investment theme is that companies that are actually run well are finding takers.
Whether it’s global or domestic liquidity, I think a lot of it is available for risk assets. You’re seeing that reflected in all the stuff being spoken about. Not really.
That perhaps is there on people’s minds. But it is not translating into investment action by large investors. So, it is naive for us to assume that simply because people are less focused on China, India will be the natural beneficiary.
The world doesn’t work like that. For that to be a reality a lot of work has to be done to make ourselves an equally attractive investment destination. So, it’s a work in progress.
Some of the decisions regarding particularly long-term, locked-in investments, whether private equity, or real estate, etc., are very calibrated. In that sense, today, for example, while they may have a positive view on India, there are several other things that they will have to take into account. The reality is that we’re going to have an election in the next 12 months.
What if you make a commitment for the next seven years and there is an election outcome which is different from the expected result. So, are investors positive about India? Yes. Are they taking long term bets? Not yet.
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