Reflecting a strong interest of overseas investors in the capital markets, over 1,800 new FPIs registered with Sebi during the first eight months of the current financial year. The capital markets had seen 1,444 newly registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the whole of fiscal 2014-15, according to latest data from Sebi.
The investor sentiment has witnessed a major boost following the formation of the business-friendly Narendra Modi-led government in May 2014. An analysis of the data shows that 1,813 additional FPIs got approval from the capital market regulator during the period April-November, taking the total number of such investors in the country to 3,257.
In a major revamp, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in 2014 had released norms that had clubbed different categories of foreign investors into a new class called FPIs. Under the new regime, FPIs have been divided into three categories as per their risk profile and the KYC (know your client) requirements, while other registration procedures have been made simpler for them.
FPIs are granted a permanent registration, as against the earlier practice wherein approvals were granted for one year or five years to the overseas entities seeking to invest in Indian markets. The registration remains permanent unless suspended or cancelled by the board or surrendered by the FPI.
Meanwhile, according to the data, the number of ‘deemed FPIs’ stood at 5,327 during first seven months of the current fiscal. The number of such investors totalled 6,772 in the previous fiscal.
FPIs (including deemed FPIs) from 55 different jurisdictions had been registered with Sebi.
Of these, the US takes the highest share with most FPIs (2,905), followed by Luxembourg (873), Canada (591), Mauritius (579), the UK (567), Ireland (399) and Japan (319) as on March 31, 2015.