Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) with operations in India are confident that the new Narendra Modi-led government, will move ahead with the reform process and expedite decisions on key projects.
“The election results can now redefine the country,” Devesh Kumar, Managing Director and Country Head of Malaysia-headquartered CIMB Securities India, told this correspondent. “The areas he needs to address immediately are revitalisation of the banking sector and revival of important sectors like power, iron and steel, mining and infrastructure.’’
He also felt that Mr. Modi would do well to address the problem of multiple windows for project clearances.
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Statistics from market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) show that since September 2013, when Mr. Modi’s name was announced as the prime ministerial candidate, net investments by FIIs in India crossed Rs.100,000 crore including Rs.88,772 crore in equities and Rs.13,399 crore in debt.
“As indicated by the market’s performance in the lead-up to the election, expectations are exceptionally high for the new government with regard to reforms and governance,” a Deutsche Bank report said, adding that the government was expected to first get project clearance and implementation expedited, reduce regulatory uncertainty and simplify procedures for obtaining clearances.
“We believe that the new government will be progressive and help create a strong governance and investment environment for growth,” said Vijayan S., Head, Treasury & Markets, DBS Bank-India. The Singapore-headquartered institution sees confidence among domestic and foreign investors returning to India and expects India to remain a very promising destination.
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A Morgan Stanley report said the election results could be “an inflexion point for India’s story. The electorate’s strong and high quality mandate is for development, in our view. This increases the chances that the government focuses on accelerating growth and slowing inflation.’’
According to UBS Securities, “we believe the reason investors were hopeful of a Modi-led BJP win was his track-record in Gujarat as well as his political campaign focussed around development rather than populism. With a strong mandate, we believe India’s growth story will remain strong, at least in the next few months.’’
UBS said the path to strong long-term economic growth implied some pain in the interim, especially given the fiscal consolidation imperative and inflation moderation target. “Given that Mr. Modi has won a strong mandate on a campaign focussed around driving higher growth, markets will likely continue to believe that the policy outline will be positive. Our view is that it will be.”