Around 2,100 new foreign portfolio investors register in Apr-Nov FY17

New Delhi: Nearly 2,100 new foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have registered with capital markets watchdog Sebi in April-November period of the current fiscal.

In the entire last fiscal, a total of 2,900 FPIs had received approval from Sebi.

The number of FPIs with Sebi approval rose to 6,406 at the end of November from 4,311 in March-end, reflecting an addition of 2,095 such investors, according to the latest data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

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.

Besides, Sebi has decided to offer direct entry to well-regulated foreign investors for investing in corporate bonds, they added.

Further, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech, proposed that category I and II FPIs should be exempted from taxation on indirect transfers, which would also help.

In a big revamp, Sebi had in 2014 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 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 approval granted for one or five years to overseas entities seeking to invest in Indian markets. The registration remains permanent unless suspended or cancelled by the board or surrendered by FPI.