Arun Jaitley pitches India story, finds takers in fund managers

NEW DELHI: Asserting that India’s macroeconomic parameters are sound, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said that foreign investors are looking for alternatives to China when it comes to manufacturing, and are keen that the reforms process in India is not derailed.
Fund managers remain confident of the India story despite the recent selloff, Jaitley, who is travelling to Singapore and Hong Kong to meet foreign investors and fund houses, said.
“The number of investors are quite different in the West than East, but the approach is the same. They are very keen on India. In fact, quite a number of them are bullish on India and many of them are optimistic – but cautiously so – because they want the Indian reform story to go on and they do not want domestic constraints of India’s politics to block that story,” says Jaitley in an exclusive interview with ET Now.

India’s macroeconomics parameters are not in terms of any debate. What investors the world over are now asking is whether India has the potential to sit on that big table and carry on the reform process,” he added.

Jaitley added that investors are looking for alternatives to manufacturing hubs in China, particularly in view of the changed global scenario. And when investors are re-adjusting their investments, India ranks fairly high on their priorities.

Over the weekend, he said India would give better returns than many other countries, and assured that the government was working to expeditiously resolve tax disputes involving three overseas companies.

Huge selloff by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the last couple of months has got everyone worried. However, experts are of the view that the correction is more technical in nature, and investors should remain invested as the bull-run still stays.