Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman today relaxed the investment rules for persons residing outside India (PROI) with an aim to broaden the capital equity base, increase foreign investment and promote ease of doing business. Sitharaman, in her ninth consecutive budget speech, said that PROIs will be permitted to invest in equity instruments of listed Indian companies through the portfolio investment scheme. She proposed that the investment limit of individual PROIs in equity instruments of listed Indian companies through the scheme be increased to 10% from the current 5%. The combined investment limit for individual PROIs will be increased to 24% from the current 10%, she said. The portfolio investment scheme allows NRIs to buy and sell shares and convertible debentures of Indian companies listed on recognised stock exchanges. Currently, PROIs are allowed to invest in the equity instruments of Indian corporates through foreign direct investment (FDI) or foreign portfolio investment (FPI) routes. There are about 35.4 Mn overseas Indians, of which 15.8 Mn are Indian citizens, and 19.6 Mn are persons of Indian origin. This comes at a time when foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been on a persistent selling spree in the Indian equities market. These investors have registered net… Read MoreInc42 Media
