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FII in India reaches record $4bn in May
June 3, 2013, 3:14 am

File photo of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a session of an India-UK investment summit at Lancaster . (Getty Images)

File photo of India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a session of an India-UK investment summit at Lancaster [Getty Images]

Foreign investment pumped in more than $4 billion in the Indian stock market in May, the highest level in three months.

The staggering inflow in May comes after a 16-month low in April.

With this, the total foreign investor investment in the country’s equity market has reached $15.35 billion since the beginning of 2013.

This data was released by India’s market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India)

According to market experts, foreign investors are pouring money into Indian stock market due to global liquidity.

A slew of reform measures taken by the government in September 2012, also helped boost sentiment towards India.

The government has set up a Cabinet Committee on Investment, under prime minister Manmohan Singh, to accord fast track clearances to large infrastructure projects.

Indian Finance minister P. Chidambaram had asserted last week that a large amount of foreign investment is flowing into India.

FIIs, the main driver of the Indian market, pushed up the Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark Sensex by 256 points, or 1.3 per cent, during the month of May as compared to the previous month.

Apart from equity, FIIs have also poured in Rs 5,969 crore ($1.2 million) in the debt market last month taking the total investment to Rs 24,047 crore ($4.5 billion) in the segment so far this year.

As on May 31, the number of registered FIIs in the country stood at 1,758 and total number of sub-accounts were 6,404 during the same period.

In what can be seen as a major vindication of the slew of recent reforms unleashed by India, the OECD has asserted that the Indian economy is likely to have surpassed Japan to be the third largest economy globally.

“India has probably recently surpassed Japan to be the third largest,” said the OECD’s twice yearly report last week.

With inputs from Agencies