P-note investments hit 7-month high of ₹1.81 lakh crore in May
NEW DELHI: Investments in domestic capital markets via participatory notes (P-notes) have surprisingly surged to a seven-month high of Rs 1.81 lakh crore at the end of May despite stringent norms put in place by Sebi to curb inflow of illicit funds.
P-notes are issued by registered Foreign Portfolio Investors to overseas investors who wish to be a part of the Indian stock markets without registering themselves directly.
They however need to go through a proper due diligence process.
According to Sebi data, total value of P-note investments in Indian markets - equity, debt and derivatives - increased to Rs 1,80,718 crore at May-end after hitting a four-month low of Rs 1,68,545 crore at the end of April.
In May, investments through the route had touched the highest level since October last year, when the cumulative value of such investments stood at Rs 1,99,987 crore.
Of the total, P-note holdings in equities were at Rs 1.09 lakh crore at May-end and the remaining were in debt and derivatives markets.
However, the quantum of FPI investments via P-notes rose to 6.3 per cent in May from 6 per cent in the preceding month.
Last week, Sebi tightened P-note norms by levying a fee of $1,000 on each instrument and barred their issuance for speculative purposes to check any misuse for channelising black money.
At the same time, Sebi decided to relax the entry norms for foreign portfolio investors willing to invest directly in Indian markets rather than through participatory notes.
The new measures follow a slew of other steps taken by the regulator in the recent past.
Earlier in April, the regulator barred resident Indians, NRIS and entities owned by them from making investment through P-notes. NEW DELHI: After bringing in two policies to boost the domestic steel sector, a slew of steps are on to achieve the target of 300 million tonnes (MT) of output, Steel Minister Choudhary Birender Singh said on Thursday.
Urging steel producers to come forward to achieve the ambitious target, the minister also said he has asked Coal India to ensure sufficient supply of the fuel.
The Cabinet, in May, approved two policies, including the National Steel Policy 2017 that envisages Rs 10 lakh crore investment to take capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31, to give a boost to the domestic steel sector.
The country's steel output is about 100 million tonnes at present.
"National Steel Policy 2005 fell short of expectations to meet the developments in the Indian steel sector. The National Steel Policy 2017 comes with an aim to make India self sufficient ... to meet demand for high grade steel, electrical steel, special steel and alloys, an area where support from all steel producers is crucial," Singh said.
Addressing a workshop on National Steel Policy 2017 and policy for providing preference to domestically manufactured iron and steel products (DMI&SP) in government procurement, he said, "value addition, research and development, raw material security are some of important points in our steel policy".
With this vision, "We had meeting with Coal Ministry to take quick decisions pertaining to thrust areas. Coal India Ltd and Bharat Coking Coal Ltd have agreed to set up 12 new coking coal washeries by 2019-20.
"For this I have asked that they should give a road-map as to how many would be in place for function... Not all should take three years to be functional." Singh said Coal India Ltd is also working on acquiring coking coal assets, increasing domestic production and minimising diversion of coking coal to thermal plants.
He expressed hope that coking coal imports will be reduced by 20-25 per cent due to these measures. The government's focus is also on reducing dependence on imports for raw materials required for steel making and reduce the input cost.