New Delhi, India. Photo credit: Altaf Qadri / AP / Profimedia
India announced on Sunday a liberalization of its capital markets, allowing, for the first time, for people living outside the country to invest directly in Indian shares through a simplified mechanism, which eliminates the need to operate exclusively through institutional channels, write EFE and Agerpres.
The measure, unveiled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the presentation of the 2026-2027 budget, aims to deepen financial markets and attract global retail capital at a time of high volatility.
“Persons resident outside India will be allowed to invest in equity instruments of listed Indian companies through the Portfolio Investment Plan. It is also proposed to increase the investment limit for such persons from 5% to 10%,” Sitharaman said during his speech in Parliament.
Hitherto, the entry of foreign capital into India was dominated by large registered funds or through specific channels for the Indian diaspora.
To encourage this entry into the capital markets, New Delhi has raised the investment ceiling for a foreign person in a company listed on the Indian stock exchange from 5% to 10%.
A Western-style open scholarship
This decision represents a game changer for international investing, allowing for the first time any individual investor outside India to directly buy shares in giants such as Reliance or Tata, without depending on investment funds that charge high fees.
In practice, India is removing “barriers to entry” and positioning itself as an open, Western-style stock exchange, which could inject billions of dollars into a market that aspires to be the real alternative to investing in China.
This openness is also a sign of confidence for markets such as the European Union, facilitating the free movement of European capital to sectors that benefit from free trade agreements.
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