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Until the 1980s, India’s development strategy was focused on self-reliance and import-substitution. Current account
deficits were financed largely through debt flows and official development assistance. There was a general disinclination
towards foreign investment or private commercial flows. Since the initiation of the reform process in the early 1990s,
however, India’s policy stance has changed substantially, with a focus on harnessing the growing global foreign direct
investment (FDI) and portfolio flows. The broad approach to reform in the external sector after the Gulf crisis was delineated
in the Report of the High Level Committee on Balance of Payments (Chairman: C. Rangarajan). It recommended, inter
alia, a compositional shift in capital flows away from debt to non-debt creating flows; strict regulation of external
commercial borrowings, especially short-term debt; discouraging volatile elements of flows from non-resident Indians
(NRIs); gradual liberalisation of outflows; and dis-intermediation of Government in the flow of external assistance.
After the launch of the reforms in the early 1990s, there was a gradual shift towards capital account convertibility. From
September 14, 1992, with suitable restrictions, FIIs and Overseas Corporate Bodies (OCBs) were permitted to invest in
financial instruments.2 The policy framework for permitting FII investment was provided under the Government of India
guidelines vide Press Note dated September 14, 1992, which enjoined upon FIIs to obtain an initial registration with SEBI
and also RBI’s general permission under FERA. Both SEBI’s registration and RBI’s general permissions under FERA were
to hold good for five years and were to be renewed after that period. RBI’s general permission under FERA could enable
the registered FII to buy, sell and realise capital gains on investments made through initial corpus remitted to India, to
invest on all recognised stock exchanges through a designated bank branch, and to appoint domestic custodians for
custody of investments held. The Government guidelines of 1992 also provided for eligibility conditions for registration,
such as track record, professional competence, financial soundness and other relevant criteria, including registration
with a regulatory organisation in the home country. The guidelines were suitably incorporated under the SEBI (FIIs)
Regulations, 1995. These regulations continue to maintain the link with the government guidelines by inserting a clause
to indicate that the investment by FIIs should also be subject to Government guidelines. This linkage has allowed the
Government to indicate various investment limits including in specific sectors.
With coming into force of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, (FEMA), 1999 in 2000, the Foreign Exchange
Management (Transfer or issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India) Regulations, 2000 were issued to provide
the foreign exchange control context where foreign exchange related transactions of FIIs were permitted by RBI. A
philosophy of preference for institutional funds, and prohibition on portfolio investments by foreign natural persons has
been followed, except in the case of Non-resident Indians, where direct participation by individuals takes place. Right
1 Source: Report of Expert Group on Encouraging FII Flows and Checking the Vulnerability of Capital Markets to Speculative fl ows, November,
2005
2 An OCB is a company, partnership firm, society and other corporate body owned directly or indirectly to the extent of at least sixty per cent by
NRIs and includes overseas trust in which not less than sixty per cent beneficial interest is held by NRIs directly or indirectly but irrevocably.
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187 Foreign Institutional Investors in India IS M R
from 1992, FIIs have been allowed to invest in all securities traded on the primary and secondary markets, including
shares, debentures and warrants issued by companies which were listed or were to be listed on the Stock Exchanges in
India and in schemes floated by domestic mutual funds.
Historical evolution of FII Policy is summarized below:
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I S MR Foreign Institutional Investors in India 188
As is evident from the above, the evolution of FII policy in India has displayed a steady and cautious approach to
liberalisation of a system of quantitative restrictions (QRs). The policy liberalisation has taken the form of (i) relaxation
of investment limits for FIIs; (ii) relaxation of eligibility conditions; and (iii) liberalisation of investment instruments
accessible for FIIs.
Policy Developments
I. Permission for Short selling of Equity Shares by SEBI registered FIIs
SEBI registered FIIs / subaccounts of FIIs were permitted to buy / sell equity shares / debentures of Indian companies.
However, they were not allowed to engage in short selling and were required to take delivery of securities purchased
and give delivery of securities sold.
After a due consultation process, it was decided to permit FIIs registered with SEBI and sub-accounts of FIIs to short sell,
lend and borrow equity shares of Indian companies, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed in that behalf by
the Reserve Bank and the SEBI / other regulatory agencies from time to time.
Accordingly, RBI, through a circular dated 31st December, 2007, permitted the above subject to the following
conditions:
(i) The FII participation in short selling as well as borrowing / lending of equity shares will be subject to the current
FDI policy and short selling of equity shares by FIIs would not be permitted for equity shares which are in the ban
list and / or caution list of Reserve Bank.
(ii) Borrowing of equity shares by FIIs would only be for the purpose of delivery into short sale.
(iii) The margin / collateral would be maintained by FIIs only in the form of cash. No interest would be paid to the FII
on such margin/collateral.
RBI further provided that the designated custodian banks should separately report all transactions pertaining to short
selling of equity shares and lending and borrowing of equity shares by FIIs in their daily reporting with a suitable remark
(short sold / lent / borrowed equity shares) for the purpose of monitoring by the Reserve Bank.
SEBI also issued an amendment to the FII Regulations permitting FIIs to short sell and lend and borrow securities.
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189 Foreign Institutional Investors in India IS M R
3. As mentioned above, the investments by FIIs/ Sub Accounts in debt oriented mutual fund schemes should now be
reckoned as investments in corporate debt. On re-calculating the investment figures for investments by FIIs/ Sub
Accounts in corporate debt, by including their investments in units of debt oriented mutual funds, it is seen that the
corporate debt investments exceed the permissible limit of US $1.5 billion. Thus, in order to conform to the stated
limit, there should be no further investment, or rollover, of existing position in corporate debt, by both 100% debt
and normal 70:30 FIIs, till the holdings fall within the stipulated limit of US $1.5 billion.
Government of India decided to allow foreign investment in Commodity Exchanges subject to the following
conditions:
i) There would be a composite ceiling of 49% Foreign Investment, with a FDI limit of 26% and an FII limit of 23%.
ii) FDI will be allowed with specific approval of the Government.
iii) The FII purchases in equity of Commodity Exchanges will be restricted only to the secondary markets.
iv) Foreign Investment in Commodity Exchanges would also be subject to compliance with the regulations issued, in
this regard, by the Forward Market Commission.
Accordingly, a necessary circular was issued by RBI on 28th April, 2008.
The Government decided to allow foreign investment in Credit Information Companies in compliance with the Credit
Information Companies (Regulations) Act 2005 and subject to the following:
i) The aggregate Foreign Investment in Credit Information Companies would be 49%.
ii) Foreign Investment upto 49% would be allowed only with the prior approval of FIPB and regulatory clearance from
RBI.
iii) Investment by SEBI Registered FIIs would be permitted only through purchases in the secondary market to an extent
of 24%.
iv) Investment by SEBI Registered FIIs would be within the overall limit of 49% for Foreign Investment.
Accordingly, a necessary circular was issued by RBI on 28th April, 2008.
The Government reviewed the External Commercial Borrowing policy and increased the cumulative debt investment
limits from US $3.2 billion to US $5 billion and US $1.5 billion to US $3 billion for FII investments in Government
Securities and Corporate Debt, respectively. Accordingly, SEBI issued a necessary circular giving effect to this decision
on June 6, 2008.
It was further provided that the enhanced limits should be allocated among the FIIs on a ‘first come first served’ basis in
terms of SEBI’s earlier circular dated January 31, 2008, subject to a ceiling of US $200 million per registered entity.
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I S MR Foreign Institutional Investors in India 190
Market Design
Entities eligible to As FII:
invest under FII route: (i) an institution established or incorporated outside India as a pension fund, mutual fund,
investment trust, insurance company or reinsurance company;
(ii) an International or Multilateral Organization or an agency thereof or a Foreign
Governmental Agency, Sovereign Wealth Fund or a Foreign Central Bank;
(iii) an asset management company, investment manager or advisor, bank or institutional
portfolio manager, established or incorporated outside India and proposing to make
investments in India on behalf of broad based funds and its proprietary funds, if any;
(iv) a Trustee of a trust established outside India, and proposing to make investments in India
on behalf of broad based funds and its proprietary funds, if any
(iv) university fund, endowments, foundations or charitable trusts or charitable societies
‘broad based fund” means a fund established or incorporated outside India, which has at least
twenty investor with no single individual investor holding more hat fort-nine per cet of the
shares or units of the fund
As Sub-accounts: The sub account is generally the underlying fund on whose behalf the FII
invests. The eligibility conditions for sub-accounts include:
(i) the applicant may be an institution or fund or portfolio established or incorporated outside
India and proposes to make investment in India;
(ii) the applicant may be a broad based fund or proprietary fund or a foreign institutional
investor or a foreign corporate or foreign individual;
(iii) the Foreign Institutional Investor through whom the application for registration is made
to the Board holds a certificate of registration as Foreign Institutional Investor.
A non-resident Indian or an overseas corporate body registered with Reserve Bank of India
should not be eligible to invest as sub-account or as foreign institutional investor.
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191 Foreign Institutional Investors in India IS M R
The total investments in equity and equity related instruments (including fully convertible
debentures, convertible portion of partially convertible debentures and tradable warrants)
made by a FII in India, whether on his own account or on account of his sub- accounts,
should not be less than seventy per cent of the aggregate of all the investments of the Foreign
Institutional Investor in India, made on his own account and on account of his sub-accounts.
However, this is not applicable to any investment of the foreign institutional investor either
on its own account or on behalf of its sub-accounts in debt securities which are unlisted or
listed or to be listed on any stock exchange if the prior approval of the SEBI has been obtained
for such investments. Further, SEBI while granting approval for the investments may impose
conditions as are necessary with respect to the maximum amount which can be invested
in the debt securities by the foreign institutional investor on its own account or through its
sub-accounts. A foreign corporate or individual is not eligible to invest through the hundred
percent debt route.
Investments made by FIIs in security receipts issued by securitization companies or asset
reconstruction companies under the Securitiation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and
Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 are not eligible for the investment limits mentioned
above. No foreign institutional can invest in security receipts on behalf of its sub-account.
FII Investment in secondary markets:
SEBI regulations provide that a foreign institutional investor or sub-account can transact in the
Indian securities market only on the basis of taking and giving delivery of securities purchased
or sold. However, this does not apply to any transactions in derivatives on a recognised stock
exchange.
Further, SEBI has, in December, 2007 permitted FIIs and sub-accounts to enter into short
selling transactions only in accordance with the framework specified by SEBI in this regard.
No transaction on the stock exchange would be carried forward and the transaction in
securities would be only through stock broker who has been granted a certificate by SEBI.
They has also been allowed to lend or borrow securities in accordance with the framework
specified by SEBI in this regard.
A Foreign institutional investor can issue, or otherwise deal in offshore derivative instruments,
directly of indirectly wherein the offshore derivative instruments are issued only to persons
who are regulated by an appropriate foreign regulatory authority and the ODIs are issued after
compliance with ‘know your client’ norms.
General Obligations Certain general obligations and responsibilities relating to appointment of domestic custodians,
And Responsibilities designated bank, investment advice in publicly accessible media etc. have been laid down on
the FIIs operating in the country in the SEBI, FII Regulations 1995.
Allocation of Funds The SEBI registered FII should restrict allocation of its investment between equities and debt
in the Indian Capital Market in the ratio 70:30. The FII may form a 100 % debt fund and get
such fund registered with SEBI. Investment in debt securities by FIIs are subject to limits if any
stipulated by SEBI in this regard.
Private Placement SEBI registered FIIs have been permitted to purchase shares/convertible debentures of an
with FIIs Indian company through offer/private placement subject to the ceiling of 10% of the paid up
capital of the Indian company for individual FII/sub account and 24% for all FIIs/sub accounts
put together.
Indian company is permitted to issue such shares provided that:
(i) in the case of public offer, the price of shares to be issued is not less than the price at
which shares are issued to residents and
(ii) in the case of issue by private placement, the price is not less than the price arrived at in
terms of SEBI guidelines issued by the erstwhile Controller of Capital issues as applicable.
Purchases can also be made of Partially Convertible debentures, Fully Convertible
debentures, Rights/Renunciations/Warrants/Units of Domestic Mutual Fund Schemes.
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I S MR Foreign Institutional Investors in India 192
Risk Management
Forward Cover & Authorized Dealer Banks can offer forward cover to FIIs to the extent of total inward remittance
Cancellation and of liquidated investment. Rebooking of cancelled forward contracts is allowed up to a limit
Rebooking of 2 % of the market value of the entire investment of FIIs in equity and/or debt in India.
The limit for calculating the eligibility for rebooking will be based upon market value of the
portfolio as at the beginning of the financial year (April-March). The outstanding contracts
have to be duly supported by underlying exposure at all times. The AD Category –I bank has
to ensure that (i) that total forward contracts outstanding doesn’t exceed the market value
of portfolio and (ii) forward contracts permitted to be rebooked doesn’t exceed 2 % of the
market value as determined at the beginning of the financial year. The monitoring of forward
cover is to be done on a fortnightly basis.
FII Position Limits In SEBI registered FIIs are allowed to trade in all exchange traded derivative contracts on the
Derivatives Contracts stock exchanges in India subject to the position limits as prescribed by SEBI from time to time.
These have been listed out in Chapter 7.
Monitoring of Position Limits for FII
Clearing Corporation monitors the open positions of the FII/ sub-account of the FII for each
underlying security and index, against the position limits specified at the level of FII/ sub-
accounts of FII respectively, at the end of each trading day.
Monitoring of The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monitors the investment position of FIIs in listed Indian
investment position Companies, reported by Custodian Banks on a daily basis in Form LEC(FII).
by RBI Caution List
When the total holdings of FIIs/NRIs under the Scheme reach the trigger limit, which is 2 %
below the applicable limit. Reserve Bank issues a notice to all the designated branches of an
Authorised Dealer banks stating that any further purchases of shares of the particular Indian
company will require prior approval of Reserve Bank. (For companies with paid-up capital
of Rs.1,000 crore and above, the trigger limit is 0.5 % below the applicable limit). RBI gives
case-by case approvals to FIIs for purchase of shares of companies included in the Caution
List. This is done on first-come-first served basis.
Ban List
Once the shareholding by FIIs/NRIs reaches the overall ceiling/sectoral cap/statutory limit,
Reserve Bank puts the company on the Ban List. Once a company is placed on the Ban
List, no FII or NRI can purchase the shares of the company under the Portfolio Investment
Scheme.
Margin Requirements SEBI registered FIIs/sub-accounts are allowed to keep with the trading member/clearing
member amount sufficient to cover the margins prescribed by the exchange/Clearing House
and such amounts as may be considered to meet the immediate needs.
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193 Foreign Institutional Investors in India IS M R
• A domestic asset management company or portfolio manager, who is registered with SEBI as an FII for managing
the fund of a sub-account can make investments under the Scheme on behalf of:
i. A person resident outside India who is a citizen of a foreign state or
ii. A body corporate registered outside India.
• However, such investment should be made out of funds raised or collected or brought from outside through normal
banking channel. Investments by such entities should not exceed 5 % of the total paid up equity capital or 5 %
of the paid up value of each series of convertible debentures issued by an Indian company, and should also not
exceed the overall ceiling specified for FIIs.
Market Outcome
Foreign Portfolio investments in India come in the form of investments in American Depository Receipts (ADRs)/
Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), Foreign Institutional Investments and investments in Offshore funds. However, FIIs
constitute a major proportion of such portfolio flows (Table 8-1). The share of FIIs in total portfolio flows was as high
as 95.97% in 2003-04 and 93.25% in 2004-05. It declined to 46% in 2006-07. This decline in FII investment in 2006-
07 can be attributed to global developments like meltdown in global commodities markets and equity market during
the three month period between May 2006 to July 2006, fall in Asian Equity markets, tightening of capital controls in
Thailand and its spill over effects.
Table 8-1: Composition of Foreign Portfolio Investment in India
( US $ mn )
Off-shore Total Foreign Portfolio % contribution of FIIs to
Year GDR/ADRs FIIs@ funds and Investments Total Foreign Portfolio
others Flows
2001-02 477 1,505 39 2,021 74.47
2002-03 600 377 2 979 38.51
2003-04 459 10,918 - 11,377 95.97
2004-05 613 8,686 16 9,315 93.25
2005-06 2,552 9,926 14 12,492 79.46
2006-07P 3,776 3,225 2 7,003 46.05
2007-08P 8,769 20,328 298 29,395 69.15
Source:RBI
P:Provisional
-:Nil/Negligible
@ Data represents net inflow of funds by FIIs
( ) indicates negative values
The share of FII investment in total portfolio investment for 2007-08 is provisionally estimated to be 69.15%. The large
FII inflows (net) in 2007-08 at USD 16 billion as against USD 6.7 billion in 2006-07 reflects increased participation of
FIIs in the primary market as corporates raised large resources through 85 initial public offerings (IPOs) and 7 follow-on
public offers (FPOs) aggregating to Rs 545,110 million. (US $ 13,638 million).
Looking at monthly trend in FII investments during 2007-08 (Table 8-2), it can be seen that net FII investment has been
positive during most of the months. The months of August 2007, November 2007, January, 2008 and March, 2008 saw
net outflows of FII investment, with the largest pull out of US $ 2727 mn in January, 2008.
During 2008-09, till June 2008, FIIs have been net sellers to the tune of US $ 4,189 million. This can be attributed to
the generally weak sentiments of investors following the global credit crisis which has engulfed the developed countries
and is seen to be affecting the developing countries as well.
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I S MR Foreign Institutional Investors in India 194
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195 Foreign Institutional Investors in India IS M R
1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- 1999- 2000- 2001- 2002- 2003- 2004- 2005- 2006- 2007-
Year
93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08
End of
0 3 156 353 439 496 450 506 527 490 502 540 685 882 997 1,319
March
Source: SEBI
Highest net investment in equity by FIIs was seen in 2007-08 of Rs. 534,038 million (US $ 13,361 million) an increase
of 112% over the 2006-07 net investment figure of Rs 252,370 million (US $ 5,790 million) During the first quarter of
the fiscal 2008-09, FIIs have been net sellers in the equity market. They have sold equity worth Rs. 140,325 million
(US $ 3,267 million) (Table 8-3)
Table 8-3: Net Investments by Foreign Institutional Investors in Equity and Debt
( Rs. million)
FIIs
Year Net Investment Net Investment
in Equity in Debt
Contd.
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I S MR Foreign Institutional Investors in India 196
Contd.
( Rs. million)
FIIs
Year Net Investment Net Investment
in Equity in Debt
Highest net investment in debt by FIIs was seen in 2007-08 of Rs.127,753 million (US $ 3,196 million). During April 08-
June 08, , FIIs have been net sellers in the debt markets as well. They have sold Rs. 28,633 million (US $ 667 million)
of debt over this period (Table 8-3)
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197 Foreign Institutional Investors in India IS M R
The most commonly used indicator of stock market development is the size of the market, measured by Market
Capitalisation ratio. Market Capitalisation ratio is the value of listed shares on the country’s exchanges divided by GDP
of the country. In the year 2007-08, market capitalisation ratio of the FIIs (Market capitalisation of FII holdings / GDP)
on NSE was 15.08 %. The share of FIIs market capitalisation to the total market capitalization of NSE at end March 2008
was 14.66 %.
2006-07 2007-08
Market Capitalisation Ratio 13.14% 15.08%
Market Capitalisation of FIIs holding to Total Market Capitalisation of NSE 16.10% 14.66%
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