Though the country’s stock and money markets still nurse fears of large-scale FII pullout from India, latest Sebi data shows FIIs are, instead, buying into the India story. As many as 120 new foreign institutional investors have registered in India since the global financial crisis broke out in September. These FIIs come from a diverse set of operational areas, and includes names like American Airlines, International Finance Corporation, University of Southern California, Bank of Korea, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Warburg Pincus International.

More importantly, the months of September-November have seen registration of 358 new sub-accounts — the highest in any block of three months in 2008. While an FII registration allows a fund manager to operate in the Indian markets, a separate sub-account is to be registered for every distinct fund run by the FII to be invested in India. “We are still seeing a healthy growth in FIIs seeking to register in India and our officials are as busy as three months ago,” a senior official in the FII department of the Securities Exchange Board of India told FE.

FIIs continue to be net sellers in November but on Wednesday they turned net buyers — the first in nine trading sessions — buying stocks worth Rs 1,384.20 crore and selling Rs 1,382.9 crore. “It’s clear that foreign money is not on a one-way street out of India — while some FIIs are pulling out money either to douse home fires or because they don’t see value in Indian stocks, there are enough FIIs who see long-term value in India,” another Sebi official said.

... contd.