Portfolio managers pin growth hopes on Budget proposal for NRIs

Market participants said the industry can tap into NRI investments waiting on the sidelines, which is yet to translate into flows on account of some of these operational challenges

The Rs 13-trillion portfolio-management services industry, which has grown steadily over the past few years, is pinning its hope on the smooth implementation of the Budget proposal for the non-resident Indians (NRIs) for its growth.

While presenting Union Budget for 2019-2020, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said, “With a view to provide NRIs with seamless access to Indian equities, I propose to merge the NRI-Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) Route with the Foreign Portfolio Investment Route.” Currently, NRIs can assign only one designated bank for the purpose of routing transactions under PIS-route.

“Under the current framework, NRIs find it operationally difficult to