'Dugna daam dena padega,' says Nilesh Shah to FIIs exiting Indian markets

'Dugna daam dena padega,' says Nilesh Shah to FIIs exiting Indian markets

Nilesh Shah, Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Limited, on November 14 said the foreign investors who have exited Indian markets in the past few weeks will have to pay twice as much to enter them again.

Speaking at CNBC-TV18 Global Leadership Summit in Mumbai, Shah said, "Foreign investors who are selling, dugna daam dena padega (have to pay twice) to enter again. We are at a stage where every correction is an opportunity to buy."

However, Shah also said, "If you are investing with a one-year horizon, stay away from equity markets. Because India is a rising threat, that will emerge at some time or the other."

Speaking at a panel titled "Managing Markets: Is it time to be bullish or bearish?" with Ridham Desai, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley India, Rama Bijapurkar, Author & Independent Director, India Blue-Chip Companies, V. Vaidyanathan, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, IDFC First Bank, Samir Arora, Founder & Fund Manager, Helios Capital, Shah spoke about his outlook for India after Donald Trump's big election win.

"One immediate thing that is worth doing is US will impose tariffs, they will be looking at trade deficit. We need to tell America to take into account the students in the US and the payments made, which are made on Indian soil. So, hopefully, they will levy tariff on China and not on us," said Shah.

FIIs, who sold heavily throughout October, have continued this trend into November, offloading over Rs 21,000 crore worth of Indian equities.

Arora spoke about the recent decline in Indian stock markets.

"India has had pathetic results. These things do not change in three months, it will take six to nine months. Plus minus a few weeks, foreign investor selling should be over. I will short consumer names, micro lenders," he said.

"You should not keep saying FIIs are leaving India to go to China, it is because India has had pathetic earnings," added Arora.

Vaidyanathan weighed on the Indian banking system.

"Fundamentally, things are very resilient in India. But guardrails have become strong. Every month $35 billion new credit lines are being added. So, the Indian banking system has become more conservative in the last few years," he said.