Positive on India for long term, will continue to add positions: Mark Mobius

Mark Mobius, the founder of Mobius Capital Partners, is positive on Indian equities and believes it is the right time to invest in India.

"We are positive on India for the long term. We believe it is the right price to invest in India and will continue to add positions in India if an opportunity presents itself," said Mobius, talking to CNBC-TV18 on January 7.

Mobius said the government is cutting expenditure which is a positive sign but it needs to focus on infra spending.

"The government has to move ahead to invest in infrastructure and get people to work," Mobius said.

Mobius said he would like to see a higher allocation for infrastructure in Budget 2020.

Talking about the rising geopolitical tensions, Mobius said oil prices is the key question.

"If we see a substantial rise in oil prices it will be a problem for the oil-importing countries. Oil prices continue to be the key monitorable for Indian equities," he said.

Brent has already hit $70/bbl and could rise even further.

Mobius is of the view that oil prices can go higher as the situation can escalate.

"At this stage, Iran is pretty desperate to end the sanctions and it believes by escalating terrorist attacks it can get the US to pull back. But, Trump administration is unlikely to pull back if it comes to escalating tensions," Mobius said.

On being asked as the US is the biggest oil producer, will it undermine the impact of oil disruption from Iran and Iraq, Mobius said that the US is the biggest producer in the world now, but it is about the production in Iran and Iraq.

"In case of more attacks, oil supplies will be interrupted. One needs to look at both Iran and Iraq for possible oil supply disruptions," Mobius said.