'India used to be a nation of savers, it is becoming a nation of investors': Uday Kotak
Speaking at a CII event, Uday Kotak said: "If India has to finance and truly be competitive, the main engine for it would be continued sustenance of capital markets."
- May 17, 2024,
- Updated May 17, 2024 8:53 PM IST
Veteran banker Uday Kotak on Friday highlighted that India has fast changed from a nation of savers to a nation of investors. Speaking at the CII annual business summit on Friday, Kotak noted that India had a 'rough history' in the financial sector between 2010 and 2020.
He further noted that earlier companies used to go to foreign exchanges to raise money. "For somebody like me who started his career 35-40 years ago when it was essentially a saver-borrower market and not an investor-issuer market, we used to see an export of Indian capital markets," Kotak said. He added that companies used to approach exchanges like the one in Luxembourg to raise money.
Kotak, non-executive Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said: "From that to today, it is a matter of great pride and satisfaction, that India, that used to be a nation of savers once upon a time is fast becoming a nation of investors."
He added that things have changed. He noted that there has been a transformation, which is visible in the mutual fund AUMs and rising SIP numbers that keep growing month on month. "But this pursuit must go along with stability. We have to be clear that in our desire for a capital market model, we can not forgo stability," Kotak said.
"If India has to finance and truly be competitive, the main engine for it would be continued sustenance of capital markets. However, within this, we have to be very clear that in our desire to build a capital market-led model, we do not forego the concept of stability," Kotak said.
Earlier this week, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said more and more Indians were now investing in stock markets and their household savings must be ringfenced.
Sitharaman appealed to BSE to work closely with SEBI in order to ensure stringent compliance and robust regulatory standards to ensure investor confidence remained intact and to play a proactive role in promoting higher standards of corporate governance among listed companies.
“Household savings have made a generational shift (from traditional instruments to equities), and we want to safeguard that,” Sithraman said. “Exchanges need to ensure market stability, mitigate systemic risks, and adopt technology in the form of blockchain, AI, and big data to improve market efficiency.”
Veteran banker Uday Kotak on Friday highlighted that India has fast changed from a nation of savers to a nation of investors. Speaking at the CII annual business summit on Friday, Kotak noted that India had a 'rough history' in the financial sector between 2010 and 2020.
He further noted that earlier companies used to go to foreign exchanges to raise money. "For somebody like me who started his career 35-40 years ago when it was essentially a saver-borrower market and not an investor-issuer market, we used to see an export of Indian capital markets," Kotak said. He added that companies used to approach exchanges like the one in Luxembourg to raise money.
Kotak, non-executive Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said: "From that to today, it is a matter of great pride and satisfaction, that India, that used to be a nation of savers once upon a time is fast becoming a nation of investors."
He added that things have changed. He noted that there has been a transformation, which is visible in the mutual fund AUMs and rising SIP numbers that keep growing month on month. "But this pursuit must go along with stability. We have to be clear that in our desire for a capital market model, we can not forgo stability," Kotak said.
"If India has to finance and truly be competitive, the main engine for it would be continued sustenance of capital markets. However, within this, we have to be very clear that in our desire to build a capital market-led model, we do not forego the concept of stability," Kotak said.
Earlier this week, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said more and more Indians were now investing in stock markets and their household savings must be ringfenced.
Sitharaman appealed to BSE to work closely with SEBI in order to ensure stringent compliance and robust regulatory standards to ensure investor confidence remained intact and to play a proactive role in promoting higher standards of corporate governance among listed companies.
“Household savings have made a generational shift (from traditional instruments to equities), and we want to safeguard that,” Sithraman said. “Exchanges need to ensure market stability, mitigate systemic risks, and adopt technology in the form of blockchain, AI, and big data to improve market efficiency.”