From 'Kasturi Mrig' to 'Sone ki Chidiya': Nilesh Shah's fundraising mantra 

Nilesh Shah, Managing Director at Kotak Asset Management Company Ltd, wants India’s Kasturi Mrig, or musk deer, to stop searching for the next source of fundraising and instead look within. Speaking as a panelist at Global Securities Markets Conclave 2.0, Shah said India does not need to look outside for fundraising, noting that 150 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product is locked in gold and silver.

“150%! And to get 2 per cent of the GDP from foreign direct investment, we keep on roaming around the globe,” Shah noted.

Shah was speaking on key forces likely to shape fundraising over the next decade in a session moderated by Pradeep Ramakrishnan, Executive Director at IFSCA. 

Shah said India still does not know how to monetise the large amounts of gold and silver held by households. He said savings are frozen in the 'tijori' in the parallel economy, and if Indian retail investors can be convinced that they have made enough money on gold and silver and that it is time to monetise these assets, India’s growth could change significantly.

Shah said the discussion often focuses on investments coming to India by 2035. But if Indians had held a 10 per cent stake in NVIDIA when it was worth $300 million, India could have bridged the technological divide it faces today.

Nvidia, which went public on January 22, 1999, commands a market capitalisation of $4.76 trillion today.

“While our savers are turning into investors and regulators have done a fantastic job in giving confidence to savers that they can invest in Indian capital market, one big challenge for us is how do we bring frozen savings in tijories of India to the economy and the capital markets, so that Kasturi Mrig can again become sone ki chidiya,” Shah said.

This was the second edition of IFSCA’s flagship securities market event at GIFT IFSC.

Meanwhile, in a reply to a question on derivatives trading, Shah said regulators were doing well in educating investors about market risks and potential returns.

“Unfortunately, we have not done as good in managing emotions, behaviour. We always almost took it for granted that everyone wants to make money. Everyone will take a rational decision. Somewhere in that calculation, we forgot that human beings will be greedy or fearful; and behaviour is equally an important part than just rational decision-making,” Shah said.

“We need to educate investors not only about the rational decision-making process, but also how to manage the behaviour. This has improved significantly in many parts,” he added.