India talks to JP Morgan to gain entry into bond indexes
India is in talks with JP Morgan and others in a bid to gain entry to benchmark indexes for emerging market debt, say Reuters sources.
The country aims to attract billions of dollars in investment, with the possibility of easing some restrictions on foreign inflows to do so.
Reuters reports that Indian finance minister P. Chidambaram and other officials plan to meet next week with fund managers in the US.
To enter the prominent JP Morgan Government Bond Index – Emerging Markets, India will have to continue to ease up on registration, documentation, and rules on due diligence for the entry of foreign institutional investors in the Indian debt market, in addition to letting them to invest more in government debt, the Reuters sources said.
India is keen to attract cash that is managed through the tracking of global indexes, as it struggles with a weakened rupee, a wide current account gap and a low credit rating.
Inclusion in popular government bond indexes could attract $20bn-$40bn (£12.5bn-£25bn) in additional flows into India over a year, wrote Standard Chartered Bank in a report last month.