{
  "id": 18408731,
  "title": "Why Indians are investing billions abroad amid shaky domestic stock markets",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/06/why-indians-are-investing-billions-abroad-amid-shaky-domestic-stock",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-11-06T00:12:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-economics/indians-invest-abroad-record-4-billion-foreign-stocks-debt-fy27-10952448/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Recent weeks have seen a surge in foreign investment from Indians, despite the shaky state of domestic stock markets. The artificial intelligence company Anthropic has filed documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its anticipated IPO, which could reach a valuation of up to $2 trillion. Although direct investment in the IPO may be challenging, some Indians are expected to purchase shares once the company is officially listed, possibly within two weeks.\n\nThe primary reason for this shift in investment strategy is the lack of returns in the domestic market. The Nifty index has remained down by 6% in 2026, despite a 7% rise in the previous week. Consequently, investors are directing billions of dollars towards foreign equity and debt markets. In fact, it is anticipated that investments in foreign equity and debt could surpass $4 billion for the first time in 2026-27.\n\nThe Reserve Bank of India reported that $1.73 billion was invested abroad during the April-August 2026 period, which is more than double the $823 million invested during the same period in the previous year. Additionally, $1.73 billion was invested through the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) in the first five months of the fiscal, a significant increase from the $2.65 billion invested during the entire 2025-26 fiscal year.\n\nIndividuals are also seeking alternative investment options through global markets. In September alone, $3.4 billion was invested in the domestic stock market via Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) of mutual funds. Global investment platforms have experienced a surge in new active users, with Vested, a leading platform, witnessing a 133% increase in new users in 2024 and a 79% rise in 2025. The trend is expected to continue, with a 33% increase in new active users in 2026 compared to 2025.\n\nIndian companies' direct investments abroad, known as outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), have also risen sharply. From $85 billion between 2018-19 and 2023-24, FDI by Indian companies surged to $82 billion in the subsequent two years and five months due to geopolitical factors and the reshoring of production by developed economies. These outflows, combined with foreign investors profiting from past FDI into India and the widening trade deficit due to high energy prices, have contributed to the weakening of the rupee.\n\nTo address this outflow, authorities have taken steps to encourage inflows, such as eliminating withholding and capital gains taxes for foreign investments in government debt, bearing the exchange rate risk of banks' Foreign Currency Non-Resident deposits, and discussing the removal of long-term capital gains and transaction taxes on equities. However, the pressure on the rupee remains a concern, and reducing the $250,000 per-year-limit on outward remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) remains a contentious issue. Introduced in 2004 with an initial annual cap of $25,000 per individual, the limit has only been reduced once, in 2013.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}