Foreign investor interest in India has ‘pretty much died out’, says Nithin Kamath

Foreign investor interest in Indian equities may be showing signs of cooling, going by recent remarks from Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath. In a post on social media, Kamath said that after speaking to someone from the industry, he was told global investors are becoming increasingly cautious on India.

According to Kamath, concerns include India’s perceived geopolitical exposure—particularly to potential oil shocks—along with the lack of meaningful artificial intelligence-linked investment opportunities, rich valuations, and pressure on the rupee.

“Interest has pretty much died out. India is seen as geopolitically exposed, especially to an oil shock. There are no real AI plays. Valuations are rich. And the rupee situation doesn’t help,” Kamath said.

He added that investors who were sitting on gains have taken money off the table and are now looking at markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and Europe instead.

Kamath also said India’s LTCG/STCG structure and the increase in STT have made the market less attractive compared to peers seeing inflows. “If we need to attract FPIs back, and we do, fixing this feels like pretty low-hanging fruit,” he noted.