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Informist, Saturday, May 9, 2026

 

--Mirae Asset MF official:Urged SEBI to up $7-bln cap on MFs' overseas invest

--CONTEXT: Mirae Asset MF official on sidelines of Groww investor festival

 

MUMBAI – Mutual funds are urging the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Reserve Bank of India to raise the limit of $7 billion on funds' overseas investments, senior officials at mutual funds told Informist on the sidelines of an event organised by financial services firm Groww on Saturday. The Association of Mutual Funds in India and the industry as a whole has been pushing for a higher limit for a couple of years, officials said.

 

"We are frequently in talks with the regulator (SEBI), to increase the $7-billion overseas investment limit," a senior official at Mirae Asset Mutual Fund told Informist. "We've been pushing for this the past two years, and the regulator has been helpful."

 

In June 2021, SEBI had revised the overseas investment limit per mutual fund at $1 billion per fund and capped the flow of investments for the overall industry at $7 billion. For exchange-traded funds, international investment should not be more than $300 million per mutual fund and for the overall industry, the limit was set at $1 billion by the capital markets regulator. 

 

However, amid a surge in crude oil prices and foreign outflows from Indian capital markets so far this year, regulators may refrain from allowing such a rise in overseas investments, officials said. "Everyone has been pushing. I don't think people are receptive. Given that oil has shot up, our currency has been weak," Rajeev Thakkar, chief investment officer and director of PPFAS Asset Management, told Informist. "I don't think people think this is the right time to increase the limits." 

 

As of Friday, foreign portfolio investors net sold close to INR 2 trillion of Indian assets in 2026, as per data from National Securities Depository Ltd. The rupee has fallen 5.13% so far this calendar year, while near-month Brent crude oil futures have risen nearly 40% since the war in West Asia began at the end of February.

 

"There are two methods to go, right? If we just do mutual funds, there are chances that money will come back," B. Gopkumar, managing director and chief executive officer of Axis Mutual Fund, told Informist. "If you use an LRS route, money cannot come back. So we've been telling them that we've got to open the limits here. This vehicle is better than the LRS vehicle." Other than through mutual funds, Indian investors can also deploy funds in overseas assets through the Liberalised Remittance Scheme.

 

Earlier this week, Axis Mutual Fund had announced a temporary suspension of subscription to units in three of its international fund of funds till further notice – Axis Global Equity Alpha Fund of Fund, Axis Global Innovation Fund of Fund, and Axis Greater China Equity Fund of Fund – to avoid exhaustion of available limits. The fund house had received enough subscriptions two days before the date of closure, Gopkumar said.  End

 

US$1 = INR 94.48

 

Reported by Cassandra Carvalho and Gopika Balasubramanium 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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