In a first, NRI and foreign nationals can invest in Indian equities for as little as $500

For Non-Resident Indians and foreign nationals, an opportunity to invest in India's booming stock market is knocking at the door. A fund to be launched next Monday, September 22, for subscription will allow foreign residents to invest in India's equity scheme with as little as $500.

India's International Financial Centre at Gift City in Gandhinagar already allows rich Indians to invest in global markets and the same high networth individuals for inbound investment. However, Tata Asset Management's new Dynamic Equity Fund will allow subscription in the feeder fund with as little as 500 dollars. The feeder fund will collect money from NRIs and foreign nationals and invest in Indian Mutual Fund schemes.

"At present other alternative investment options in an Indian equity market are available where minimum investment requirement is $1,50,000 or 1.32 crore in Indian rupees. There are several schemes but our fund opens an opportunity for people categorised as retail," Abhinav Sharma, international business head of the asset management company said.

However, due to regulatory norms unlike Indian markets the onboarding is not completely digital. "Present rules mandate distributor to physically verify the investors living out of the country. The application form must be signed physically and sent to the fund house. We have made representations to allow digital verification but that is under consideration at the regulatory level," Sharma said.

He added that initial response for the scheme is positive and expected to garner $300 million to 400 million dollars AUM in next 6 months.

Tata Asset Management also inaugurated its office in Gift City. It is planning to shift its other inbound funds that are currently operating from Luxembourg and Mauritius.