Bengaluru:

India is likely to soon overtake China as the most influential in a key emerging markets index, pulling in more foreign funds and adding fuel to a stock market rally that, though already among the best globally, is “only past the halfway mark”, Morgan Stanley said.

India’s weightage in the MSCI emerging markets index rose to 19.8% after a rejig in August, closing in on China’s 24.2%. India’s weightage has steadily increased from 9.2% in December 2020, while China’s has dropped from 39.1%.

“A rising weight essentially means more absolute foreign flows,” analysts led by Ridham Desai said in a note on Wednesday.

“In the context of India being underweight in the average emerging markets portfolio, this is even better for foreign portfolio flows.”

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have bought shares worth 531.78 billion rupees ($6.33 billion) so far in 2024, and have remained net buyers since June, bolstered by policy continuity after the country’s elections and an imminent start to global interest rate cuts.

So far, the sustained inflows from domestic institutional investors, mutual funds and retail traders have helped power the benchmark Nifty 50 to record highs. Its 16% jump this year is more than most other markets, including China.

Mr Desai expects the rally to continue as fiscal consolidation allows private borrowing and spending to fuel the next leg of earnings growth and as higher FII inflows will keep liquidity in surplus, lending resilience.

“We think we are only past the halfway mark in the current bull market. A bull market peak for India is possibly still in the future and the weight in the EM index could have some more distance to travel before it peaks.”

Morgan Stanley retained India as its top pick among emerging markets and second favourite, behind Japan, in the Indo-Pacific region.

Among stocks, it prefers cyclicals over defensives and large-caps over small-caps. And among sectors, it is ‘overweight’ on financials, technology, consumer discretionary and industrials, and is ‘underweight’ on others. ($1 = 83.9690 Indian rupees)
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bengaluru:

India is likely to soon overtake China as the most influential in a key emerging markets index, pulling in more foreign funds and adding fuel to a stock market rally that, though already among the best globally, is “only past the halfway mark”, Morgan Stanley said.

India’s weightage in the MSCI emerging markets index rose to 19.8% after a rejig in August, closing in on China’s 24.2%. India’s weightage has steadily increased from 9.2% in December 2020, while China’s has dropped from 39.1%.

“A rising weight essentially means more absolute foreign flows,” analysts led by Ridham Desai said in a note on Wednesday.

“In the context of India being underweight in the average emerging markets portfolio, this is even better for foreign portfolio flows.”

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have bought shares worth 531.78 billion rupees ($6.33 billion) so far in 2024, and have remained net buyers since June, bolstered by policy continuity after the country’s elections and an imminent start to global interest rate cuts.

So far, the sustained inflows from domestic institutional investors, mutual funds and retail traders have helped power the benchmark Nifty 50 to record highs. Its 16% jump this year is more than most other markets, including China.

Mr Desai expects the rally to continue as fiscal consolidation allows private borrowing and spending to fuel the next leg of earnings growth and as higher FII inflows will keep liquidity in surplus, lending resilience.

“We think we are only past the halfway mark in the current bull market. A bull market peak for India is possibly still in the future and the weight in the EM index could have some more distance to travel before it peaks.”

Morgan Stanley retained India as its top pick among emerging markets and second favourite, behind Japan, in the Indo-Pacific region.

Among stocks, it prefers cyclicals over defensives and large-caps over small-caps. And among sectors, it is ‘overweight’ on financials, technology, consumer discretionary and industrials, and is ‘underweight’ on others. ($1 = 83.9690 Indian rupees)
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Global investment bank and financial company Morgan Stanley has stated that the PM Gati Shakti scheme has succeeded in giving a new fillip to India’s infrastructure development and multi-modal connectivity across highways, railways and ports that has spurred economic growth.

According to the report, India has scaled up its infrastructure strongly over the last decade, with higher investment that is also better targeted and potentially more productive.

“We expect India’s infrastructure investment to steadily increase from 5.3 per cent of GDP in FY24 to 6.5 per cent of GDP by FY29. Indeed, this implies that infrastructure investments are expected to register a strong 15.3 per cent CAGR, resulting in cumulative spending of USD 1.45 trillion over the next five years. In our view this will help to lift the investment rate, leading to a sustained period of high productive growth.”

Interestingly, the report also states that “contrary to popular perception, India’s physical infrastructure scale already compares favourably to China’s when viewed in the context of GDP differential.”

The report cites the World Bank’s Logistics Index Report, 2023, which records that the average Container Dwell Time in Indian ports was three days compared to four days for countries like the UAE and South Africa, seven days for the USA, and 10 days for Germany.

Indian Ports “turnaround time” has reached 0.9 days, which is better than the USA (1.5 days), Australia (1.7 days), Singapore (1.0 days), etc. 6. In F24, ports overall cargo growth was 7 per cent, with 53 per cent of cargo handled by major ports (government-owned).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM Gati Shakti National master plan for infrastructure development in October 2021. It brings 16 ministries including Railways and Highways together on a digital platform for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of multi-modal connectivity projects. It is conceived as a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development with roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics infrastructure constituting “7 engines ” to pull the economy forward in unison.

According to the Morgan Stanley Report, initiatives under PM Gati Shakti are yielding results. Under the PM Gati Shakti scheme so far, cumulatively 101 projects worth Rs 60,900 crore have been identified for implementation in the ports and shipping sectors.

As of April 2023, 26 projects, worth Rs 8,900 crore have been completed, 42 projects worth Rs 15,340 crore are under development, and 33 projects worth Rs 36,640 crore are under implementation.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW) is also implementing a comprehensive port connectivity plan in coordination with the highways and railways ministries.

The Morgan Stanley report says under the Sagarmala programme, 220 projects worth Rs 1.12 lakh crore have been completed and 231 projects worth Rs 2.21 lakh crore are under implementation while 351 projects worth Rs 2.07 lakh crore are at the evaluation stage.

Similarly, National Waterways are also being developed as a more efficient and environment-friendly means of transport for both cargo and passengers.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Global investment bank and financial company Morgan Stanley has stated that the PM Gati Shakti scheme has succeeded in giving a new fillip to India’s infrastructure development and multi-modal connectivity across highways, railways and ports that has spurred economic growth.

According to the report, India has scaled up its infrastructure strongly over the last decade, with higher investment that is also better targeted and potentially more productive.

“We expect India’s infrastructure investment to steadily increase from 5.3 per cent of GDP in FY24 to 6.5 per cent of GDP by FY29. Indeed, this implies that infrastructure investments are expected to register a strong 15.3 per cent CAGR, resulting in cumulative spending of USD 1.45 trillion over the next five years. In our view this will help to lift the investment rate, leading to a sustained period of high productive growth.”

Interestingly, the report also states that “contrary to popular perception, India’s physical infrastructure scale already compares favourably to China’s when viewed in the context of GDP differential.”

The report cites the World Bank’s Logistics Index Report, 2023, which records that the average Container Dwell Time in Indian ports was three days compared to four days for countries like the UAE and South Africa, seven days for the USA, and 10 days for Germany.

Indian Ports “turnaround time” has reached 0.9 days, which is better than the USA (1.5 days), Australia (1.7 days), Singapore (1.0 days), etc. 6. In F24, ports overall cargo growth was 7 per cent, with 53 per cent of cargo handled by major ports (government-owned).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM Gati Shakti National master plan for infrastructure development in October 2021. It brings 16 ministries including Railways and Highways together on a digital platform for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of multi-modal connectivity projects. It is conceived as a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development with roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics infrastructure constituting “7 engines ” to pull the economy forward in unison.

According to the Morgan Stanley Report, initiatives under PM Gati Shakti are yielding results. Under the PM Gati Shakti scheme so far, cumulatively 101 projects worth Rs 60,900 crore have been identified for implementation in the ports and shipping sectors.

As of April 2023, 26 projects, worth Rs 8,900 crore have been completed, 42 projects worth Rs 15,340 crore are under development, and 33 projects worth Rs 36,640 crore are under implementation.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW) is also implementing a comprehensive port connectivity plan in coordination with the highways and railways ministries.

The Morgan Stanley report says under the Sagarmala programme, 220 projects worth Rs 1.12 lakh crore have been completed and 231 projects worth Rs 2.21 lakh crore are under implementation while 351 projects worth Rs 2.07 lakh crore are at the evaluation stage.

Similarly, National Waterways are also being developed as a more efficient and environment-friendly means of transport for both cargo and passengers.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)