BUDGET 2000
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
COMMENTARY
GOVT&ECONOMY
Y2K: BIZ FEATURES
INDIA & THE WTO
CREDIT POLICY
BIZ IN THE USA
CARS & MOBIKES
MANAGEMENT
CASE STUDY
BIZ-QUIZ
USEFUL INFO
ARCHIVES
NEWSLINKS
SEARCH REDIFF

SEBI chief urges more freedom for venture capital funds

Zakia Maryam in Calcutta

The Securities and Exchange Board of India or SEBI chairman D R Mehta has said on Monday that foreign venture capital funds should be given more freedom to operate in India.

Mehta spoke to mediapersons after addressing a seminar on e-broking here.

"Maybe the venture capital funds will be like foreign instituional investors. An FII registered in India should be allowed to bring in any money it likes and take out what it likes without any problem. Hopefully this will be a part of our regulation on venture capital funds to which both the government of India and the Reserve Bank of India have informally agreed," Mehta remarked.

Mehta added that derivative trading would begin in India this month or in June depending on when the government issues a notification in this regard. The SEBI chief assured that a significant part of trading would be Net-based by the year-end.

According to Mehta, SEBI was also looking at the valuation of the dot-com companies in India. "These companies have assets which are often intangible. The question is, how do you value them? Although we have a group, it would be an important regulatory stand only when you can suggest some norms for the valuation of these companies," Mehta said.

Anand Rathi, president of the Bombay Stock Exchange, said that the advent of the Internet has indeed opened up unlimited opportunities for India. He said the BSE would soon introduce Internet-based trading system and allow its members to have their own online trading.

Business