Investment guru and co-founder of Quantum Funds (along with George Soros) Jim Rogers is not terribly impressed with the India Shining story.
He is not yet ready to move into the Indian equity markets in a big way, unless the Indian government shows a more foreign investor-friendly face.
"Indian politicians are not favourably disposed towards foreigners," he said more than once in an exclusive interview with Business Standard.
Apart from the issue of favourable policies, Rogers is of the opinion that the booming Indian stockmarket is not enough to add gloss to the India story.
"Stockmarkets have gone up everywhere (around the world). Among the Asian markets, Pakistan's markets have moved up more than the Indian equity markets. So do we say that Pakistan is shining?" he retorts.
India has the potential to be a hot tourist destination, he thinks. True to this belief, Rogers has invested in Indian Hotels, the only Indian stock in his equity portfolio.
The stockmarkets are also overvalued and hyped up, Rogers says. The influx of foreign investments does not impress him.
"Foreign investors always come in when the markets are booming and the wise investor will stay away from the markets at such a time. When foreign investors start buying, that is the time you should start selling," he says.
Rogers says he will be tempted to invest in India only when the markets go down and that too owing to certain factors which will negatively impact the markets or when the government issues investor-friendly policies.
For him headlines like "Turmoil in China" or "Chaos in India" would be the appropriate time to get into these markets.
As for India, "The boom is coming to an end," he says.
India Shining: Complete Coverage
Yet for all the contrarian views, Rogers has a soft corner for China. "I want to invest more in China," he says, adding "and move out of the United States, since I am bearish on the dollar."
Incidentally Rogers has invested considerably in commodities - both directly in the commodity markets as well as in the stocks of commodity companies. Canada and Japan are other favourite places where he says he would like to invest more.
"I believe the next decade will be a decade of commodities and though the stock markets across the globe will rise, with hiccups, there will be a smooth upside curve for commodities."
