India Inc joins hands to woo foreign investors

CEOs of large Indian companies, including Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Mukesh Ambani and ONGC CMD Subir Raha, made presentations to 130 foreign investors at DSP Merrill Lynch's annual meet here today.

Representatives of hedge funds made up nearly 50 per cent of the investors at the meeting.

"Last year, we had around 100 investors. The sharp rise in the number shows the increasing interest of foreign investors in Indian markets," a Merrill Lynch exceutive said.

Among top Indian participants were NTPC, Maruti, Tata Power, BPCL and L&T.

In his presentation, Rakesh Mohan, secretary, economic affairs, gave foreign investors a peep into the economic landscape of India, including the prospects for improved GDP growth.

Merrill Lynch is maintaining a sensex target of 7,000 points for the year 2005 which, it says, is in line with the earning growth of around 15 per cent.