‘Domestic muscle is shielding India from global shock’

The Indian market is now significantly less reliant on foreign portfolio inflows, a mutual fund industry veteran said, citing the market's resilience to bad news and the rise of local institutional investors.

- Sashind Ningthoukhongjam [e-mail]

Domestic investors’ participation has accelerated since the covid-I9 pandemic, said Harshad Patwardhan, chief investment officer at Union Asset Management Co. “In the 2013 taper tantrum, the Nifty fell 11% and the rupee slid 17% three months after the event.

Fast forward to today, after three months when Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs in April 2025, the Nifty was up 10% and the Indian currency depreciated only 0.3%. Even when a 50% import duty was imposed on India recently, Nifty is still up 7% and the Indian rupee depreciated only around 3.5%,” Patwardhan said at the Mint Money Festival in Bengaluru.