Alok Tiwari, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs
The government is working to attract foreign capital and deepen India’s corporate bond market, with both emerging as key priorities for the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Joint Secretary Alok Tiwari said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the FICCI Capital Markets conference in Mumbai, Tiwari said “Foreign capital has not been very forthcoming of late. Though the cycle appears to have turned in July. But there are still some hiccups.”
“If India has to grow and grow to become an important financial centre and provide resources for Viksit Bharat we need domestic capital as well as foreign capital. Foreign capital has to be welcomed. Foreign capital has to be attracted,” he said.
‘broad consensus’
Tiwari said there is a “broad consensus” within the government, regulators and market participants on the need to attract foreign capital, and it is “a work in progress”.
The government is also seeking to facilitate foreign investment by streamlining the statutory architecture, he said. “FEM and EI (Foreign Exchange Management, Foreign Investment) rules are being recast. They are open to public consultation right now by the Reserve Bank of India.”
“We hope to make it more principle based, easier to follow and easier to navigate,” Tiwari said.
Further, he said the corporate bond market lacked adequate depth, liquidity and secondary-market participation. “The corporate bond market does not have the kind of depth, at least liquidity and participation in the secondary market which it should have. It is one of the priorities of the DEA.”
Tiwari also said the proposed Securities Markets Code was an “important piece of forward looking legislation” aimed at creating a new regulatory paradigm, including decriminalisation of minor infractions, while strengthening investor protection and regulatory accountability.
Published on August 19, 2026
