Thursday, March 10 2005 18:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Western investors are keen on investing in the shares of growing Indian companies, a senior official of London Stock Exchange (LSE) said today (March 10, 2005) while inviting more domestic firms to raise capital from the world's premier bourse.

"Western investors are demanding more exposure to Asia's economic powerhouses and impressive businesses that are springing up here and elsewhere. Of course, it's no surprise that western investors want access to your companies," Martin Graham, Director of Market Services at LSE, said at a CII conference in New Delhi today.

Referring to Budget announcement of Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who visited LSE last month, Graham said India's economy grew 6.9 per cent in 2004 in contrast to Europe's 1.8 per cent.

"India is growing fast and everyone seems to want a piece of the action." Quoting a recent survey, he said, "India came third, ahead of the UK as the most attractive place for FDI." This speed of development has created, and will continue to create, renewed pressure for additional sources of capital for higher levels of both public and private investments.

But around the world, there are thousands of successful companies with the potential to grow at a rate that outstrips the capacity of their domestic capital market to supply the much-needed finance, he said.

If the desire of Finance Minister Chidambaram to be known as "Investment Minister" is to remain anything other than a noble aspiration, Graham said, "New sources of finance will have to be found to enable Indian companies to grow from regional players into truly global leaders."