Curb Speculative Trading to Foster Long-Term Investments: Nilesh Shah

Nilesh Shah, part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, emphasizes the need to curb speculative trading and foster a long-term investment culture. He highlights how proper investment can create wealth for retail investors and Indian companies and voices support for higher taxes on futures and options.

In a recent address, Nilesh Shah, a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Ltd, emphasized the urgency of curbing speculative trading to cultivate a culture of long-term investment. Shah argued that such a shift can significantly benefit retail investors and Indian companies.

Shah expressed his views during an interaction organized by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, noting that higher taxation on futures and options could be a step in the right direction. This comes amidst media speculations about the Ministry of Finance possibly reclassifying transactions for futures and options as speculative income under the upcoming Union Budget.

Highlighting the risks, Shah compared futures and options to cryptocurrencies, online games, and Ponzi schemes, pointing out that a significant portion of traders in India lose money in the F&O segment. He also mentioned that poor investment decisions contribute to financial distress for around 18 crore Indians, creating returns lower than inflation. Optimistic about India's growth potential, Shah nonetheless called for strategic investment reforms to tap into this potential effectively.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)