Satyam not a red flag to global investors: Kamal Nath

Maintaining that fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd was an aberration, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, however, indicated that regulatory mechanism in India may be strengthened to prevent such a recurrance.

This single incident should not be viewed as a "red flag" by the global investors community, he said in an interview to BBC Hardtalk, adding the (economic) edifice of India is based on its performance over the last 10-12 years.

He said there has been huge investments from all parts of Europe and the United States, and the investors are not looking at the Satyam episode as a red flag. But at the same he said regulatory mechanism could be strengthened based on onging investigation in Satyam.

Asked whether the Satyam swindle would dampen investor sentiment across the world, he said around 60 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies are invested in India. "I think it's (because of) the confidence that they have in India ....".

Over Rs 7,800-crore Satyam swindle is being investigated by Serious Fraud Investigation Office(SFIO) which has also been tasked to probe its subsidiaries - Maytas Infra and Maytas Properies- to find out whether funds from the IT major were siphoned off to these companies, run by sons of Satyam's founder B Ramalinga Raju.