New Delhi [India], April 25 (ANI): While Indian markets currently lack a pure-play AI champion and large IT services firms face disruption risks from artificial intelligence, Mirae Asset Mutual Fund's CEO and Vice President, Swarup Mohanty, believes India could emerge as a 'non-AI hedge' in global portfolios once capital allocations to the technology peak out.

Speaking in an exclusive conversation with ANI, Mohanty said that Indian IT companies, long seen as cashflow generators and key contributors to the country's export basket, are now under pressure as investors rotate heavily into AI-linked stocks. 'The stock performance has reflected that for the most part,' he said. However, he expressed confidence that India's IT sector will adapt. 'They are too skilled and experienced to not find their way at all,' he said, adding that he has a personal stake in the sector with his son working in one of the firms.

Mohanty said Indian IT companies must showcase credible AI capabilities to avoid being left out of the next technology cycle. 'We have to showcase that otherwise we will be dramatically left out in that space,' he said. Yet even if India does not feature prominently in AI hardware or chips like the US or Korea, he argued that the demand for IT services will persist. 'There will still be a lot of work for our IT companies in that space. Maybe they'll be relegated to a little lower than what that space is, but I don't think the IT world will not need what we are doing,' he said.

Mohanty noted that money flows in cycles, and the last two years have seen capital 'completely washed out from the non-AI world' as investors chase AI. But once AI allocations peak, fund managers will look elsewhere for value. That is when India's structural story could come back into focus. 'The diversity of the market and the fact that this is the only economy growing at 6% will come into play today or tomorrow,' he said.

He drew a parallel with Korea, which saw little market movement for seven-eight years before delivering strong returns in the last 18 months. If India does not establish itself in AI, it can still attract capital as a stable, high-growth economy. 'When you look at the rest of the portfolio, there is enough and more that India is offering for finding merit in everybody's portfolio,' he said.

Mohanty also pointed to valuations as a key swing factor. While many believed Indian markets were overvalued in 2024 and investors took money off the table, he said the equation changes when prices correct. 'You buy a good stock at a good price. That India is a good story is a foregone conclusion. There is no country growing at 6%, even after the oil shock has taken 1% off growth,' he said. 'When the price is right, make no mistake, money will come back. There's no doubt or debate.'

He stressed that India's economic and market fundamentals, from domestic consumption to policy stability, give it a unique position in an uncertain global environment. 'The entire length and breadth of the Indian economy to the stock market, to basic life in general, has been exposed to some gaps in the world. And it's how quickly we fill these gaps will define our next decade forward,' he said. (ANI)