FOREIGNinstitutional investors (FIIs) are bullish on India but want changes in some of the countrys tax laws on investments, finance secretary Ashok Chawla has said, reports Our Bureau from New Delhi. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday met top officials of foreign and domestic financial institutions and sought their opinion on how to improve the investment climate and attract more investment into India.

The idea was to get their perception on the investment climate in India and the difficulties, procedural hurdles that they face, Mr Chawla told reporters after the meeting. What came through was that FIIs are bullish on India. They raised some issues on taxation, especially STT (securities transaction tax) and capital gains tax, he added.

The government has already put up for public debate a direct tax code, which proposes to abolish STT, rationalise capital gains tax, lowering of corporate tax rate and other reforms. Mr Chawla said the government has set up a panel comprising officials from various regulators to look into regulatory issues.

The meeting also discussed ways of strengthening the equities and developing the bond market, he added.