Write short notes on the following : (d) Indian Depository Receipts

According to Section 2(48) of the Companies Act, 2013 "Indian Depository Receipt" means any instrument in the form of a depository receipt created by a domestic depository in India and authorised by a company incorporated outside India making an issue of such depository receipts. An IDR is an instrument denominated in Indian Rupee in the form of a depository receipt created by a domestic depository (Custodian of securities registered with SEBI) against the underlying equity of issuing company to enable foreign companies to raise funds from Indian Securities Markets. In an IDR, foreign companies would issue shares, to a domestic (Indian) depository, which would in turn issue depository receipts to investors in India. The actual shares underlying the IDRs would be held by an Overseas Custodian, which shall authorize the Indian depository to issue the IDRs. To that extent, IDRs are derivative instruments because they derive their value from the underlying shares