Ahead of its IPO, Paytm lists doesn’t want to be seen as a ‘foreign-owned and controlled’ company

For several years now, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, a first-generation Indian billionaire who founded what is now the country’s most valued tech unicorn, has batted for “indigenous” ventures. From calling Facebook the “most evil company in the world” to being at the front of forming an app developers’ association to lobby against global technology giants, Sharma has never minced words in promoting nationalist and protectionist policies.

Yet, as his 12-year-old fintech firm Paytm goes public, Sharma’s clamour cannot drown out the fact that his own company is not really Indian.

The Delhi National Capital Region-headquartered fintech firm has listed the fact that it is a “foreign-owned and controlled company” as a risk in the draft offer document it filed with India’s stock market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India on July 16, ahead of its initial public offering, which could be India’s largest yet.

This is not the first time that Paytm’s “foreign” holding has been highlighted. Several times in the past, Sharma has been criticised for his protectionist statements even as Paytm raised multiple funding rounds from foreign investors. Paytm is backed by Japan’s Softbank, China’s Alibaba and Ant Group, and Hong Kong’s Elevation Capital (rebranded from SAIF Partners last year), who all yield power in decision-making.

Last year, before the Chinese authorities sent Ant’s IPO plans…

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