India’s stock market is booming with more everyday people jumping in. As of September 23, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) hit a milestone: its unique registered investor base topped 12 crore, or 120 million people. That’s a huge sign of growing interest in investing across the country.
Overall, NSE now counts 23.5 crore total investor accounts, up from crossing the 23 crore mark back in July 2024. Keep in mind, these include all registrations since the exchange started, and folks can sign up with multiple brokers.
Women make up one in four of these investors today, showing more diversity in the market. Young people are driving a lot of this excitement too. NSE notes a surge in interest from the country’s youth, building trust in India’s capital markets.
The average age of these 12 crore investors sits at just 33 years old—younger than the 38 it was five years back. Nearly 40% are under 30, highlighting how stocks and investing appeal to millennials and Gen Z.
“This year, we’ve smashed another big goal for our investor numbers,” said Sriram Krishnan, NSE’s Chief Business Development Officer. “We passed 11 crore in January, and it’s impressive that we’ve added another crore in just eight months, even with global trade worries and geopolitical tensions hanging around.”
What’s fueling this steady climb? Easier Know Your Customer (KYC) steps, better financial literacy from awareness programs, and upbeat market vibes. Investors are diving into a range of options like equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), real estate investment trusts (REITs), infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs), government bonds, and corporate bonds.
The pace of growth has sped up over the years. NSE took 14 years after launching to reach 1 crore unique investors. The next crore came in about seven years, then three-and-a-half years for the one after that, and just over a year for the latest additions.
To put it in perspective, it took more than 25 years to hit 4 crore back in March 2021. Since then, each new crore has come faster—often in just 6-7 months. Digitization, easy access to fintech apps, a growing middle class, and smart policies under Prime Minister Narendra Modi all play a key role in this investor boom in India.
Even indirect investing is on the rise this fiscal year. From April to August, people opened nearly 2.9 crore new Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) accounts. Monthly SIP inflows averaged Rs 27,464 crore—about $3.2 billion—beating last year’s Rs 21,883 crore, or $2.5 billion, for the same period.
This wave of participation points to a healthier, more inclusive stock market in India, drawing in everyone from young savers to women building wealth.
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