The variety of intenders might be as excessive as 39.7 million, in accordance with calculations by Mint primarily based on information from the survey. The examine discovered that 22% of non-investors who’re conscious of securities market merchandise have expressed curiosity in investing sooner or later. This, it stated, represents important alternatives to broaden the nation’s investor base.
The Investor Survey 2025 was carried out by Kantar in affiliation with the Securities and Trade Board of India, Affiliation of Mutual Funds in India, Nationwide Inventory Trade of India, BSE, Nationwide Securities Depository Ltd and Central Depository Providers Ltd and launched in September. It lined 90,000 households nationally throughout 400 cities and 1,000 villages. The pattern measurement was extrapolated to a family inhabitants of 337.2 million.
In accordance with the survey, intenders symbolize aspiring traders, wanting to take part however typically held again by obstacles resembling complexity, onboarding difficulties, or gaps in monetary training.
Among the many complete households, solely 32.1 million—or 9.5%—had invested in not less than one securities market product. About 180.4 million—or 53.5%—had been conscious of securities market merchandise however had not invested, and the intenders belong to this group. The remaining 37% had been unaware of funding merchandise.
Intenders accounted for 22% of the 180.4 million cohort, or 39.7 million, Mint calculated.
Among the many intenders, broadly 73% need straightforward choices for investments. Of them, 41% are in search of easier onboarding, an equal quantity need intuitive digital interfaces, and 38% cited the necessity for simpler entry to monetary training (respondents might select a number of preferences). The message was clear: curiosity is excessive, however participation remains to be daunting for a lot of.
Holding it easy
“Brokers, AMCs (asset administration firms), and fintechs are partly prepared on scale however not simplicity,” stated Paramdeep Singh, an early investor in fintech startups and founding father of funding car Lengthy Tail Ventures. “With 73% of intenders citing complexity as a barrier, the subsequent breakthrough will come not from new merchandise however from design pondering—making investing as intuitive as UPI.”
Whereas the market’s digitization has set the stage, with low-ticket systematic funding plans (SIPs), vernacular apps, and goal-based instruments now commonplace, simplicity hasn’t totally caught up with entry. Making small-value investing viable would require a sharper deal with price buildings.
“To make low-value investments viable, the price of KYC, settlement and distribution should fall sharply,” stated Ajay Kejriwal, govt director at Selection Fairness Broking. He added that intenders are in search of one-tap eKYC, UPI-based funding, ₹100 SIPs, and even fractional fairness—options that require rethinking operational prices.
This inflow of potential traders will add to India’s already excessive degree of retail participation within the inventory markets. The full variety of dematerialised accounts—wanted by traders to purchase and promote securities—crossed 207.1 million this yr, up from 40.8 million in FY20, a fivefold enhance in 5 years.
The development alerts a democratization of India’s capital markets. The lure of the fairness market stays robust, with specific recognition for derivatives buying and selling and investing in preliminary public affords, which stand out as entry factors for a lot of new traders.
But, rising enthusiasm is shadowed by steep buying and selling losses, notably within the derivatives section. In FY25, 9.6 million merchants who participated within the fairness derivatives section misplaced ₹1.05 trillion, in accordance with a survey carried out by Sebi in July 2025. This adopted a survey in 2024, which confirmed that 91% of particular person merchants ended up within the purple.
Excessive-risk investing
The July survey was carried out after Sebi tightened norms for investing in derivatives in October 2024 and Might 2025. Nonetheless, the losses endured, elevating questions in regards to the effectiveness of the brand new laws.
Vipul Bhowar, senior director at Waterfield Advisors, advocated stronger gatekeeping by the market regulator.
“Sebi mustn’t permit traders with lower than 10 years of expertise to commerce in derivatives,” he urged. A ₹50-lakh minimal demat steadiness or obligatory certification might guarantee solely educated traders take part, Bhowar added.
Consultants suggested intenders to remain out of high-risk trades till they acquire satisfactory market expertise. Brokerages suggest beginning with safer choices, like mutual funds.
“Derivatives had been made for hedging, not buying and selling. It’s change into a zero-or-hero sport. If new traders enter the derivatives market, they need to pay attention to the dangers. If not, they need to put money into mutual funds,” stated Govind Goel, assistant supervisor at Zerodha.
The considerations over derivatives buying and selling strengthened the pressing want for strong investor training, particularly with regard to the place intenders flip to for info.
The Sebi survey exhibits 57% depend on social media monetary influencers, lots of whom are seen as credible. This dependency brings new dangers in an period of AI-driven misinformation. Social media, cell apps and TV/digital ads are the popular modes of receiving monetary training, the survey’s findings confirmed.
“A harmful cocktail emerges when you think about new and inexperienced customers with restricted monetary data and fewer dependable sources of reality,” stated Nishant Shah, CEO of Affinis by Jonosfero. With India’s 659 million smartphone customers, “the fabrication and dissemination of economic misinformation by way of AI and social media is turning into laughably straightforward.”
Regardless of these worries, consultants are assured that India’s market can accommodate the brand new wave of traders and imagine the influence shall be optimistic.
Resilient market
“A big inflow of retail individuals will broaden liquidity relatively than pressure it. Within the close to time period, we might even see some volatility in speculative pockets, however over the long run, a democratized investor base makes the market resilient and fewer depending on overseas institutional inflows,” stated Narinder Wadhwa, managing director and CEO of SKI Capital Providers Ltd.
The IPO market has performed a key function in drawing newcomers. The typical subscription of retail investor quotas in 2025 was 26.99 instances, in contrast with 33.71 instances in 2024, in accordance with Prime Database. Whereas the information signifies a drop with enthusiasm cooling barely, retail curiosity in IPOs remains to be robust they usually stay a gateway for brand new traders.
“The joy of proudly owning a bit of India’s progress story is what attracts individuals into equities,” stated Wadhwa. “If post-listing efficiency and governance stay robust, IPOs can flip one-time traders into long-term shareholders.”
Nevertheless, consultants stated that IPOs ought to be seen as means to wealth creation by way of possession, not simply alternatives for fast positive factors. The main target ought to now be on accessibility, not simply innovation.
“The following investing wave is about simplification—innovation can comply with,” famous Ashish Padiyar, managing companion of Bellwether Associates. “Stronger digital literacy, verified recommendation and stricter influencer norms are important to stop enthusiasm from turning into exploitation.”
As former BSE chairperson S. Ravi and founding father of Ravi Rajan & Co identified, the problem lies in directing capital towards sustainable autos whereas guaranteeing simplification doesn’t come at the price of sound threat evaluation.
