Tata Motors topped the charts with the best variety of shareholders, crossing 67.5 lakh as of June 2025, about 3.4 occasions the rely in June 2020 and over 15 occasions increased than in 2015, when it had simply 4.1 lakh shareholders, in keeping with knowledge compiled by ETIG.
Sure Financial institution adopted carefully, with its shareholder base rising to 63.5 lakh in June 2025, almost two occasions increased than in 2020 and three.5 occasions what it was a decade in the past, when the rely stood at 17.99 lakh.
A excessive shareholder base means shares of an organization are broadly held by retail and institutional traders, making them liquid and simply tradable. Prior to now 5 years, the exponential progress in direct retail participation within the inventory market has resulted in corporations seeing a rising variety of particular person traders.
Telecom participant Vodafone Concept noticed its shareholder rely leap to 61.8 lakh at about 6.5 occasions the 2020 stage and almost 27 occasions increased than in 2015, when it had simply 2.3 lakh shareholders. Tata Metal, one other Tata Group agency, registered a greater than six-fold rise in shareholders over 5 years, reaching 58.2 lakh shareholders in June 2025.
Retail traders purchase shares of those corporations for quite a lot of causes. A inventory that is been on the transfer is a momentum play; lowly-priced shares similar to Sure Financial institution and Vodafone are perceived to be low cost in comparison with high-denomination shares. Crushed-down shares usually maintain attract amongst retail traders, fascinated by turnaround tales. “Buyers are shopping for not for what these corporations are as we speak, however for what they may turn into if their turnaround or transformation tales play out efficiently,” stated Prashant Tapse, senior vp – analysis at Mehta Equities Ltd.

Different Fashionable Names
The opposite notable will increase within the variety of shareholders have been in Tata Energy, Reliance Industries, Reliance Energy, NTPC and NHPC.
Corporations like Reliance Industries, Reliance Energy and SBI have traditionally been widely-held corporations with a excessive diploma of retail shareholder curiosity.
Again in June 2020, Reliance Energy had the best shareholder rely at 37.7 lakh, adopted by Reliance Industries (27.3 lakh), State Financial institution of India (13 lakh) and Tata Metal (10 lakh).
Many of those corporations stay among the many most generally held even in 2025, although their ranks have shifted. In June 2015, Reliance Energy once more topped the listing, adopted by Reliance Industries, Tata Motors (4.1 lakh), and Sure Financial institution (1.8 lakh).
A widely-held shareholder base doesn’t say a lot concerning the worth of the corporate however astute traders usually avoid broadly held shares, particularly throughout market peaks, as a result of the risk-reward tends to turn into unfavourable. Many of those shares are inclined to commerce at elevated valuations, providing little margin of security.