Mrugank Paranjape, non-executive independent director at ICICI Bank and former MD and CEO of MCX, said regulatory changes have been a source of volatility for market participants, but the pace of regulatory changes now appears to be easing.
He added, “We should see the resilience of the Indian markets. We’ve seen so many changes, so many tweaks happening, but the markets always grow. So investors and Indian brokers and the entire ecosystem will find a way to get new business going, new products going, and new ideas going. So again, I remain very hopeful that this is going to be more upwards from here.”
Shivani Bhasin Sachdeva of India Alternatives highlighted the sharp increase in the number of investors on NSE. The exchange now has around 135 million unique registered investors. It took 25 years to add the first 40 million, while the next 50 million came in three years and the latest 40 million were added in just two years.
She also pointed to the changing profile of investors. Around 60% of new SIPs are coming from cities beyond the top 30, while 60% of new investors are below the age of 30. This suggests that participation in India’s capital markets is continuing to broaden beyond the traditional investor base.
Niket Shah, founder of Compounding AMC, said exchanges should be viewed as technology-led platform businesses rather than simply venues where buyers and sellers meet. He added, “It is more like a platform business where there’s a significant amount of technology involved out here, and hence that makes NSE like a very unique proposition.”
He pointed to NSE’s scale, including around 21 billion order messages a day, 30 crore orders in the cash segment and an 82% global market share in derivatives.
Shah said earnings could go through periods of consolidation when markets remain volatile, but the broader growth in equity-market participation remains important.“The bigger point is that a larger number of customers are coming into equity markets, more number of Demat accounts are being opened right now,” he said.
While new investors typically start with smaller investments, their exposure and capital allocation tend to increase over time as they gain experience. Regulatory changes may create some short-term disruptions, but the broader trend remains positive as investors and market participants continue to adapt.
Abhinav Bharti, Head of India ECM at JPMorgan, said international investor interest in India remains an important factor to watch. He noted that several global investors attended the firm’s conference, and some were visiting India for the first time to assess developments on the ground.
He added, “The headline index has all been stagnant to down in the last two years. But look at the amount of activity that is happening below the index level. The new companies coming to the market, and NSE now being part of that, it is just creating so much value and wealth still below the surface.”
For the entire discussion, watch the accompanying video
