NSE Crosses 5 crore Unique Investors Mark

In a significant landmark, the National Stock Exchange announced that it had crossed the Rubicon of 5 crore unique investors. This is about 30% lower than the total demat accounts in India at 7 crore. However, that is more because there are scores of investors with multiple demat accounts. The 5 crore unique investors are mapped by PAN numbers.

According to the MD and CEO of NSE, Vikram Limaye, it took the NSE nearly 15 months to go from 3 crore unique investors to 4 crore unique investors. However, the journey from 4 crore unique investors to 5 crore unique investors has happened in just 7 months. Limaye expects the NSE to traverse the next journey to 10 crore unique investors in next 3-4 years.

The NSE has also noted in its press release that the total number of unique client codes registered with the NSE stood at 8.86 crore. While an investors is only allowed to have a single trading account with one broker, they are permitted to have trading accounts with different client codes with multiple brokers.

In the last one year, there has been a tremendous spread of the equity cult in India as is evident from the surge in trading accounts, fresh demat accounts opened and the record number of fresh mutual fund SIP folios opened. This has been underlined by scores of millennials joining the investment mainstream, many of whom are preferring direct equities.

In terms of state level contributions, Maharashtra contributed 17% of the unique investors followed by Uttar Pradesh contributing 10% and Gujarat contributing 7% of the new investors being registered. In fact, the top 10 states have accounted for a full 71% of the total new investors registrations in India via the NSE. 

An interesting trend pointed out by the NSE was that the new client registrations have been largely driven by non-metros. For example, the cities beyond the top-50 cities actually contributed to a whopping 57% of the new client account registrations. This is, perhaps, the first clear indication that the investors were not just growing in numbers but also in terms of a wider geographical spread.