17% households investing in stocks

A third of what Indians consider as wealth is now represented by NSE. If India’s largest bourse NSE was a country, it would be 20th biggest in the world. The i-bankers will play an important role in the Indian growth story, taking the overall economy to $5 trn - Ashish Chauhan, MD & CEO, NSE

Mumbai: National Stock Exchange’s (NSE) managing director and chief executive officer Ashish Chauhan on Monday said 17 per cent of Indian households invested in stocks, and urged investment bankers to get quality companies to the market. Speaking at an event organised by the Association of Investment Bankers of India (AIBI) here, Chauhan said, “people who are seemingly poor are investing as entrepreneurs because of the trust factor and the number of investors are growing.”

There are eight crore unique investors from five crore households who are invested, which means 17 per cent of the overall households of the country are directly invested in the stock markets, Chauhan said, adding that initial public offerings (IPOs) by companies are the preferred route for entering the markets.

“So let us pray and of course work hard to ensure that only good companies come to the markets,” said Chauhan in his address to the investment bankers. He said if the country’s largest bourse NSE was a country, it would be 20th biggest in the world, and pointed that the biggest surge in the number of investors happened in the last three years during the Covid period with the help of mobile phones and applications.

The i-bankers will play an important role in the Indian growth story, taking the overall economy to $5 trillion, $20 trillion or $50 trillion. Chauhan said the market capitalisation to GDP ratio is 1:1 at present in India, and added that not many countries can boast of such financialisation.