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 Retail investors are leading the Indian stock market and at least 2.2 crore of over 10 crore investors on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) are now women. 

There are approximately 10 crore registered investors on the NSE and out of that, around 22 per cent are female investors, said Tirthankar Patnaik, chief economist at the NSE.

“Since 2015, the number of female investors in the Indian stock market has increased by 6.8 times. About 69 per cent of investors are below the age of 40 years, so more young people have started investing, he said during an event here organised by the NSE and the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI).

The strength of retail investors has increased over the years and due to that, despite heavy selling by the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and geo-political stress, Nifty is continuously registering growth.

“Indian households have a share of 35 per cent in total trading. Monthly SIP inflow has crossed the Rs 23,000-crore level, which is significant for markets,” said Patnaik.

The NSE now has more than 10 core unique registered investor base. The total number of client codes (accounts) registered with the leading exchange stands at 19 crore.

According to Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer, NSE, following the achievement of the nine-crore mark in late February, it is commendable that the number of investors on-boarded on the exchange has increased by an additional crore within just over five months.

This growth can be attributed to several key factors, including the streamlined Know Your Customer (KYC) process, enhanced financial literacy facilitated by stakeholder-led investor awareness programmes, and enduring positive market sentiment.

The registered investor base hit the one crore mark 14 years after commencement of operations. The investor base has seen more than a three-time jump in the last five years, facilitated by rapid growth in digitisation, rising investor awareness, financial inclusion, and sustained market performance.