NSE investor accounts cross 24 crore as small-town India joins the D-St rush

Synopsis

India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a significant milestone, surpassing 24 crore unique trading accounts in November 2025. This surge, driven by digitalization and policy support, reflects growing retail confidence and has led to a 22-year high in investor ownership of listed companies.

The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) on Thursday said that the total number of unique trading accounts on its platform has crossed 24 crore in November 2025, just over a year after breaching the 20-crore mark. The surge reflects how a combination of digitalisation, policy support and growing retail confidence has transformed India’s investing landscape, with millions of new participants now powering the liquidity.

The NSE said that the number of unique registered investors stood at 12.2 crore as of October 2025, up from 12 crore in late September. Since investors can maintain accounts across multiple brokers, the total number of trading accounts exceeds the number of unique investors.

Maharashtra continues to lead the pack with over 4 crore investor accounts, commanding a 17% share of the total, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 2.7 crore accounts or 11%, Gujarat with 2.1 crore or 9%, West Bengal with 1.4 crore or 6%, and Rajasthan with 1.4 crore or 6%. Together, the top five states account for nearly half of all investor accounts, while the top ten states comprise over 73%.

Investor ownership hits 22-year high

Investor participation has surged sharply since the pandemic, with individuals, both direct equity investors and mutual fund participants, now holding 18.75% of NSE-listed companies as of September 30, 2025. That marks the highest ownership level by retail investors in more than two decades.

The NSE said that over the past five years, benchmark indices have delivered strong gains, with the Nifty 50 and Nifty 500 generating annualised returns of 15% and 18%, respectively.

“Retail investors continue to be optimistic about Indian capital markets, given the robust measures that have been implemented in the past few years including the standardisation of mobile-based trading solutions, the implementation of a more streamlined Know Your Customer (KYC) process and strengthened investor awareness initiatives,” said Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer at NSE.

Surge in investor education and protection

Amid the rise in retail participation, the NSE has accelerated its investor education efforts. In the first half of FY26 alone, the exchange conducted 11,875 Investor Awareness Programmes, reaching nearly 6.2 lakh participants, compared with 14,679 for the entire FY25.

Its Investor Protection Fund also expanded 19% year-on-year to Rs 2,719 crore as of October 31, 2025. The NSE said these initiatives reflect its and the regulator’s continued focus on building a safer, more informed investor base.

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