International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

E-ISSN: 2582-2160   •   Impact Factor: 9.24

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Volume 8 Issue 5
September-October 2026

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From Demat Growth to Genuine Participation: Reassessing Retail Investor Inclusion in India’s Securities Market

Author(s) Dr. Surajkumar Shivshankar Surajkumar
Country India
Abstract India’s securities market has experienced a remarkable expansion in retail participation during the last decade, particularly after the COVID-19 period. The growth of demat accounts and digital brokerage infrastructure is often interpreted as evidence of widening participation. However, an account is not equivalent to an individual investor, and a rise in accounts may therefore overstate the depth of financial-market inclusion. This study reassesses retail investor inclusion by distinguishing between account expansion, unique individual participation and household-level participation in securities-market products. The study uses secondary data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), and the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). The analysis covers trends in demat accounts, unique individual demat holders, household participation, regional variation and mutual-fund participation. The evidence indicates that India has moved from a relatively narrow securities-market base toward substantially broader participation, but the process remains uneven across income groups, locations and levels of financial awareness. SEBI’s Investor Survey 2025 reports securities-market participation by approximately 3.21 crore households, representing 9.5% of all Indian households, while participation is considerably higher in urban areas and top metropolitan locations. The study argues that future financial-inclusion policy should move beyond counting accounts and focus on active, informed, diversified and sustainable participation. The paper proposes a Retail Investor Inclusion Assessment Framework based on five dimensions: access, actual participation, financial capability, quality of participation and investor protection.
Keywords Retail investors, securities market, demat accounts, financial inclusion, investor participation, mutual funds, India
Field Business Administration
Published In Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On 2026-09-16
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E-ISSN 2582-2160
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CrossRef DOI prefix of IJFMR is 10.36948/ijfmr

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