According to Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has set an aggressive goal to double the number of investors in the Indian equities market.
While 63% of households are aware of the securities market, only around 9.5% are participating in it, and another 22% are considering doing so over the next 12 months, according to figures cited by Pandey from an investor survey conducted by the market regulator.
Additionally, he stated that India’s domestic story is far from bubble territory and that, given the crucial role individual investors play as shock absorbers, a downturn in the US markets will have a minimal effect on India.
According to Pandey, the Indian securities market has enabled average annual debt and equity issuances of over ₹9.5 lakh crore over the past decade, making it no longer a secondary source of funding. Sebi will provide a more intelligent set of rules that are simple, risk-aware, and encouraging of creativity. According to him, deepening capital markets requires improving listing procedures and post-listing flexibility.
Corporate bond issuances reached about ₹5.5 trillion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, from April to October of FY26, while equity capital raised has already surpassed ₹2.5 trillion. Ten years ago, outstanding corporate bonds accounted for 43% of bank credit; today, they are close to 60%, at around ₹55 trillion. He remarked, “These numbers reflect something deeper.”
The mutual fund sector increased from ₹12 trillion in FY16 to about ₹80 trillion now, while India’s market capitalization-to-GDP ratio increased from roughly 69% in FY16 to over 130% today. According to him, the AIF ecosystem’s growth from a meager ₹0.2 trillion in FY16 to more than ₹6 trillion presently represents another change.
The consolidation of Minimum Public Offer (MPO) scale-based thresholds for companies with significant market value to meet public float requirements is one of the significant actions Sebi has made to enhance the experience of issuers. Notable reforms, according to him, include allowing founders to keep some ESOPs after listing and extending the reach of Electronic Book Provider (EBP) platforms to include REITs and InvITs.
