The Economic Survey 2024-25 was tabled in the Parliament today (January 31, 2025) after President Droupadi Murmu’s address commencing the Budget Session. As per the period since the pandemic has seen a surge in individual and household participation as capital market investors through direct (trading in markets through their accounts) and indirect (through mutual funds) channels. Strong macroeconomic fundamentals, robust and efficient technology architecture that supports effective trading, clearing, and depository systems, healthy corporate earnings, and the trust that the mutual fund ecosystem and online digital investment platforms have earned have all contributed to increased capital market participation.
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The incremental addition to demat accounts has been continuously increasing, with the number of demat accounts rising sharply by 33 per cent to 18.5 crore at the end of December 2024 on a YoY basis. In the equity cash segment, individual investor share turnover41 was 35.6 per cent from April to December 2024. There are 11.5 crore unique investors with demat accounts and 5.6 crore unique investors in mutual funds as of the end of December 2024. Higher investor participation has engendered a self-reinforcing cycle of strong market returns, bringing in even more investors. This, inturn, will eventually transform the securities market into a more diverse, inclusive, and robust platform for wealth creation.
As stated in th report, the mutual fund sector, which has had strong growth in recent years, is increasingly essential for directing savings toward risk capital generation and utilizing innovation and technology. The number of unique investors has doubled from 2.9 crore in FY21 to 5.6 crore as of December 2024, reflecting the increase in retail involvement through mutual funds.
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By the end of December 2024, there were 22.5 crore folios (not including FoF domestic schemes), up from 17.8 crore at the end of FY24. Retail investors also held mutual fund units valued at ₹18.6 lakh crore. As a result of the excellent market performance and the surge in participation, the assets under management (AuM) of mutual funds increased significantly, reaching ₹66.9 lakh crore as of December 2024, representing a 25.3% increase from March 2024.
There are currently over 10 crore Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) accounts in the mutual fund industry, and since its establishment, SIP inflows have totaled ₹10.9 lakh crore. Over the past three years, the average monthly gross SIP flows have more than quadrupled, rising from ₹0.10 lakh crore in FY22 to ₹0.23 lakh crore in FY25. With the help of these consistent inflows, the ownership of mutual funds in Indian listed businesses increased from 8.7 percent in FY24 to a new all-time high of 9.5 percent43 in the quarter ended September 2024.
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