The investor base in India achieved a new milestone in June, with the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) registering over 26 lakh crore unique trading accounts or client tokens. In a press release issued on Friday, the exchange said it has added the latest accounts worth Rs 1 lakh crore in just under four months.
Over the past year, more than 4.3 lakh crore accounts have been added, accounting for about 17% of the total, highlighting the pace of capital markets in India. As of May 31, 2026, NSE had over 13.1 lakh crore unique registered investors. The stock market crossed the Rs 13 lakh crore mark in April. Trading accounts are higher than the number of investors because one person can have more than one account with different brokers.Growth is no longer limited to major financial cities. Maharashtra leads with accounts of Rs 4.4 lakh crore, or 17% of the total, followed by Uttar Pradesh with Rs 3 lakh crore, Gujarat with Rs 2.2 lakh crore, and West Bengal and Rajasthan with Rs 1.5 lakh crore each. Together, the top five states account for nearly 49% of all accounts. But growth is now picking up faster in the northeast, with Mizoram, Sikkim and Meghalaya seeing 32.3%, 30.0% and 29.2% of additions in 2021-2025 coming in 2025 itself.According to the National Stock Exchange, this rise is driven by faster digitalisation, with mobile trading platforms now accounting for more than a fifth of cash market turnover, coupled with a simpler KYC process.
Market performance also helped, with the annual returns of the Nifty50 and Nifty 500 standing at 7.1% and 9.8% respectively over the five years ending June 4, 2026. The market capitalization of NSE-listed companies grew at a CAGR of 12.6% over the same period, reaching Rs 462.2 lakh crore adding to household wealth.Retail investors now own 18.7% of the market, directly and through mutual funds, as of March 31, 2026. Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) have also increased participation, with new SIP accounts worth Rs 7.2 lakh crore opened between April 2025 and March 2026.
Average monthly SIP flows have risen sharply over the last decade, from Rs 3,660 crore in FY17 to Rs 29,132 crore in FY26.This Rs 26 lakh crore milestone “reflects the continued deepening of investor engagement in Indian capital markets,” said Sriram Krishnan, chief business development officer, NSE. Despite the global uncertainty, “adding accounts worth one lakh crore in just under four months shows strong investor confidence,” he added. He also said that participation is growing beyond the major cities to Tier 2, 3 and 4 cities, where investors are now active across stocks, ETFs, REITs, REITs, government bonds and corporate bonds, while electronic gold receipts have also expanded reach.As more young investors join the market, NSE said investor education has become more important. Investor awareness programs grew five-fold from 3,504 in FY20 to 17,902 in FY26, reaching 9.4 lakh people last year.