Mumbai: Capital markets regulator Sebi is aiming to double the number of equity market investors in the next three-five years, its chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Monday.
Pandey cited findings of a survey conducted by Sebi recently, which points to eagerness to invest with over a fifth of the respondents saying they plan to invest in the securities market through some route.
“We are looking at double the number of investors. So, that is more than the populations of several countries put together. If we add another 100 million investors,” Pandey said, replying to a specific question on what will make him happy over the next 3-5 years.
As of October, the overall number of unique investors in India stood at 12.2 crore and the number has grown very fast since 2020 with the emergence of the Covid pandemic.
Speaking at the CII Financing Summit, Pandey said the onus is on the capital markets ecosystem consisting of the regulator and issuers to ensure that good quality paper comes to the market which attracts investor attention.
Meanwhile, replying to another query on the possible impact on India if the US markets were to correct, Pandey said the domestic investors play a very strong role in the Indian markets, hinting of a limited impact.
Making it clear that the India story is “not a bubble”, Pandey said the investor interest is driven by aspects such as high economic growth, reforms and investments by the government, and the ease of doing business measures. “the (domestic investors) will be the shields against the shocks that can come.”