Summary of this article
Fundraising strong: Rs 9.7 lakh crore raised; 122 IPOs in H1 FY26.
Participation surges: Investor base crossed 12 crore; daily trades at record levels.
Macro supportive: GDP growth seen at 6.8 per cent; listed market cap at Rs 5.05 lakh crore.
India’s capital markets in 2025 tell a story of scale, resilience and widening participation. India’s capital markets demonstrated notable resilience in H1 FY26, mobilising a combined Rs 9.7 lakh crore through equity and debt instruments, says the Market Pulse Report by National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). It is an increase of 13 per cent year-on-year. Going by the data, equity fundraising reached Rs 2 lakh crore, underscoring sustained appetite for risk capital even amid volatile global cues.
Primary markets remained particularly buoyant. A total of 122 companies made their market debut. Out of these 122, 54 debuted on the mainboard and 68 on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) platforms, adding around Rs 4.1 lakh crore to overall market capitalisation.
October 2025 witnessed record Initial Public Offering (IPO) activity led by public offerings from Tata Capital and LG Electronics. The strong pipeline reflects both corporate confidence and investor willingness to back growth stories, says the report.
Investor base crossed 12 crore mark in September
Investor participation continued to broaden rapidly. NSE’s registered investor base crossed the 12 crore mark on September 22, 2025, adding nearly one crore new investors in just eight months. The profile of new entrants highlights a clear demographic shift where women now account for close to 25 per cent of investors, while over 55 per cent of new registrations came from individuals aged 30 or below, according to NSE data.
Geographically, Uttar Pradesh retained its position as the top contributor to new investor registrations for the 32nd consecutive month, signalling the steady financialisation of savings beyond metros. Overall, total client accounts across exchanges reached approximately 23.7 crore, reflecting both new additions and multi-account ownership.
Trading activity remained strong
Trading activity remained robust across segments. Average daily turnover (ADT) in the equity cash market rose 5.1 per cent month-on-month to Rs 98,312 crore, while equity options ADT climbed to Rs 48,662 crore. A key structural change that is the shift of weekly index expiry to Tuesdays, as per the report, helped boost Nifty50 premium turnover by 2.7 per cent MoM to Rs 37,393 crore.
“On average, Indian markets recorded about 8.5 crore trades per day, highlighting deep liquidity and efficient price discovery,” says the report. Commodity derivatives also hit new highs, with ADT touching a record Rs 106 crore, driven largely by rising participation in electricity futures.
Retail participation surges
Retail investor activity strengthened meaningfully through the year. Around 1.19 crore individual investors participated in the cash equity segment in September alone. Retail participation in derivatives, as per the report, rose to 33.6 lakh, with a significant 77 per cent of these traders also active in cash equities, indicating growing cross-segment engagement.
However, turnover data from NSE reveals a sharp concentration. The top 0.2 per cent of investors accounted for 77 per cent of equity cash turnover, while the top 0.3 per cent of options traders generated nearly 69 per cent of premium turnover. The numbers underline that while participation is broadening, trading intensity remains skewed towards a small, highly active cohort.
GDP growth holds firm as inflation cools and credit stays strong
Macro fundamentals remained supportive. The Reserve Bank of India projects GDP growth of 6.8 per cent for FY26, with inflation moderating sharply to around 2.6 per cent. Both CPI and WPI inflation eased in September, while the fiscal deficit stood at 38 per cent of FY26 budget estimates till August.
“Credit growth remained strong, pushing the credit-deposit ratio above 80 per cent,” says the report. A surplus monsoon (the fifth-highest since 2001) provided an additional boost to rural demand. Globally, uncertainty persists, though geopolitical risks showed some easing.
NSE: Market cap of listed firms stands at Rs 5.05 lakh crore
India’s market infrastructure continues to scale new highs. The market capitalisation of listed firms stands at about Rs 5.05 lakh crore. Over 12 crore PAN-linked investors now cover nearly 99.85 per cent of India’s pin codes. Passive assets tracking Nifty indices have grown to US$97.2 billion.
