A 2025 investor survey by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has revealed that only 9.5 per cent or 3.21 crore of India's 33.72 crore households had some investments within equities, mutual funds and corporate bonds. This leaves about 30.51 crore households completely excluded from the securities market, marking a significant under-penetration.
Despite a multiple increase in the capitalisation of stocks and assets under management (AUM) over the past 10 years, this low level of household participation in stock markets remains a serious concern, the survey highlighted.
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Awareness among investors
Of the 33.72 crore households in the country, 53.5 per cent are aware of securities market products but do not invest. Meanwhile, 37 per cent are not aware of these products at all. Among those who know about them but do not invest, 22 per cent plan to invest within the next 12 months. This indicates a significant number of potential new investors.
"The untapped majority, individuals who are yet to participate in securities market products, represents a vast opportunity to redefine financial inclusion and unlock new avenues for economic growth," said the report released on Tuesday.
Surge in BSE equity market
BSE equity market capitalisation has increased from about Rs 101 lakh crore in FY2014 to nearly Rs 4,701 lakh crore by October 2025. In the same timeframe, mutual fund assets under management grew from Rs 12 lakh crore in 2015 to Rs 79 lakh crore in September 2025.
Awareness patterns across geographic locations
The location where an individual lives provides a significant impact on how people know about their securities products. The 74 per cent of urban households are aware of at least one type of securities product. Whereas, the rural households only had a 56 per cent awareness of at least one type of securities product.
The majority of the urban centres (Metropolitan cities), the top nine, have 23 per cent of securities product awareness, followed by 10-40 lakh size towns at 16 per cent securities product awareness and lastly the towns at 5-10 lakh size have 14 per cent securities product awareness.
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Economically-developed urbanised areas are where most of the population is participating in the securities market. A comparison of the participation rates shows that the top state is Delhi with 21 per cent followed by Maharashtra with 17 per cent, Goa with 16 per cent and Gujarat with 15 per cent. The states with the lowest participation are Nagaland at 3 per cent and Uttarakhand and Meghalaya with 4.5 per cent.
Generational awareness
The results of the study indicated that the younger cohort groups have greater awareness of market products than the older ones. The results demonstrate that the younger group, Gen Z, have 66 per cent awareness and the Millenials have 62 per cent awareness to their respective cohorts. In the case of Gen X and other older groups, the awareness stands at 56 per cent.
"The untapped majority — individuals who are yet to participate in securities market products — represents a vast opportunity to redefine financial inclusion and unlock new avenues for economic growth," the survey said.
What are the roadblocks?
For non-investors, the main reasons for not entering the financial markets are: the complexity of these markets and the limited amount of information available about them, the fear of losing their money because of the volatility of the markets and the lack of trust in the market and in the brokers that provide access to the financial products.
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Almost 74 per cent of non-investors are affected by the complexity of the financial products available to them and are unable to obtain the information they need in order to invest. Non-investor households highlight that they do not understand how to invest in financial products, especially when it comes to investing in stocks and shares.
"Trust and transparency issues affect 51 per cent of non-investors, with many expressing a lack of confidence in financial products or institutions," the survey showed.
