Mumbai
The number of demat accounts in India reached 179 million in October, up from 175 million in September, driven by strong performance in the Indian stock market, according to a report on Monday.
While the total number of demat accounts grew, the addition of new accounts slowed. In October, 3.5 million new demat accounts were added, marking the first month in four months with new account additions below 4 million. The average monthly additions for the fiscal year so far stood at 3.9 million.
The report also highlighted that the number of active clients on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) increased by 2.4% month-on-month to 48.9 million in October.
In terms of market share, CDSL gained ground both in the total number of demat accounts and new additions. However, NSDL saw a decline in market share on a year-on-year basis, losing 400bps and 210bps in total and incremental demat accounts, respectively.
Among brokerage firms, discount brokers dominated, with the top five accounting for 64.5% of total active clients on the NSE, compared to 61.4% a year ago. Zerodha, the largest online brokerage, reported a 1.2% increase in its client count to 8.1 million, while Groww saw a 2.8% rise to 12.6 million. Angel One and Upstox also posted gains in client numbers.
Traditional brokers like ICICI Securities, Kotak Securities, and HDFC Securities reported modest growth in their client bases.
