Mumbai, March 10 (IANS) SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey has said that retail investors and domestic mutual funds together hold about 36 per cent of the free float market capitalisation of Nifty 50 companies.

Addressing the 30th anniversary of the Nifty 50 index at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Pandey said the index has evolved alongside India’s economy over three decades, with domestic participation surging rapidly.

SEBI Chairman noted that India now has over 140 million unique investors, a trend he described as a steady shift of household savings into capital markets

“Over the last three decades, we have witnessed the rise of new industries and the expansion of existing ones, from information technology and financial services to telecommunications, consumption-driven businesses, and several new-age sectors,” Pandey said.

He highlighted the financial sector’s weight in the index rising from about 21 per cent at launch to nearly 38 per cent as of February 2025.

Pandey mentioned that the market capitalisation of NSE listed companies now exceeds 130 per cent of India’s GDP, up from just 35 per cent in FY 1995.

“Today, India’s exchanges rank among the most active globally. Our markets host one of the largest numbers of listed companies, facilitate a very large number of IPOs each year, and account for one of the highest volumes of derivative contracts traded worldwide,” he said.

At the event, S Gurumurthy, Independent Director, RBI said that India’s markets have grown through a combination of strong institutions, regulatory oversight and a culture of prudence unlike other countries where markets evolved purely through financial innovation. This combination has helped create a framework where growth and stability coexist, he added.

Nifty 50 was designed to represent the performance of 50 large and liquid companies across key sectors of the Indian economy and has delivered a total return of 12.74 per cent since inception in 1995.

—IANS

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