Uttar Pradesh becomes second state to surpass 1 crore stock market investors

Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, has become the second state after Maharashtra to surpass 1 crore stock market investors, according to the January Market Pulse report published by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Uttar Pradesh added 33 lakh new investors during 2024 and accounted for 14.4% registrations. The north Indian state's share of the investor base has grown from 7.3% in 2019 to 11.3% in 2024, the report added.

"Among other states that are fast catching up, Bihar has risen to the top 10 states from 15th in 2019, while Assam now holds 2.3% of the investor base, up from 0.7% in 2019. District-wise, six out of the top 10 districts were from Maharashtra and Gujarat. Districts beyond the top 50 contributed 65.2% of new investor additions in 2024, up from 61% in 2023. Today, we have investors from 99.84% of the pin codes in the country," NSE said in the report.

Meanwhile, the share of women investors in markets increased to 24.1% from 22.8% in 2023, while the median age dropped to 32 years, with 40% of investors now under 30, compared to 23.5% in March 2020, the report noted.

The report also highlighted how the household interest in equities in the post pandemic era has fuelled the supply of public issues. 2024 was a record year for primary markets as it saw a total of 301 listings raising ₹1.67 lakh crore in IPOs, which was three times that of 2023. Of the 301 IPOs in 2024, 90 were on mainboard, 178 were SMEs and another were 33 direct listings.

Hyundai Motor’s ₹27,859 crore IPO was the largest ever in India and the second largest in the world last year. Including follow-on issues, the total equity raised last year was ₹4.27 lakh crore, significantly higher than the ₹1.85 lakh crore raised in 2023, the report added.

Combining debt, equity and trusts, the total capital raised in 2024 of ₹17.92 lakh crore was 32% higher than in 2023, the report said.