Shareholders or spectators: Role of retail individual investors

The Indian capital market has seen tremendous participation of retail individual investors in the last half-decade.

- PROF. (DR.) HARPREET KAUR

The number of demat accounts has reached a staggering 194 million in 2025, up from 36 million in 2019. Over the past year alone, more than 20 million new accounts have been added. In addition, the retail investor's ownership in NSE-listed companies has also increased to 17.6% in 2024, which increased from 10.9 % in 2014. The growth can be attributed to improved financial literacy, increased access to the capital market, and shifting demographic and behavioural patterns.

Despite the remarkable growth in numbers, however, retail individual investors continue to remain passive investors with almost no influence on corporate governance in Indian companies. The 2025 report by proxy firm IIAS indicates that the retail investors' voting percentage is as low as 20%, whereas institutional investors and promoters have consistently demonstrated significantly higher voting percentages nearing 80%.