Groww and Angel One lead the charge in adding new demat accounts, transforming India's equity market landscape with technology and user-friendly platforms.
Fiscal year 2024-2025 witnessed a surge in retail participation in India's equity markets, with new-age brokers like Groww and Angel One playing a pivotal role. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a remarkable addition of 84 lakh new active demat accounts, with Groww and Angel One contributing over half of this growth. Together, they added 48.6 lakh new accounts, representing more than 57% of all net additions to the NSE pool during the fiscal year.
Groww added 34 lakh new accounts, while Angel One contributed 14.6 lakh. Zerodha, another prominent player, added 5.8 lakh accounts. By March 2025, Groww's active user base had risen by 36% year-on-year to 1.29 crore, capturing a market share exceeding 26%. Angel One's active user base grew by 17.38% to 75.7 lakh, boosting its market share to over 15%. Zerodha also maintained a significant market share above 15%, despite adding fewer accounts during the year.
These digital brokerages, armed with technology, intuitive user interfaces, and mobile-first strategies, have disrupted the market. In contrast, traditional brokers like HDFC Securities and ICICI Securities hold smaller market shares of approximately 3-4% each, despite having substantial client bases. The shift towards digital brokerage reflects the increasing adoption of smartphone-friendly investing among young Indian investors.
This transformation has broadened the investor base, extending beyond tier-1 metros to include tier-2, tier-3 cities, and even rural areas. As the equity markets enter a new week of corporate earnings season, factors such as US tariffs and foreign fund flows are expected to influence market sentiment. Global crude prices and forex rates will also be closely monitored.
Market experts anticipate a continued upward trend in the Indian market, driven by factors such as Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) buying interest, easing domestic inflation, and positive monsoon forecasts. Major companies like HDFC Bank, Infosys, and ICICI Bank have already reported their earnings, with Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki, and HCL Tech scheduled to release their quarterly numbers this week. FIIs have injected ₹14,670 crore into Indian equity markets in the last three trading days, contributing to a Sensex gain of 4.51% and a Nifty jump of 4.48% during the week. The weakening American currency also played a role in this positive trend.
The rise of accessible, new-age brokerages is expected to play a crucial role in shaping a new era of retail equity investing in India.
