BSE sees 34% jump in new retail traders in FY15

A massive rally in stocks coupled with regular investor awareness campaigns by BSE pushed up the number of retail investors on the exchange by nearly 34 per cent to 26.74 lakh last fiscal.

In the previous financial year, 2013-14, the number of retail investors who traded on BSE was nearly 20 lakh, according to the data provided by the bourse.

The total number of 'new client codes' registered with the oldest bourse in Asia is 46.7 lakh for the last two fiscal.

Between September 2013 when Narendra Modi was named the BJP's prime ministerial candidate and March this year, the market had rallied over 60 per cent.

BSE has attributed the rise in its retail investor base to several government initiatives such as financial inclusion and fall in inflation.

The exchange had recorded trading worth Rs 8.55 trillion (Rs 8.55 lakh crore) in equities during 2014-15 -- an increase of about 64 per cent over the preceding fiscal.

The exchange's market capitalisation stands at over Rs 99 trillion.

Many of the measures taken by the government in the recent past have helped create confidence in the economy, increasing retail participation in the capital markets, BSE said.

Additionally, the exchange has also credited the increase in retail investor participation to the regular capital market awareness programmes the exchange ran across the country, especially in smaller cities.

"Through the investor protection fund, we regularly conduct investor awareness programmes throughout the country," it said.

The exchange has conducted a total of 2,308 IAPs during the 2015 financial year, while it conducted 31 regional investor seminars in association with the Securities and Exchange Board across the country.

To encourage financial inclusion and to educate investors, especially those in small towns, on capital markets and financial planning, etc, BSE has ran many mass media campaigns, the exchange said.

With as many as 5,686 companies listed on it, BSE is the world's largest equities bourse by the number of firms listed. Of these, 4,244 are eligible for trading.