Demat accounts hit new high, touch 15 crore in March 2024
Total number of demat accounts jumped to 15.1 crore in March 2024, with new account additions surging to 31 lakh in the previous month.
 "Demat accounts hit new high, touch 15 crore in March 2024")
The total number of Demat accounts in India has reached a new high of 151 million as of March 2024. There was a significant increase in new Demat account openings in March 2024, with 3.1 million new accounts added.
This trend seems to be continuing throughout the year, with an average of 3.1 million new accounts opened each month in the financial year 2024 (FY24), shows data analysed by brokerage Motilal Oswal.
This trend seems to be continuing throughout the year, with an average of 3.1 million new accounts opened each month in the financial year 2024 (FY24), shows data analysed by brokerage Motilal Oswal.
The Indian benchmark Nifty rose 1.5 percent in March on the back of strong macro cues, hopes of a rate cut, continuous foreign investor inflows as well as overall positive global market trends. Moreover, the expectation of the current Narendra Modi government retaining a third term in the upcoming 2024 general elections also aided investor sentiment.
Among the two Depository Service Providers (DSPs) - CDSL and NSDL - CDSL is gaining market share. This means a larger proportion of new Demat accounts are being opened with CDSL.
CDSL's market share has been increasing both compared to the previous month (MoM) and the previous year (YoY).
NSDL, on the other hand, has lost market share year-over-year (YoY) for both the total number of Demat accounts and new account additions.
The number of active clients at NSE increased 1.8% month on month to 40.8 million in March 2024. Currently, the top five discount brokers account for 63.8 per cent of the total NSE active clients vs. 59.9 per cent in March 2023.
Zerodha, the leading discount broker, maintained its top position but experienced a slight decline in market share (20 basis points) despite a marginal increase (0.9% MoM) in its client base.
Upstox followed a similar trend with a small month-on-month rise in client count (0.6%) and a decrease in market share (around 10 basis points).
Groww, on the other hand, emerged as a significant player with a 3.8% MoM increase in client count and a notable market share gain of around 50 basis points.
Traditional brokers witnessed a mixed bag of results. ISEC, a prominent traditional broker, saw a slight decline (1.3% MoM) in its client base and a decrease in market share (around 15 basis points). IIFL Securities, however, managed a small MoM increase (0.3%) in client count but maintained a relatively steady market share (1.1%).