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The Indian market is witnessing remarkable participation from retail investors, with a surge in demat accounts to 19.4 crore in 2025 from 3.6 crore in 2019, a senior Sebi official said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, domestic institutional ownership in listed companies has increased from 13 per cent to 20 per cent, while foreign ownership has declined from 22 per cent to 17 per cent. Speaking at an event organised by IVCA Renewable Energy Summit 2025, Ruchi Chojer, Executive Director at Sebi, said that trust is the cornerstone of investment, and India has earned that trust. "At Sebi, our regulatory approach has focused on balancing capital formation with systemic stability and investor protection. Trust is the cornerstone of investment, and India has earned that trust," she was quoted in a statement issued by IVCA. She shared that retail participation has surged from 3.6 crore demat accounts in 2019 to 19.4 crore in 2025. Highlighting the evolution of capital markets in the country, Chojer
To encourage demat holding of securities, Sebi on Tuesday proposed mandating listed companies to issue securities only in demat form following stock split, consolidation of face value of shares, and merger or demerger. In case an investor does not have a demat account, the issuer companies will be required to open a separate demat account with a suitable ledger of ownership or suspense escrow account for dealing with such securities, Sebi proposed in its consultation paper. Dematerialisation of securities has several benefits, including reduction of frauds and forgery, elimination of loss and damage of securities, faster and more efficient transfers, improved transparency and regulatory oversight, mitigation of legal disputes, cost reduction of investors and companies, etc. Considering this, while Sebi is encouraging holding of securities in demat form by the investors, at present a few investors hold securities in physical form. Although it is legally permissible to hold securitie