Srinagar: The number of stock market investors in Jammu and Kashmir has increased significantly, as indicated by the fact that J&K now has 6.14 lakh equity investors.
According to the BSE's Registered Investors Summary as of September 2, J&K has 6,14,109 investors.
The retail investors have grown by 1,59,951 (35.22 percent) during the past 12 months.
The increase in investors over the previous month of 19,090 (3.21 percent) shows that there has been a surge in stock market involvement as a result of increased access to technology and financial awareness.
According to Muhammad Irshad, a retail investor from Srinagar, "Young people from J&K are increasingly participating in the stock market. Earlier, the majority of people believed that trading on the equities market was similar to gambling. This was mostly due to a lack of information and negative experiences. However, this idea has since been disproved by the development of the internet and increased connection. Today investors of J&K invest in the stock market with a long-term perspective and complete knowledge.”
However, according to market experts, the number of investors from J&K is still very low in comparison to other major cities or states.
"Only 6.14 lakh of the anticipated 1.25 crore people participate in the equity investing market, which indicates poor penetration. However, it is positive to note that the number of investors has increased over the previous several years," they said.
Recently, Whole Time Member (WTM) of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Ashwani Bhatia last month while delivering a keynote address on ‘Overview of Securities Market’ at J&K Bank’s corporate headquarters gave a detailed overview of the securities market in the country saying, “Markets in India are safe, secure and well-regulated. As the fifth largest economy in the world, the value of our GDP – Rs 310 lakh crore is almost equal to the Market Capitalisation of the companies in the country, which is Rs 300 lakh crore. In addition, if we add the bond market and other products, it is actually bigger than the GDP of the country. So as the country grows the wealth is actually being created here.”
To promote financial development in J&K, he counselled the bank's management to extend financial literacy instruction throughout Jammu and Kashmir.
“The assets under management portfolio in J&K is extremely small, at barely Rs 5700 crore,” Bhatia said.
This necessitates a significant financial depth throughout J&K.
In India, the number of people using demat accounts has increased significantly over the past few years as a result of increased financial literacy and increased market and investment knowledge.
The pandemic's harsh lesson to the globe about the value of assets and savings is now being mirrored in the rise of demat accounts.
