Maharashtra still the king in cash market

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Maharashtra, the state with the largest economy in the country, has always boasted of having the largest number of investors as well. But in February this year, it quietly lost that place of pride to Uttar Pradesh which, in the next three months, has maintained its top slot, the Business Standard has reported. In the first month of the new financial year, it has been quietly dislodged from its high seat by Uttar Pradesh that added the highest number of investors stealing a march over all other states. Data from the exchanges show that in Uttar Pradesh 1.26 lakh persons began investing in the stock markets, as compared to 1.18 lakh from Maharashtra.

While Uttar Pradesh is endowed with the biggest population – as much as 24.34 crore, sufficient to make it the fifth largest country – it did not traditionally have a vibrant investment culture. However, in terms of the size of the economy Maharashtra stands far ahead of UP – in 2018-19, Maharashtra’s SDP stood at Rs 25.7 lakh crore to UP’s Rs 15.8 lakh crore.

According to NSE, in April 2023 about 8 lakh new investors came into the picture, which is the low-water mark since November 2020. Data from SEBI, however, indicated that 16 lakh new accounts were opened in the month. The difference between the two data is due to the fact that the exchanges record unique registrations and if an investor has more than one account, that data would not get registered. However, quoting depository data the newspaper said that 21 lakh accounts were opened in May 2023, when the stock markets made handsome gains.

However, in the cash segment of the market, Maharashtra remains the king, accounting for 64% of the value of shares that are transacted at NSE. Ahmedabad with 14% and Rajkot 3.1% occupy the next two slots according to the report.

A brokerage industry research report done by ICICIdirect stated that the sector might witness moderate growth in revenue in the current fiscal. It said that the share of “pure broking income has been sliding in the overall pie. Further, according to CareEdge, revenue growth for the broking industry is expected to moderate to 10 per cent in 2022-23 to Rs 28,000-30,000 crore and be flat in FY24E, with consolidation in the industry benefiting some traditional brokers.