Sebi chief Pandey flags India's resilient growth, deeper market reform initiatives

MUMBAI: Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Tuesday underscored India’s emergence as a resilient, investor-friendly market, highlighting strong capital formation, rising domestic participation and calibrated regulatory reforms aimed at sustaining long-term growth.

Addressing global and domestic institutional investors at the Kotak Investor Conference, Pandey said India offers ‘scale, growth and credible markets’ at a time when global supply chains, geopolitics and technology are reshaping capital flows. He emphasized that growth must be ‘credible and durable,’ backed by transparent and well-governed markets.

India’s capital markets have expanded sharply over the past decade. Between FY16 and FY26 (till Jan), about Rs 105 trillion was raised through equity and debt issuances. IPO activity remained robust, with Rs 1.8 lakh crore raised through 329 public issues in FY26 (April–Jan), compared with Rs 1.7 lakh crore from 320 IPOs in FY25.

The corporate bond market has grown at a 12% CAGR since FY15 to Rs 58.2 lakh crore as of Jan 2026. Mutual fund assets under management surged from Rs 12 lakh crore in FY16 to nearly Rs 81 lakh crore, reflecting a steady shift of household savings into financial assets. India now has over 14 crore unique investors.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remain significant, with equity assets under custody rising to about Rs 71 lakh crore by Jan 2026, more than three times FY16 levels. Including debt, total FPI assets stand at roughly Rs 78 lakh crore. Pandey noted that while FPI flows are cyclical, growing domestic institutional participation has strengthened market resilience during global risk-off phases.

On regulation, Pandey stressed an ‘optimum regulation’ approach—balancing investor protection with ease of doing business. Sebi has introduced the SWAGAT framework to simplify FPI access, streamlined onboarding processes, and launched an India Market Access portal. Market microstructure reforms, including a closing auction session and changes in block deals, aim to improve price discovery and execution efficiency.

To deepen markets, Sebi has eased listing norms, introduced the Specialised Investment Fund (SIF) to bridge gaps between mutual funds and PMS, expanded anchor investor allocations in IPOs, and reduced investment thresholds for certain AIF categories. Investments by mutual funds and SIFs in REITs will be treated as equity from Jan 2026.

Pandey said India’s next growth phase will hinge on market quality—governance, disclosure and institutional resilience—positioning capital markets at the centre of sustainable economic expansion.