Capital markets in India have been growing very rapidly. An important indicator of this growth has been mutual fund (MF) industry in the country. The assets under management (AUM) of the MFs have more than quadrupled in the last seven years, told Whole Time member, Securities and Exchange Board of India G Mahalingam on Saturday here.
Speaking at a seminar organised here by Abhyutthana Finacial Learning Centre (AFLC), Mahalingam said the present AUM stood at Rs24 lakh crore as against Rs5.6 lakh crore in 2012.
“The other clear indicators of this growth are increasing trading volumes in the equity markets and the surging market capitalisation figures. In terms of number of listed companies, India ranks on par with US with almost 5,000 listed companies,” said Mahalingam, outlining several far-reaching measures initiated by SEBI that
paved way for the growth of capital markets.
“Dematerialisation of scrips leading to complete paperless trading systems has completely put a stop to the menace of fake scrips circulating in the market. Corporatisation of stock exchanges, technology-based trading systems; complete revamp of payment systems and trade guarantee mechanisms, introduction of derivatives; introduction of complete robust corporate governance, strong disclosure measures, measures to prevent mis-selling of MFs, measures to revitalize the corporate markets and spread investors’ awareness led to growth in the capital markets,” he pointed out.
The seminar, among others, was addressed by former executive director, Reserve Bank of India,Hemant Contractor, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, Bhubaneswar MK Mall, former Regional Director, RBI Hyderabad KR Das, Moloy Biswas and D Mishra, founder and managing partner of AFLC.