By [Abul Hasan] THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA.COM
Calendar 2025 delivered a measured but meaningful advance for India’s financial markets—enough to signal resilience, broadened investor reach, and an expanding global footprint, even as certain segments cooled from 2024 highs. The latest NSE Annual Highlights, updated through December 19, 2025, lay out a picture of growth that is both broad and nuanced: stronger headline indices, healthy fundraising on the main board, surging retail and regional engagement, and a deepening of international and new market initiatives.

Market performance: broad indices push higher, pockets of correction
On the equity front, India’s headline indices ended the year notably higher. The Nifty 50 climbed from 23,645 at end 2024 to 25,966 by December 19, 2025—a gain of 2,322 points or roughly 9.8%. Other broad gauges also posted positive moves: Nifty 500 rose about 5.8%, Nifty Midcap 150 about 4.8%, and the Total Market index about 5.2%. A notable drag came from small caps: the Nifty Smallcap 250 fell 7.6%, reflecting selective pressure at the smaller end of the market.Market capitalization of NSE listed companies expanded from Rs 439 lakh crore to Rs 469 lakh crore, a 6.8% increase, keeping the market cap to GDP ratio roughly flat around 136%. In short, large and broad market measures strengthened, midcaps edged up modestly, while smaller caps retraced earlier gains—indicating a cautious but positive tone overall.

Primary markets and fund mobilization: more IPOs, mixed flows
Primary market activity remained robust in scale and variety. The number of mainboard IPOs rose to 101 in 2025 from 90 in 2024, even as total funds raised through mainboard IPOs edged down slightly. Fresh listings on the main board fetched about Rs 64,031 crore in 2025, virtually flat against Rs 64,307 crore in 2024; but offers for sale jumped 13% to about Rs 1,07,337 crore, and the combined fresh listing plus OFS increased 7% to Rs 1,71,368 crore. Rights issues and preferential allotments also surged: rights issues nearly doubled, and preferential allotment on the mainboard soared 86% to Rs 1,01,429 crore. By contrast, QIPs dropped 47% to Rs 71,740 crore, highlighting a shift in capital raising route preferences. The total equity raised in 2025 across all categories was about Rs 4,12,407 crore, down 3% from Rs 4,27,316 crore in 2024—still a very large annual mobilisation, underscoring persistent corporate financing appetite.SME listings softened: fresh SME listings decreased 26%, and the total SME funds raised fell 24% to Rs 5,589 crore. That decline suggests more caution or a tighter pipeline at the smaller end, even as mainboard activity scaled up.

IPO size and geography: large issues remain, broader regional footprint
Average mainboard IPO size was modestly lower, at about Rs 1,697 crore versus Rs 1,772 crore in 2024, but the number of very large IPOs stayed notable—four mainboard IPOs exceeded Rs 10,000 crore in 2025, up from three in 2024. The largest 2025 mainboard IPO was Tata Capital Limited, Rs 15,512 crore, compared to 2024’s biggest, Hyundai Motor India, at Rs 27,859 crore.
On the SME front, the largest SME IPO in 2025 was Safe Enterprises Retail Fixtures at Rs 170 crore, slightly below 2024’s largest, Danish Power at Rs 198 crore—still pointing to the SME space as a meaningful, if smaller, source of capital. A geographic lens shows significant clustering of Emerge listings in states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat, with a total of 112 SME IPOs in 2025. Maharashtra led with 26 listings totaling about Rs 1,510 crore, followed by Gujarat with 24 listings totaling about Rs 1,061 crore, and Delhi NCR with 15 listings at Rs 712 crore. This geography spread signals that the IPO ecosystem is active across multiple industrial and urban hubs, not just a single region.

Investor base and household participation: notable expansion and outreach
Perhaps the most striking theme is a sharp expansion in investor registration and engagement. Total unique registered investors rose about 13.9% to 12.4 crore, from 10.89 crore at the end of 2024. New investor registrations in 2025, up to December 19, numbered roughly 1.5 crore—a substantial inflow of new market participants. State level data shows strong gains across populous states: Uttar Pradesh registered a 17.0% jump to 143.9 lakh investors, Tamil Nadu jumped 17.4%, and Bihar saw 17.6% growth. Even West Bengal grew 15.0% and Maharashtra 9.9%, underscoring a pan India rise in market access and interest. Investor awareness programs scaled dramatically. From January to November 2025, there were 22,448 IAPs with nearly 11.8 lakh participants, a jump of 167% in programs and 150% in participants over the same period in 2024. Women focused programs also expanded significantly, from about 1,366 programs in 2024 to 4,556 in 2025—more than a threefold rise—and participants rising almost 2.8 times. This demonstrates a serious push toward financial literacy and inclusion that appears to be translating into registrations and broader participation.

International exchange and new markets: crossing a trillion-dollar milestone
NSE’s international arm crossed a symbolic threshold in 2025. Cumulative notional turnover on NSE International Exchange surpassed US $1 trillion, reaching about US $1,106 billion through December 19, 2025, from US $1,090 billion in 2024. This not only marks steady growth but confirms international operations as a major pillar of NSE’s ecosystem. Further indicators of global reach include the cumulative volume in GIFT Nifty contracts—futures and options—reaching 22.52 million contracts with roughly US $1.1 trillion of turnover in 2025, and since mid 2023 operations beginning, total cumulative volume approaching 55.34 million contracts with about US $2.53 trillion in turnover. These figures show fast building scale and sustained international investor activity, hinting at a multi trillion dollar platform over a short span.

Clearing, settlement, and market infrastructure: higher collateral and stability
Trading infrastructure also showed growth: average daily collateral at the exchange rose about 10.8% to Rs 7.66 lakh crore in 2025, from roughly Rs 6.92 lakh crore in 2024, reflecting increased activity and possibly higher margin requirements tied to volumes or instruments.
The core settlement guarantee fund also climbed; by November 2025 it stood at about Rs 12,556 crore, up 8.9% from December 2024’s Rs 11,527 crore. These increments indicate a proactive strengthening of the safety net for clearing and settlement, aligning with broader market growth.

Indices and sectoral performance: a varied landscape
Indices beyond the headline Nifty 50 tell a differentiated story. For 2025, many sectoral indices performed strongly—like Nifty Auto, up over 21%, and Nifty Financial Services, up over 16%. Metal indices surged more than 21%. At the same time, indices such as Nifty FMCG and Healthcare were slightly negative, and Nifty IT fell over 10%, reflecting global tech softness or sector rotation. Small cap and microcap indices also fell, echoing earlier noted small cap pressures. Finally, NSE launched 16 new indices in 2025, adding to the 25 launched the prior year. These included equity, debt, and hybrid or ESG oriented indices such as Nifty Chemicals, Nifty India FPI 150, and various debt or AAA bond plus G Sec indices. A continuing pipeline of new indices points to broadening investor tools and product innovation.

Electricity derivatives and market savings: a new segment with social impact
NSE introduced electricity futures in mid 2025, with monthly data showing substantial trading and implied savings. From August through December, total lots traded exceeded 4.24 lakh, turnover around Rs 21,220 crore, and potential procurement savings estimated at about Rs 1,255 crore. This new segment captured roughly 73% market share in electricity futures over the period, indicating strong uptake. Beyond pure trading metrics, the market reported declines in spot power prices and futures—about 28% and 27% respectively—suggesting tangible cost relief for power procurement compared to 2024, and potentially contributing to broader economic benefits.

The takeaway: growth with depth and breadth
In sum, CY2025 was not a breakout year of dramatic surges, but one of sustained gains, greater participation, and infrastructure deepening. The headline markets rose meaningfully; capital markets remained active with a variety of issuances; investor base expanded sharply across states; international and new market initiatives scaled to the trillion dollar level; and market safety nets strengthened. Where small caps and select sectors cooled, other sectors and large caps picked up the momentum, reflecting a market that is maturing, diversifying, and broadening its reach—both domestically and internationally. This balanced progression suggests that India’s markets are building a foundation for longer term depth: not just higher numbers, but broader ownership, more tools, and deeper global ties.

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