Authors: Pratik Agarwal
Abstract: The securities market forms the backbone of capital formation and resource allocation in a modern economy, channelling household savings into productive investment while creating avenues for wealth generation. In India, this market has undergone considerable structural and regulatory transformation over the past three decades under the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). This paper presents an analytical study of the Indian securities market, examining its institutional structure, its evolving regulatory architecture — including the proposed Securities Markets Code, 2025 — and the unprecedented surge in retail investor participation, with demat accounts rising from roughly 3.6 crore in 2019 to over 19 crore by 2025. The study further examines the regulatory response to algorithmic and technology-driven trading, with particular reference to SEBI's 2025 framework governing retail participation in algorithmic trading. Drawing on regulatory publications and secondary market data, the paper identifies key challenges relating to investor protection, market integrity and technological risk, and concludes with observations on the likely future trajectory of India's capital markets.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23008007
