While market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has been taking steps to curb speculative trading in the domestic futures & options (F&O) markets, Zerodha founder and CEO Nithin Kamath on Wednesday highlighted the highly skewed nature of India’s derivatives market, noting that despite widespread perception, the F&O segment remains relatively small.
Kamath said that in March, only about 30 lakh individuals traded F&O contracts, while across FY26, roughly 20 lakh traded exclusively in derivatives. Even after combining equity and F&O participants, the number rises to just around 64 lakh, a fraction of India’s nearly 13 crore investor base.
He pointed out that only 3.8 crore investors were active across segments, implying that just 30% of investors actually traded, underlining limited participation in the markets.
More importantly, Kamath emphasized that brokerage industry revenues are heavily dependent on a small set of active traders, with a disproportionate share of activity concentrated at the top. Around 60–70% of F&O volumes are generated by just 1–2% of traders, reflecting a sharply imbalanced market structure.
According to him, the data suggests that while retail participation has expanded, trading intensity—and consequently revenues—are driven by a very narrow base of investors.
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“Despite what people think about F&O trading in India and all its problems, it is still a very, very small market compared to almost anything else. In fact, in the month of March, only about 30 lakh people traded an F&O contract. Across FY26 as a whole, only about 20 lakh people traded only in F&O. If you combine people who traded in equities and F&O, that number goes up to roughly 64 lakh. So this is still a very small market. Altogether, out of nearly 13 crore unique investors, only around 3.8 crore investors were active across cash and F&O. That means only about 30% of investors traded anything at all,” Kamath tweeted.
“And yet, the only reason broker revenues have held up is that a small number of people are trading more. Pretty much the entire revenue pool of the broking industry comes from this relatively small pool of traders. If you look at F&O turnover, around 60–70% of trading volumes come from a tiny set of investors, roughly just 1–2%. That is the lopsided structure of the Indian markets,” he added.
Despite what people think about F&O trading in India and all its problems, it is still a very, very small market compared to almost anything else. In fact, in the month of March, only about 30 lakh people traded an F&O contract. Across FY26 as a whole, only about 20 lakh people… https://t.co/aZbzItQb4P“>pic.twitter.com/aZbzItQb4P
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