The Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL) announced on Wednesday that it has registered more than 150 million demat accounts, making it the first depository in India to achieve this milestone.
In its stock exchange filing, CDSL stated that this achievement reinforces its leadership in offering secure and efficient services to millions of investors. The depository has played a key role in making financial markets more accessible to retail investors across the country.
Just a few months ago, in November 2023, CDSL had crossed the 100 million demat account mark. During the December 2024 quarter, 9.2 million new demat accounts were opened.
CDSL also reported strong financial performance for the December 2024 quarter. The company’s net profit rose by 21% year-on-year to $16 million, compared to $13 million in the same quarter last year (Q3 FY24). However, the growth in net profit was slower than the rise in total income, which surged nearly 30% to $36 million.
In Q3, the total revenue of the country’s largest depository service company rose to $39 million compared to $30 million in the year-ago period. In the previous quarter, the company had raked in a revenue of $47 million.
CDSL is India’s leading depository for holding and transacting securities electronically, facilitating the settlement of trades on stock exchanges. The number of demat accounts in India has been growing steadily, even during periods of market uncertainty. During the fiscal year 2023-24, over 32.6 million new demat accounts were opened with the highest quarterly registration.
According to market analysts, the growth in demat accounts is a sign of continued interest from retail investors in the stock market. A demat account is a digital account that holds securities like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs.
