National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE, Hindi: राष्ट्रीय शेअर बाजार) is one of the leading stock exchanges in India, based in Mumbai. NSE is under the ownership of various financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies.[3] It is the world’s largest derivatives exchange by number of contracts traded[a] and the third largest in cash equities by number of trades[b] for the calendar year 2022.[4] It is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalization.[2] NSE’s flagship index, the NIFTY 50, a 50 stock index is used extensively by investors in India and around the world as a barometer of the Indian capital market. The NIFTY 50 index was launched in 1996 by NSE.[5]
The Economic Times estimates that as of April 2018, 6 crore (60 million) retail investors had invested their savings in stocks in India, either through direct purchases of equities or through mutual funds.[6] Earlier, the Bimal Jalan Committee report estimated that barely 3% of India’s population invested in the stock market, as compared to 27% in the United States and 10% in China.[7][8][9][10]