Indian markets resilient enough to absorb West Asia shocks: SEBI chief
‘The crisis is difficult in terms of the reach it has, particularly through oil price and supply shocks. Obviously, there are inflationary risks, and spillover and second-order effects would also affect the economy’.
The SEBI chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said India’s securities market has grown at an unprecedented pace over the last decade. (File Photo) Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Monday said Indian markets have remained resilient enough to absorb different types of shocks, even as the ongoing West Asia crisis raises inflationary risk.
During an interaction with reporters in Bhubaneswar, Pandey said that the sooner the conflict in West Asia resolves, the better for the rest of the world. “As you know, the current crisis is quite difficult in terms of the reach it has on the rest of the world, particularly through the oil price and supply shocks. Obviously, there are inflationary risks to this, and spillover and second-order effects would also affect the economy. But the government is taking various steps to tackle it,” Pandey said.
Exuding confidence in the resilience of India’s financial market, the SEBI chief said the ongoing West Asia crisis is not beyond something the markets can’t handle. “The advantage of the resilient market is that they are able to absorb different types of shocks, and when the shocks are over, the markets resume their normal trajectory,” Pandey said, adding that up and down is quite natural because globally these markets are interconnected.
Even though there has been Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) outflow since September 2024, Pandey said the domestic investors have retained their confidence in the market.
The SEBI chief said India’s securities market has grown at an unprecedented pace over the last decade.
Market capitalisation has increased from around Rs 95 trillion in FY16 to about Rs 463 trillion by April 2026. The corporate bond market has expanded from Rs 20 trillion to about Rs 59 trillion. The retail participation has surged, he said. “Today, we have around 145 million unique investors, compared to just 38 million in FY19,” he said.
The SEBI chief, who was in the city to address an investor awareness programme organised by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), also warned investors against rising digital frauds, fake trading platforms and misleading financial advice.
Pandey said that as an investment protection measure, SEBI has lawfully removed more than 1.4 lakh ‘misleading contents’ from across cyberspace.
Emphasising that municipal bonds are an important instrument for raising finance for urban management, Pandey said that in India, this market (the issuance of municipal bonds) is evolving, but its importance cannot be overstated.
As of the end of FY26, 22 urban local bodies across India have raised over Rs 4,500 crore through 31 municipal bond issuances, he said.
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