By Dalal Street Investment Journal (DSIJ)
The SIP economy reflects how systematic investing is reshaping Indian household finance. What began as a simple investment route has grown into a broader behavioural shift, changing how households save, participate in markets, and think about long-term wealth creation. Awareness efforts, and digital access have all played an important role in this transition.
Over the last decade, the way Indian households save and invest has changed significantly. Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs), once limited to a relatively small base of urban salaried investors, have steadily gained acceptance across the country. What was once confined to a smaller set of investors has gradually become part of the savings habits of households across cities, income groups, and age groups.
The shift has not happened overnight. It has been shaped by a combination of factors, growing digital access, increased investor awareness, and a regulatory environment that has worked to make mutual funds more accessible and transparent. Together, these forces have moved SIP from a financial product to a regular financial habit for a growing number of Indians. This report looks at the data behind that change, what is driving it, and what it reflects about the broader direction of Indian household finance.
SIP Contribution Growth
FY 2016-17 to FY 2025-26
Financial Year | SIP Contribution (₹ Crore) | YoY Growth in % |
FY 2016-17 | 43,921 | (Base Year) |
FY 2019-20 | 1,00,084 | +128% over FY17 |
FY 2020-21 | 96,080 | -4% (COVID impact) |
FY 2021-22 | 1,24,556 | 29.60% |
FY 2022-23 | 1,55,972 | 25.20% |
FY 2023-24 | 1,99,219 | 27.70% |
FY 2024-25 | 2,89,352 | 45.20% |
FY 2025-26 | 3,17,502 | +9.7% (ongoing)* |
Over the last decade, SIP contributions in India have grown nearly 7X, rising from ₹43,921 crore in FY 2016-17 to ₹3,17,502 crore in FY 2025-26 (up to February 2026), a jump of over 623% in ten years. The growth story, while largely uninterrupted, did see one short pause. Contributions dipped 4% to ₹96,080 crore in FY 2020-21 as the COVID-19 pandemic affected household incomes and investor sentiment. But the recovery was sharp and decisive. Inflows climbed back to ₹1,24,556 crore in FY 2021-22, and the momentum only strengthened from there: ₹1,55,972 crore in FY 2022-23, ₹1,99,219 crore in FY 2023-24, and ₹2,89,352 crore in FY 2024-25, before crossing the ₹3 lakh crore mark in FY 2025-26.
What makes this growth more remarkable is its consistency. Despite the single COVID-affected year, SIP contributions have risen every year without exception, averaging a double digit growth since FY 2016-17.
The growth in SIP accounts over the last two years has been consistent and steady. According to AMFI, in FY 2023-24, India had 839.71 lakh outstanding SIP accounts, with 428.09 lakh new SIPs registered during the year. In FY 2024-25, outstanding accounts rose to 1,005.39 lakh, a growth of nearly 20%, while new SIP registrations climbed to 679.85 lakh, a 58.8% increase over the previous year.
The trend continued into FY 2025-26. Outstanding accounts stood at 889.08 lakh in April 2025 and rose each month through the year, reaching 919 lakhs in June, crossing 1,000 lakhs in November 2025, and reaching 1,045.40 lakh by February 2026. New SIP registrations during this period ranged between 46 lakh and 74 lakh every month, with January 2026 recording the highest monthly addition of 74.11 lakh in FY 2025-26.
The data points to a consistent pattern of growth with no significant breaks. Month on month, new investors have continued to register SIPs, and the overall account base has grown without interruption.
Crossing 100 crore outstanding SIP accounts marks a point where systematic investing has moved beyond a niche segment. The participation today spans across different cities, age groups, and income levels, reflecting a broader change in how Indian households are approaching regular savings and investment.
Year On Year Growth
Period | New SIPs Registered (Lakhs) | YoY Growth (Outstanding) | YoY Growth (New SIPs) |
FY 2023-24 | 428.09 | Base | Base |
FY 2024-25 | 679.85 | 19.70% | 58.80% |
FY 2025-26 | 666.4 | +4% (11 months) | -2% (11 months) |
Month | Outstanding SIP Accounts (Lakhs) | New SIPs Registered (Lakhs) | MoM Growth |
25-Apr | 889.08 | 46.01 | — |
25-May | 905.57 | 59.15 | 1.90% |
25-Jun | 919.32 | 61.91 | 1.50% |
25-Jul | 944.97 | 68.69 | 2.80% |
25-Aug | 959.04 | 55.23 | 1.50% |
25-Sep | 972.74 | 57.73 | 1.40% |
25-Oct | 987.88 | 60.25 | 1.60% |
25-Nov | 1,001.84 | 57.14 | 1.40% |
25-Dec | 1,010.73 | 60.46 | 0.90% |
26-Jan | 1,029.38 | 74.11 | 1.80% |
26-Feb | 1,045.40 | 65.72 | 1.60% |
According to AMFI, the average Assets Under Management of India's mutual fund industry has grown by over 213% in the last seven years. From an average AUM of ₹23.94 lakh crore in FY 2018-19, the industry reached ₹75.09 lakh crore in FY 2025-26, based on the first three quarters of the year. In absolute terms, the industry has added over ₹51 lakh crore in managed assets over this period. The growth reflects not just rising market valuations but a sustained increase in fresh investor participation, driven largely by consistent SIP inflows year on year.
Period | Average AUM |
FY 2018-19 | Rs 23.94 Lakh Crore |
FY 2025-26 (Till Q3) | Rs 75.09 Lakh Crore |
According to the NSE, Domestic Mutual Funds (DMF) have steadily increased their presence in Indian equity markets over the last several quarters. Their share in NSE-listed companies reached a record 11.1% in December 2025, marking the tenth consecutive quarter of record highs. In Q3 FY26 alone, domestic mutual funds invested ₹1.03 lakh crore, extending their streak of positive net flows to nineteen straight quarters.
A large part of this sustained buying has been funded by retail SIP inflows. Monthly SIP contributions averaged ₹29,992 crore in Q3 FY26, up 16.7% compared to the same period last year. As a result, total domestic institutional investor ownership in NSE-listed firms rose to 19%, surpassing foreign portfolio investors for the fifth consecutive quarter. This is a position India last held back in 2003, and the turnaround has been driven largely by the steady and regular participation of retail investors through SIPs.
According to the RBI's December monthly bulletin, household bank deposits declined 8.97% in FY25. This reallocation gathered pace as banks cut fixed deposit rates repeatedly through 2025, following a series of repo rate reductions by the RBI, which lowered the policy rate by a cumulative 125 basis points during the year, squeezing returns on deposits and prompting households to seek higher-yielding investment avenues. Public and private sector banks trimmed their FD rates by 10 to 50 basis points following the first repo rate cut in February 2025, with the April cut accelerating the trend further.
This compression in deposit returns has visibly redirected household savings toward market-linked instruments. As recorded in the RBI's Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy (released August 28, 2025), mutual fund investments by households across FY 2022-23 totalled ₹1,79,087.8 billion, 83.7% of total household investments of ₹2,13,961.9 billion, with quarterly inflows rising from ₹35,443.5 billion in Q1 to ₹58,954.5 billion in Q4, a 66.3% increase within the financial year alone. Bank deposits, while still the single largest component of household financial savings, saw their share fall from 40.9% in FY21 to 35.2% in FY25, while mutual funds expanded their share from just 2.1% to 13.1% over the same period
AMFI launched the Mutual Funds Sahi Hai campaign in March 2017 as an investor education initiative, with the primary goal of making mutual funds easier to understand for a broader audience. The campaign ran across television, digital platforms, radio, print, and outdoor media in multiple regional languages. Over the years, the campaign reached over 350 million Indians and contributed to a 30% increase in inflows over five years. According to SEBI, India's mutual fund investor base, which stood at around 1.5 to 2 crore a decade ago, has since grown to over 5 crore unique investors. The campaign played a measurable role in that expansion, particularly in bringing in first-time investors from smaller cities and younger age groups.
On the regulatory side, SEBI has moved to strengthen both investor protection and market transparency in recent years. SEBI expanded the total number of mutual fund categories from 36 to 40, introducing new categories such as Life Cycle Funds and Sectoral Debt Funds, and introduced a stricter true-to-label regime requiring fund portfolios to closely align with their stated investment objectives. In November 2025, SEBI amended distributor incentive regulations to curb misuse and boost retail participation, introducing additional commissions for onboarding new investors from beyond the top 30 cities and for onboarding new women investors. According to a recent NSE survey, while 63% of Indian households are aware of securities market products, only 9.5% are actively investing in them, a gap that both AMFI and SEBI are actively working to close.
Further, SIP culture has grown as they fit neatly into the cash-flow structure of salaried and business households. Income in India is usually monthly. Expenses are monthly. Financial commitments are monthly. SIPs work because they follow the same rhythm.
That sounds obvious, yet it is one of the most powerful reasons behind their acceptance. A lump-sum investment demands spare capital and conviction at the same time. A SIP demands neither in equal measure. It asks only for consistency.
This consistency has consequences beyond portfolio building. It introduces households to the idea that wealth can be built not only through windfalls, bonuses, inheritance, or real estate appreciation, but through repeated small allocations over long periods. In a country where many first-generation investors are still learning the language of financial assets, this matters enormously.
The SIP, therefore, is not merely an investment route. It is a bridge between income and capital formation.
The rise of the SIP economy is visible in the steady growth of SIP contributions and account registrations over the last decade, reflecting a sustained change in how Indian households approach saving and investing.
Declining fixed deposit returns, particularly during phases of repo rate cuts, have encouraged a gradual shift in household savings from traditional instruments toward SIP-led, market-linked investing.
One important outcome of the SIP economy has been the growing strength of domestic institutional participation in equity markets, with domestic mutual funds emerging as a more influential counterweight to foreign portfolio flows.
Regulatory support and investor awareness efforts by SEBI and AMFI have also contributed to the expansion of the SIP economy, drawing first-time investors from smaller cities and younger age groups into formal market participation. Despite this progress, the gap between awareness and active investing suggests that the shift from traditional savings to systematic investing still has further room to deepen.
SEBI Registered Research Analyst (INH000006396).
Founded in 1986, Dalal Street Investment Journal (DSIJ) brings decades of experience in India’s equity markets. DSIJ's research combines fundamental analysis with price action, guided by disciplined risk management and capital preservation. They follow a structured, data-driven approach designed to help investors and traders make informed decisions beyond short-term market noise.
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