Indian retail investors lost ₹916.85bn in year-ended March F&O trading
Indian retail investors took a big hit, losing ₹916.85 billion ($9.6 billion) in equity futures and options trading in the year ended March.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary shared that while this is less than last year's losses, fewer people are trading now, fewer than 7.9 million compared to 98 lakh the year before.
Regulatory changes cut F&O turnover
The drop in both participation and trading is mostly thanks to new rules from SEBI and the central bank.
They've made contract sizes bigger, tightened position limits, and enforced stricter funding rules for proprietary traders and stock brokers, all to keep speculation in check.
As a result, the National Stock Exchange saw futures and options turnover fall by 23% in July 2026, the lowest in nearly a year and a half, showing just how much these changes have reshaped the market for everyday traders.