India shows macro strength amid global churn, tops IPO count in 2025: SEBI chief

India continues to display strong macroeconomic stability despite global volatility in trade and geopolitics, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Thursday, highlighting the country’s resilience and sustained growth momentum. Speaking at an investors’ meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Osaka, Japan, Pandey noted that India remains among the world’s fastest-growing major economies.

Moderate inflation, robust foreign exchange reserves and stable external accounts place India in a strong global position, he said, adding that capital-raising activity remains healthy even amid global uncertainty.

India leads global IPO activity

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Pandey pointed out that India ranked first globally in terms of the number of IPOs and third in capital raised in 2025, underlining investor confidence in the country’s markets. India is now the world’s fifth-largest equity market by market capitalisation share, trailing only the United States, China, Japan and Hong Kong. The US continues to dominate with a 48.2 per cent global market share.

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Domestic investors reshape capital markets

One of the most significant shifts in recent years has been the rise of domestic investors, Pandey said. Mutual funds have gained wide reach, backed by strong monthly equity inflows, while the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) industry has become an important source of private capital. Debt markets are also growing steadily, with higher inflows into private equity and AIFs. REITs and InvITs are increasingly helping channel long-term funds into infrastructure and real estate, and the municipal bond market is also picking up pace.

Pandey said India’s digital public infrastructure has set global benchmarks. He added that recent reforms in income tax, labour laws and the GST system are expected to increase consumption and help revive the investment cycle.

Investor education remains a central focus for SEBI, he said, with stepped-up efforts to curb digital fraud and encourage responsible investing. SEBI has made it a priority to simplify its regulations while providing foreign portfolio investors easier registration options and establishing efficient settlement systems and maintaining its partnership with international investors.

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India–Japan economic partnership deepens

Pandey underlined the long-standing India–Japan partnership, anchored in their Special Strategic and Global Partnership, with bilateral trade exceeding $25 billion. Japanese investors, he said, have consistently found strong value in India, which has produced a large number of wealth-compounding companies.

Chandru Appar, Consul General of India in Osaka–Kobe, said India is currently in a high-growth phase, driven by its demographic dividend, rapid infrastructure expansion and rising consumption, supported by landmark economic reforms over the past decade. He also emphasised that India’s capital markets are built on trust, transparency and robust regulation, with SEBI playing a key role in safeguarding investor interests.

Setsuo Iuchi, President of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said India has emerged as a critical partner for Japanese businesses, particularly as firms look to expand across the Global South. R Mukundan, President Designate of CII, added that India–Japan ties rest on shared values and institutional trust, with Japanese companies playing a crucial role in India’s manufacturing, technology and employment growth.