Middle-Class Retail Investors: The New Bulls Driving India’s Stock Market Surge

At the India Today Conclave – Mumbai, the session “Middle Class: The New Bulls in the Market” explores how India’s middle class is reshaping Dalal Street. The discussion features Madhusudan Kela, Promoter, MK Ventures; Nilesh Shah, Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management; and Pramod Gubbi, Co-Founder, Marcellus Investment Managers, in conversation with Siddharth Zarabi, Group Editor, Business Today. With domestic savings overtaking foreign inflows as the key market driver, the middle class has emerged as the most stable pool of investors in Indian equities. The panel examines the surge in retail participation, the spread of investment culture to Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, and the risks posed by speculative activity in F&O segments. Can household leverage and herd-like trading destabilize markets, or is this the foundation of a sustainable bull run? And with FIIs no longer calling the shots, is India’s market becoming more resilient to global volatility? This session unpacks the opportunities and challenges of India’s retail-powered boom.