India's broking industry added around 1.61 lakh net active clients in September 2026, taking the total active client base on the NSE to around 4.61 crore, up a modest 0.35% month-on-month from 4.60 crore in August. The additions were led overwhelmingly by Groww, which added 1,00,961 active clients — more than 63% of the industry's net increase — taking its base to 1.34 crore and its market share to 29.16% from 29.04% in August.
On a quarterly basis, NSE's active client base grew by around 6.73 lakh during July–September, with Groww contributing 3.24 lakh — nearly 48% of net additions. Angel One added 37,000 clients to reach 6.76 million, while Zerodha declined marginally by about 5,000 clients to 6.79 million (14.73% share). Dhan added 13,624 clients to reach 1.12 million, extending its active-client growth streak to 12 consecutive months.
The fastest mover was Sahi (Aaritya Broking), which added 28,077 clients to grow its base from 2,52,951 to 2,81,028 — an 11.1% month-on-month increase, the fastest among the top 20 brokers. ICICI Securities (+5,000), HDFC Securities (+3,000) and Motilal Oswal (+3,000) saw modest gains, while Upstox (-11,000), SBI Securities (-23,000) and Paytm Money (-27,950, or 3.53% MoM) declined.
Why it matters for founders
Retail participation is consolidating around a handful of digital-first brokers even as overall industry growth cools — a sign that distribution in Indian fintech is a winner-take-most game. Founders building wealth or investing products should note where the users already are: the top two platforms now hold nearly 44% of active accounts.