Zerodha's Nithin Kamath in a post on X said around 60-70 per cent of futures and options turnover comes from just 1-2 per cent of traders, calling it a lopsided structure in Indian markets. Citing the April Market Pulse report by NSE, he added that despite concerns around F&O trading in India, it remained a relatively small segment.
According to NSE, the number of investors participating in the cash market segment declined to 3.58 crore in FY26 from 3.77 crore in FY25. A similar moderation was seen in equity derivatives, where participation fell to 85 lakh from 1.06 crore in the previous year.
Only about 30 lakh investors traded an F&O contract in March, Kamath noted.
"Despite what people think about F&O trading in India and all its problems, it is still a very, very small market compared to almost anything else," Kamath said.
He said that there were 12.91 crore registered investors (Unique registered PANs) as of March 31, 2026. Of these, only 3.79 crore, or 29.4 per cent, traded in the cash or derivatives market at least once during the financial year.
