India’s Mutual Fund Assets Cross ₹70.9 Lakh Crore in October, Driven by Record Retail Participation

India’s mutual fund industry reached a significant milestone in October 2025, with assets under custody (AUC) climbing to ₹70.9 lakh crore. The surge highlights robust market performance, sustained systematic investment plan (SIP) inflows, and rising participation from investors in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

Rapid Industry Expansion

The mutual fund industry’s growth trajectory has accelerated sharply in the post-pandemic years. It took eight years for AUC to rise from ₹19.3 lakh crore in 2017 to ₹39.3 lakh crore in 2023. However, in just the last two years, the asset base has nearly doubled, reaching close to ₹71 lakh crore.

This rapid expansion underscores a combination of improved financial awareness, favourable market conditions, and increased accessibility of mutual funds through digital platforms.

Retail Participation Doubles in Two Years

Retail participation has grown at an unprecedented pace. The number of mutual fund accounts rose to 25.2 crore in September 2025, up from 15.7 crore in 2023, a near doubling in just two years.

For comparison, between 2018 and 2023, mutual fund folios had taken six years to double from 8 crore, reflecting the acceleration in investor inclusion during the recent period.

The distribution of investment has also widened geographically. The combined share of the top five cities, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Pune, in total assets fell from 73% in 2016 to 53% in 2025, according to industry data. Meanwhile, other cities’ contribution surged from 3% to nearly 19%, indicating a growing investor base beyond metro centres.

Emerging Investment Hubs

Among Tier-II cities, Hyderabad, Surat, Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur, Vadodara, and Bhopal have seen notable gains in their share of mutual fund assets.

• Surat’s share rose to 0.77% (from 0.55% in 2016).
• Lucknow increased to 0.68% (from 0.50%).
• Jaipur climbed to 0.85% (from 0.72%).
• Bhopal expanded to 0.35% (from 0.21%).
• Vadodara grew to 0.86% (from 0.71%).
• Nagpur advanced to 0.56% (from 0.43%).

However, a few smaller centres such as Cochin (0.24% from 0.37%) and Udaipur (0.16% from 0.40%) experienced a decline, indicating uneven growth at the lower end of the spectrum.

Despite this, the overall share of non-metro locations has expanded by more than 15 percentage points since 2016, marking a major step toward financial inclusion.

SIP Inflows and Equity Funds Drive Growth

Retail engagement through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) has been a major growth driver. Monthly SIP inflows reached a record ₹29,361 crore in September 2025, up nearly 20% from ₹24,509 crore a year earlier.

These consistent inflows have provided stability to mutual fund assets even during periods of market volatility.

Equity-linked assets led the uptrend, rising from ₹42.4 lakh crore in October 2024 to ₹50.9 lakh crore in October 2025, marking a 20% year-on-year increase. Across all categories, total mutual fund assets expanded by ₹12.9 lakh crore over the same period.

Read More: Top Equity Mutual Funds with Highest 5-Year CAGR.

Conclusion

The data reflects a structural deepening of India’s mutual fund ecosystem. With investors from smaller towns contributing more to the overall asset pool, the industry is witnessing a shift toward broader and more diversified participation.

This transformation, marked by digital accessibility, growing financial literacy, and higher retail engagement, has positioned mutual funds as a true pan-India savings and investment vehicle, bridging the gap between urban and semi-urban investors.

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