In 2023, the BSE Capital index achieved an all-time high, with a remarkable 40 per cent return during the review year. This surge was primarily driven by heightened government spending on infrastructure projects, propelling the Industrial Products sector to outperform, said the 360 ONE Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2023.
The Industrial Products sector emerged as the top performer, welcoming 48 new entrepreneurs and witnessing a staggering 147 per cent increase in cumulative wealth compared to the previous year.
Rising discretionary spending, increased financial literacy, and the catalytic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic drove up the active retail investors in Indian stock market.
This surge in stock market participants, as mirrored by the historic highs of SENSEX and NIFTY, saw tech-powered stockbrokers like Zerodha, Angel One and Upstox who cumulatively added adding INR 20,900 crores to their wealth, the report highlighted.
With just 3 per cent of Indian households active in the stock market compared to 55 per cent in the US and 13 per cent in China, the network effect created by these brokers, and the potential for additional revenue streams, suggests this sector could become this decade’s one of the most profound wealth creation narrative, it said.
However, amidst these challenges, there is optimism as some IPOs that stumbled last year are making a comeback. Notably, entrepreneurs like Deepinder Goyal of Zomato and Yashish Dahiya of PB Fintech have seen their wealth increase by over 70 per cent, suggesting that startup wealth creation will persist, albeit within a changing landscape
In the twelve months leading to August 2023, the broader NIFTY index underperformed its global counterparts. It registered a modest 10% gain, trailing behind NASDAQ’s 16 per cent and DAX’s 23 per cent.
However, NIFTY outperformed HANG SENG, which recorded a -7 per cent decline, and FTSE 100, which saw a marginal 0.5 per cent increase.