Mumbai, Feb 12 (IANS): The Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL) on Wednesday announced it has registered more than 15 crore demat accounts, becoming the first depository in the country to achieve this landmark.

In its stock exchange filing, CDSL said that this milestone reinforces its leadership in offering secure and efficient services to millions of investors.

The depository has played a key role in making financial markets more accessible to retail investors across the country.

Just a few months ago, in November 2023, CDSL had crossed the 10 crore Demat account mark. During the December 2024 quarter, 92 lakh new Demat accounts were opened.

Meanwhile, CDSL also reported strong financial performance for the December 2024 quarter.

The company’s net profit rose by 21 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 130 crore as compared to Rs 107 crore in the same quarter last year (Q3 FY24).

However, the growth in net profit was slower than the rise in total income, which surged nearly 30 per cent to Rs 278 crore.

In Q3, the total revenue of the country’s largest depository service company rose to Rs 298 crore as compared to Rs 236 crore in the year-ago period.

In the previous quarter, the company had raked in a revenue of Rs 359 crore.

CDSL is India's leading depository for holding and transacting securities electronically which facilitates the settlement of trades on stock exchanges.

The number of Demat accounts in India has been growing steadily, even during periods of market uncertainty.

During the fiscal year 2023-24, over 3.26 crore new Demat accounts were opened with the highest quarterly registration.

According to market analysts, the growth in Demat accounts is a sign of continued interest from retail investors in the stock market.

A Demat account is a digital account that holds securities like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs.