The rise of SIPs in India has transformed the way people invest in mutual funds. Systematic Investment Plans have existed in India since 1993, but for most of their first two decades, they remained a niche product used by a relatively small group of investors. Today, SIPs have become one of the most popular ways Indians invest in mutual funds, with monthly contributions crossing ₹32,000 crore and SIP accounts approaching 10 crore. This transformation did not happen overnight. The journey from a niche investment option to a mainstream investing habit reveals how Indian investor behaviour has changed over the years.
This piece traces that path, from a little-used product introduced three decades ago to the backbone of India’s mutual fund industry today.
From a Niche Product to a National Habit: A Quick Timeline
A handful of specific moments mark the shift from SIPs as a minor feature to SIPs as India’s default way of investing.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1993 | SIPs introduced in India as part of the industry’s third phase of evolution. |
| 2014 | SEBI reforms and renewed policy focus mark the start of steady, sustained inflows. |
| April 2016 | SIP accounts surpass 1 crore for the first time. |
| 2017 | AMFI launches the “Mutual Funds Sahi Hai” investor awareness campaign. |
| March 2020 | SIP contributions hit a record high during the COVID market crash. |
| 2024 | SIP account base doubles in four years; average ticket size begins rising again. |
| March 2026 | SIP contributions cross ₹32,087 crore, a record, during a sharp market correction. |
Notice how much of this growth is recent. SIP accounts took 23 years to reach one crore, and less than a decade to grow nearly tenfold beyond that.
How Many People Are Actually Using SIPs Now
Account numbers tell the clearest version of this growth story, since each account represents an actual investor decision to commit to regular, ongoing investing.
| Period | SIP Accounts |
|---|---|
| April 2016 | 1 crore |
| December 2019 | 2.98 crore |
| August 2023 | 6.97 crore |
| September 2024 | 9.9 crore |
| March 2026 | 9.72 crore |
The number of SIP accounts more than tripled between December 2019 and September 2024, and industry-wide, the total investor base roughly doubled over the four years to late 2024. This is not gradual, linear growth. It reflects a genuine acceleration in how many Indians have adopted SIPs as their entry point into mutual funds.
The Ticket Size Story: Smaller, Then Bigger Again
One of the more interesting, less obvious shifts in SIP behaviour shows up in average ticket size, the typical monthly amount an investor commits through a single SIP. This number has not moved in one direction.
| Period | Average SIP Amount |
|---|---|
| April 2019 | ₹2,860 |
| December 2019 | ₹2,858 |
| October 2022 | ₹2,200 |
| September 2023 | ₹2,250 |
| March 2024 | ₹2,294 |
| September 2024 | ₹2,483 |
Average SIP amounts fell by roughly 23 percent between April 2019 and October 2022, even as the total number of SIP accounts and total contributions kept climbing. This was not investors cutting back. It reflected millions of new, smaller-ticket investors entering the system for the first time, pulling the average down even as the total grew. Since late 2022, the trend has reversed: average ticket sizes have been climbing again, as the investor base that grew rapidly during the broadening phase has started to mature and increase contributions over time.
This two-phase pattern, broadening followed by deepening, is a useful way to understand how SIP culture has actually spread through India. The industry first grew by reaching many more people with smaller amounts, and is now growing further as those same people commit larger amounts as their incomes and confidence increase.
Rise of SIPs in India: What Tested the SIP Model Along the Way
A habit only becomes a durable habit once it survives real stress, and SIPs have now been tested by several genuinely difficult periods.
The 2008 global financial crisis arrived while SIPs were still a relatively new and unproven product in India, and it tested investor discipline at an early, fragile stage of the industry’s development. The COVID-19 crash of March 2020 offered a much larger test, with the Nifty falling nearly 38 percent in weeks, yet SIP contributions touched a record high that same month. The market correction of March 2026 repeated the pattern at an even larger scale, with SIP contributions hitting a record of 32,087 crore in the exact month the Nifty and Sensex both fell over 11 percent.
Each of these episodes could plausibly have broken investor confidence in SIPs as a concept. Instead, each one left the habit more entrenched than before, reinforced by the fact that investors who kept investing through the fall generally came out ahead once markets recovered.
How the Mutual Funds Sahi Hai Campaign Changed the Conversation
Growth in accounts and ticket sizes did not happen in a vacuum. AMFI’s “Mutual Funds Sahi Hai” campaign, launched in 2017, played a specific, deliberate role in this story by trying to demystify mutual funds for people who had never considered them as an option.
Before this kind of sustained, mainstream messaging, mutual funds were often seen as complex or risky products meant for financially sophisticated investors. The campaign, combined with growing distributor outreach into smaller towns, helped reframe SIPs specifically as a simple, accessible habit rather than a specialist financial product, which lines up closely with the timing of the industry’s steepest account growth from 2017 onward.
From Lump Sum to SIP: A Genuine Shift in Culture
Before SIPs took hold, Indian mutual fund investing was overwhelmingly a lump-sum activity, requiring an investor to have a large amount of money ready to deploy at once. This structurally favoured wealthier, more financially confident investors and left out anyone trying to build savings gradually from a regular salary.
The core idea behind averaging into an investment over time is not uniquely Indian; it echoes strategies described by investors internationally for decades. What made the SIP distinct in India was how directly it matched a specific gap in the market: a large population with a regular salary but no easy way to invest small amounts regularly, before digital banking and mobile apps made setting up a recurring, automated investment simple.
Rise of SIPs in India: What This Means Looking Forward
Industry projections suggest this shift still has considerable room to run. AMFI’s own long-range estimates envision the number of retail mutual fund investors growing from around 4.5 crore in 2024 to over 26 crore by 2047, a scale of growth that would require SIPs, or whatever automated, disciplined investing habit succeeds them, to keep expanding well beyond where they stand today.
Twenty-year projections should always be read as a direction of travel rather than a precise forecast, but the underlying trend they describe, more Indians committing to smaller, regular, automated investments rather than large one-off decisions, is already clearly visible in the data covered here.
What This Means for You as an Investor
Understanding how SIP habits have evolved nationally is useful context, but the more relevant question is where your own habits sit within that evolution.
| Your Situation | What the History Suggests |
|---|---|
| Your SIP amount hasn’t changed since you started | Rising average ticket sizes nationally suggest many investors are increasing contributions as incomes grow; worth reviewing your own. |
| You’re new to SIPs and unsure if it’s a passing trend | The habit has survived three major market corrections (2008, 2020, 2026) without losing momentum. |
| You started small and want to know if that’s normal | It is. Much of the industry’s growth came from smaller first-time tickets before ticket sizes began rising again. |
If your SIP amount has stayed the same since you first started, the broader trend towards rising ticket sizes as investors mature is worth reflecting on, particularly if your income has grown since then. If you are new to SIPs, the data shows you are joining a habit that has now been tested through multiple serious market corrections and has come out the other side each time with more, not fewer, committed investors.
A VSJ FinMart advisor can help you figure out whether your own SIP, in amount, fund selection, and tenure, actually reflects where you are in your financial journey today, rather than where you were when you first set it up.
Frequently Asked Questions on the Rise of SIPs in India
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| When were SIPs first introduced in India? | SIPs were introduced in 1993, but they remained a relatively niche product for roughly two decades before adoption accelerated sharply from around 2016 onward. |
| Why did average SIP ticket sizes fall between 2019 and 2022? | The fall reflected millions of new, smaller-ticket investors entering the system for the first time, which pulled the average down even as total accounts and contributions kept rising. |
| Are SIP ticket sizes rising or falling today? | Rising. Since late 2022, average SIP amounts have been climbing again as the investor base that grew rapidly during the broadening phase has started to mature and contribute more. |
| Have SIPs ever failed to hold up during a market crash? | No major failure has been recorded. SIP contributions hit record highs during both the March 2020 COVID crash and the March 2026 market correction, despite sharp market falls in both periods. |
| What role did the Mutual Funds Sahi Hai campaign play? | Launched by AMFI in 2017, it helped demystify mutual funds for first-time investors, and its timing lines up closely with the industry’s steepest period of SIP account growth. |
Final Words
SIPs took nearly a quarter-century to become a mainstream Indian investing habit, and less than ten years to become its dominant one. Account numbers have grown roughly tenfold since 2016, average ticket sizes fell and then rose again as the investor base broadened before deepening, and the habit has now survived three genuinely serious market corrections without losing its underlying momentum.
None of this history changes what the right SIP looks like for you specifically. It does show that the habit you are building, or considering building, is not a fad. It is the product of three decades of gradual change in how India saves, and a conversation with a VSJ FinMart advisor is a good way to make sure your own SIP is built to be part of the next chapter of that story, not just a copy of what worked for someone else.
Disclaimer
The information provided in this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Please consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Shashikant Chanderkumar Mudaliar (ARN: 319377), operating under the brand name VSJ FinMart, is an AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor (MFD) and does not provide investment advisory services. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Please read all scheme-related documents carefully before investing. Registration details can be verified at www.amfiindia.com/locate-distributor.