The CEO of Groww indicated that an IPO is expected "somewhere down the line," but did not specify a timeline for when it might occur.

New Delhi, October 22: Lalit Keshre, the Co-founder and CEO of Groww, hinted at the possibility of the online trading platform going public, stating that an IPO is "somewhere down the line," though he did not provide a specific timeline.

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2024 in the national capital, Keshre mentioned, "Maybe in some time. It's somewhere down the line, but we don't know when."

With the booming IPO market and positive economic growth prospects in India, many companies are increasingly going public or planning to do so.

Recently, Groww moved its headquarters from the US to India. When asked about this shift, Keshre explained that there was no reason for Groww's headquarters to be outside India, stating, "Groww is an Indian company. Customers are in India, management is in India, all operations are in India, so it did not kind of make sense to be outside India."

He acknowledged that relocating to India might involve higher taxes but believed it was beneficial for the long term, saying, "In the long term, that's a price you pay, but in the long term, it's good for us."

Keshre shared that he has been passionate about investing since he began in college in 2000. He and his co-founders saw an opportunity to leverage technology to create a significant impact on investors in India.

Regarding whether he anticipated Groww's growth trajectory, he attributed it to favorable market conditions and fundamental changes in India, particularly the Digital India initiative, Aadhar, KYC, UPI, and increased financial awareness. "There were some signals that this is a long-term wave and this is India's time," he added.

On derivatives trading, Keshre noted that about 15-20% of Groww customers engage in it. He mentioned that interest in derivatives has been high and that regulators prioritize customer and investor welfare, aligning with Groww's philosophy. 

When asked about the necessity for retail customer protection, he stated that certain measures are needed and that the Indian regulator is moving in the right direction. He also acknowledged that recent SEBI norms regarding derivatives trading would likely impact trading volumes.

In response to concerns about retail investors incurring losses in equity index derivatives (F&O), Keshre referenced a recent SEBI study indicating that around 93% of individual traders in the F&O segment have sustained significant losses. Despite ongoing losses, over 75% of loss-making traders continued trading in this segment, with aggregate losses exceeding ₹1.8 lakh crore from 2021-22 to 2023-24.

F&O, or Futures and Options, are financial derivatives that enable traders to speculate on price movements of various assets without actually owning them, including stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, and indices.