Beyond gold & real estate, equities beckon Telugu investors

Hyderabad: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are home to some of India’s most enterprising communities, spanning agriculture, industry, IT and now AI — and a new five-year analysis of IPO applications suggests their next big growth story could be in the stock market itself.

Of the 1.83 crore unique IPO applicants recorded nationally across 33 states and 785 towns, Telangana contributed 3.99 lakh (2.17%) and Andhra Pradesh 4.41 lakh (2.40%) — a combined 8.4 lakh investors already active in India’s primary markets. That’s a meaningful base to build on, especially with Maharashtra and Gujarat’s outsized historical share showing just how much room the rest of the country, including the Telugu states, still has to grow. The per-capita numbers point to the same opportunity from a different angle. Telangana logged about 10,490 applicants per million people, and Andhra Pra-desh 8,316, against a national average of 12,841. Rather than a shortfall in ambi-tion, analysts read this as evidence of strong, disciplined savers — Telugu house-holds save as much as anyone — with substantial headroom to bring more of that saving into listed equity alongside their traditional preference for land and gold.

The state-level patterns hint at where that growth can come from. Hyderabad al-ready drives close to 60% of Telangana’s participation, with its tech and pharma workforce placing the city 13th nationally — a strong base to extend into Wa-rangal, Nizamabad and other growing towns. Andhra Pradesh’s participation is already well distributed, spanning Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Tirupati, Nellore, Kurnool and Rajahmundry, giving it a broad foundation to build deeper investor engagement across multiple centres rather than one city alone.

Encouragingly, the infrastructure for that growth is already in place. NSE data as of July 4 shows 1.24 crore registered trading accounts from Andhra Pradesh and 61 lakh from Telangana, part of a national investor base that crossed 13 crore unique investors in April. With access no longer a barrier, market watchers say the next step — turning more savers into active equity participants — is well within reach.

Diversification is the route there. Gold and property offer stability, and bank de-posits offer predictability, but equities give households a direct share in business growth over the long term — a valuable complement to, not a replacement for, traditional assets. SEBI’s investor-education material encourages exactly this kind of balanced approach.

Timing adds to the opportunity. Among 122 IPOs handled by lead managers linked to the upcoming Jio Platforms offer, around 70% have listed above issue price, underlining that a research-led, fundamentals-first approach can work well for investors entering the market. Diversified mutual or index funds offer an even steadier on ramp for those investing for the first time.

With marquee listings such as the NSE and Jio IPOs on the horizon, analysts see a timely moment for Telugu households to put their strong saving culture to work in new ways — starting with an emergency fund and adequate insurance, and then building a diversified, goal-based portfolio across deposits, bonds, gold and equities that lets their considerable savings work harder for the future.

equity participation

n Telangana: 3.99 lakh IPO applicants (2.17% of India)

n Andhra Pradesh: 4.41 lakh IPO applicants (2.40%)

n Combined investor base: 8.4 lakh IPO applicants

n Trading accounts: 1.24 crore (AP), 61 lakh (Telangana)

n Analysts see significant scope for

higher equity participation

n Investors urged to diversify beyond gold, property and deposits

n Upcoming IPOs like Jio and NSE could boost participation

n Focus on long-term, diversified, goal-based investing