NEW DELHI, INDIA:  Indians eager to invest extra income are signing up in droves at Internet trading sites, data from the nation's largest stock exchange shows.

The number of investors registered for online trading has grown by at least 150 per cent over 2006-07 figures, with 2.9 million in the cash segment and 5.5 million for both cash and F&O, according to records at the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

"Online trading helps me manage my portfolio better as there is more transparency and value-added services such as research reports," says Akif Ahmad, a manager at a call centre in Gurgaon.

Traditionally, equities trading in India has been done through brokers, in person or over the phone, but with the convergence of mobile and Internet, shopping for shares has become as easy as making a few clicks from one's PC or mobile phone.

"One gets access to various value-added features like live market rates, intra-day charts, live news, market statistics, technical analysis tools and research reports," says Divyesh Shah, CEO of Indiabulls Securities.

According to NSE data, retail investors accounted for about 21 per cent of trading volume for 2008-09, up from 18.3 percent in the previous year.

"As per an estimate, the pure retail turnover percentage of the total exchange turnover is less than 50 percent, and online trading is substantially contributed by retail investor base," says Gurpreet Sidana, Online Business director at Religare Securities Ltd.

Internet security

Online trading in India, Asia's third largest economy, is still at a nascent stage. Though the country is witnessing a 30 per cent growth year-on-year in internet and mobile user base, not all investors are convinced that trading the cyber way is safe.

"Issues that need to be addressed are education on cyber crime and the security solutions around it," says Vinesh Menon, Deputy CEO and head for Online Investment & Branch Channel, Bajaj Capital.

To work around this issue, most brokerages now offer the services of a relationship manager who assists with information on share prices and places orders online using the investor's login details.

Some Internet trading sites have also launched low-bandwidth platforms to facilitate trading through mobile phones and low-bandwidth connections.

With more than 400 million mobile users, India is the world's second-largest market after China for such services and operators have been adding more than 10 million users a month - making it the fastest-growing market in the world.

"It's a matter of time when we will see exponential growth in the online trading segment, not just through the computer but also through our mobile phones," adds Menon.