Looking at the growth prospects of India, share market investments are likely to benefit investors in the long term, maintained UK Sinha, Chairman of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India.

“For an emerging nation such as ours, where the economy is growing at about 7.5 per cent, it is quite obvious that industry and commerce will grow. As a result, people will benefit from the share market in the long term,” Sinha said addressing a gathering of women at a programme on Financial Literacy in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Participation of pension funds in India’s capital markets is set to boost confidence in the share market, Sinha added.

“We have a large number of FIIs investing in the Indian capital market with most of them being overseas pension funds. This means that foreign pensioners reaped benefits from the growth story of Indian markets,” said Sinha.

“But now, India’s largest pension fund, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, has agreed to invest 5 per cent of its funds in the capital markets. It is good to know that EPFO has expressed confidence in the regulations of SEBI. So, this is a kind of a certificate or validation about the country’s share market,” he said, adding that women investors should take advantage of the capital market by investing a small portion of their savings through experts or via mutual funds.

Inform Ponzi schemes Sinha was addressing the Mass Awareness Programme, jointly organised by the BSE and Indian School of Microfinance for Women (ISMW) with support from SEWA Bank. Sinha encouraged women investors to approach SEBI with complaints about fraudulent practices or Ponzi schemes being run by individuals.

“In the last six months alone, we have received 1.5 lakh complaint calls on our toll-free number. In the last three years, we have brought down the time taken to resolve a complaint to 38 days from 155 days,” he added.

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