Despite growth in the Indian equities market, there are still problems in getting both small companies and small investors to participate in the market.

In the case of persuading small companies to go public and list on the market, the amount of time and effort required to meet disclosure requirements can be a hindering factor.

A family-owned retailer that recently listed said that it spent nine months gathering information on business differences within the family to meet requirements for full disclosure in the issue prospectus.

That information, which took up a third of the 630-page document, had no real bearing on the operation of the business, according to the company.

Still, Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in the last fiscal year (which ended in March) totaled R214.32 billion, up from R178.21 billion the previous year, and only R10.39 billion the year before that. IPOs this year could be up to as much as R400 billion.

Just as difficult is getting small investors to put their money in the market. Small investors are required to make a full down payment on stock purchases, something that is not required of large investors.

This is not likely to substantially increase the current figure of only 1.5 percent of $1,500 billion in Indian household savings invested in equities.