The origin of Mutual Fund Industry in India is with the introduction of the concept of mutual fund by Unit Trust of
India (UTI) in the year 1963. Though the growth was slow initially, it has been accelerated from the year 1987 when
non-UTI players entered the industry. With the boom of June 1990 and then again 1991 due to the implementation of
new economic policies leading to structural change of securities pricing in stock market, the performance of the mutual
fund industry is encouraging. Because, individual investors have been emphasized in India in contrast to advanced
countries where mutual funds depend largely on institutional investors. In general, it appears that the mutual fund in
India have given a good account of itself so far. With the entry of private sector funds in 1993, a new era started in the
Indian mutual fund industry, giving the Indian investors a wider choice of fund families. The industry now functions
under the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996. The number of mutual fund houses goes on increasing with many
foreign mutual funds setting up funds in India and also the industry has witnessed several mergers and acquisitions. As
at the end of January 2005, there were 33 mutual funds with total assets of Rs.121805 cores. The industry has grown in
size and manages total assets of more than $30351 million. Of the various sectors, the private sector accounts for nearly
91% of the resources mobilized showing their overwhelming dominance in the market. Individuals constitute 98.04% of
the total number of investors and contribute US $12062 million, which is 55.16% of the net assets under management.