The number of demat accounts opened during the Coal India (CIL) issue could be nearly one-fifth of the accounts opened during the offering by Reliance Power, which hit the market in early 2008.

The number of accounts opened in September through CDSL, a leading depository, stood at 79,344, the highest in the last seven months. According to SMC Capitals, about 1.38 lakh demat accounts were added in September. Till October 16, about 60,000 accounts were opened through CDSL. The October figures for NSDL are unavailable but considering that NSDL?s market share is about 1.5 times that of CDSL, the corresponding figure for the former will roughly be around 90,000 accounts. That means the combined demat additions for September and October for both the depositories will work out to be about 2.9 lakh accounts.

Compare this with about 15.5 lakh accounts added in December 2007 and January 2008, two months prior to the issuance of Rs 11,000-crore plus Reliance Power issue, and one can gauge the muted response for Coal India from first-time investors.

Industry observers attributed the higher numbers for Reliance Power?s IPO to the frenzied bull run of 2007. ?Retail investors are much more cautious now and still not as enthusiastic about participating in the market as there were during the bull run of 2007,? said Divyesh Shah, CEO of Indiabulls Securities. That cautiousness is reflected in the fact that this year the number of new demat accounts stands at about one-third that opened in 2007.

Also, it must be remembered that the Reliance Power had gone on a marketing overdrive to garner interest among investors. ?That kind of hype is missing this time round,? said Shah.

However, market participants admit the government has done enough to pique the interest of small investors. ?The pricing is right and the offering leaves a lot of money on the table for retail investors. Plus, they get a 5% discount,? said Shah.