What is micro-investing, and how does it work in India?
Micro-investing means investing small amounts regularly, usually automatically, instead of waiting to save a large sum. In India the common form is a SIP of as little as ₹100 a month in a mutual fund. The small amount does not make it safer, because the risk is that of whatever you buy.
In this guide
Key takeaways
- Micro-investing means putting small amounts to work regularly, so investing becomes a habit rather than one big decision.
- In India the usual form is a SIP, and many schemes accept one from ₹100 a month.
- At an assumed 10% a year, ₹500 a month for 20 years grows to ₹3,82,848 on ₹1,20,000 put in. That is an assumption, not a forecast.
- A small amount does not lower the risk, because the riskometer belongs to the fund and not to the size of your SIP.
- A flat fee takes a bigger share of a small deposit, and a fund's expense ratio is a percentage of its assets.
Micro-investing means putting small amounts of money to work regularly, usually on autopilot, instead of waiting until you have a large sum. In India the common form is a SIP of as little as ₹100 a month in a mutual fund. A SIP is a fixed amount invested at regular intervals. A mutual fund is a pool of money from many people, invested by a professional manager. A small amount does not make an investment safer. The risk belongs to whatever you buy, not to the size of your cheque.
What is micro-investing?
Micro-investing is the habit of investing small sums again and again to build up a holding over time. FINRA is a US self-regulatory body for brokers. It defines micro-investing as "the process of regularly investing small amounts of money to build up a stake over time while participating in financial markets."
Think of a piggy bank that, instead of sitting in a cupboard, buys something that can grow. The sums are small. The point is that you start, and keep going.
How does micro-investing work?
A fixed small amount moves from your bank account to an investment on a schedule you set once. After that you do not have to decide each month.
Some apps abroad add a second model called round-ups. FINRA says some US apps round up your debit or credit card purchases and send the spare change into your investment account. That is US practice, not a description of an Indian product.
In a mutual fund, each instalment buys units at that day's NAV, the price of one unit of the fund. When the NAV is lower, the same amount buys more units. When it is higher, it buys fewer. The SIP guide walks through the mechanics.
Can you micro-invest in India?
Yes, mainly through a SIP. There is no SEBI floor on how little you can invest; the minimum is each scheme's own, written in its scheme documents. Many schemes accept a SIP from ₹100 a month, though others ask for more.
One fund house's scheme document of November 2025 shows a daily SIP from ₹100. Its monthly SIP starts at ₹200. These amounts may have changed since. They only show that minimums differ from fund to fund.
The Koshex app takes a SIP or a one-time investment from ₹100. Browse the funds on the mutual funds page. Even a small SIP needs KYC, the know-your-customer identity check. The KYC guide has more.
Digital gold is another way to start small. You buy gold online from ₹100 in the Koshex app, can sell it at any time and can take physical delivery. Digital gold is not regulated by SEBI. In November 2025 SEBI said such products are "neither notified as securities nor regulated as commodity derivatives" and that its investor-protection mechanisms do not apply to them. Gold ETFs and gold mutual funds are SEBI-regulated. The digital gold page and the digital gold guide have the detail.
Small amounts also reach the share market. You can buy one unit of an ETF, a fund whose units trade on the exchange, if you have a demat account, which holds them electronically, and a trading account. A REIT's units also trade in lots of one.
Is micro-investing worth it?
It can build a real sum over many years, but small amounts grow into modest ones. The figures below come from the SIP calculator and assume a return of 10% a year. That is an assumption, not a forecast. It sits below AMFI's equity illustration rates of 12.42%–12.80%, the mean of 10-year rolling returns from 1 June 2014 to 31 May 2024. Past performance may or may not be sustained in future.
| Monthly SIP | Years | You put in | Value at an assumed 10% a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹100 | 10 | ₹12,000 | ₹20,655 |
| ₹500 | 10 | ₹60,000 | ₹1,03,276 |
| ₹500 | 20 | ₹1,20,000 | ₹3,82,848 |
Actual returns may differ, and the fund value can also fall. Try your own numbers on the SIP calculator.
The bigger gain is the habit. Raising the amount later matters too, and a step-up SIP does that on a set schedule. If you are weighing a specific amount, the ₹1,000 guide looks at that question.
What are the risks and costs of micro-investing?
The risk is the investment's own, and fixed fees hurt most when the amount is small.
A mutual fund's value can go up or down as the prices of what it holds move. SEBI makes every fund carry a riskometer, a label with six levels from Low to Very High. That label belongs to the fund, not to your SIP. In Koshex's fund list on 29 September 2026, every listed large cap fund read Very High, while most listed liquid funds read Low to Moderate. A ₹100 SIP into a Very High fund is still an investment in a Very High risk fund.
Digital gold carries its own risks. SEBI says such products "may entail significant risks for investors and may expose investors to counterparty and operational risks". The digital gold guide explains them.
Fees work differently. FINRA warns that "even a nominal monthly fee can have a big impact on your returns for a small account." A made-up example: a flat ₹50 a month on a ₹500 monthly deposit is 10% of the money you put in. On ₹5,000 a month the same ₹50 is 1%. Check what any app charges before you start.
A fund's own cost, the expense ratio, is different. It is a yearly fee shown as a percentage of the fund's assets and taken out of the NAV each day. A ₹100 SIP pays the same percentage as a ₹1 lakh one, with no separate fee from the fund for each instalment. The expense ratio guide explains it.
Koshex charges investors no platform or transaction fee. Fund costs such as the expense ratio and exit load belong to the scheme, not to Koshex. An exit load is a fee some funds charge if you sell within a set time after buying.
FINRA also notes that app design "might encourage investment choices based on emotion". It adds that "fear of missing out (FOMO) can have a negative impact on your performance." The behavioural biases article looks at this. If you are new to all of it, the beginner's guide is a good place to begin.