How much money is required to start stock trading?

There’s no SEBI-mandated minimum to open a demat and trading account or to start investing in equity delivery, and you can technically begin with just enough to buy a single share of a stock, some of which trade for well under ₹100. In practice, though, a very small starting amount means fixed costs, like account maintenance charges some brokers apply, or even brokerage on tiny trade values, can represent a disproportionately large percentage of your capital, which is worth keeping in mind. For F&O trading specifically, the practical minimum is higher, since margin requirements for even a single lot of futures or an option-selling position can run into tens of thousands of rupees depending on the underlying, while buying a single low-premium option might cost just a few hundred rupees. You think about the amount less in terms of a minimum required and more in terms of what you can genuinely afford to have exposed to market risk without it affecting money you need for other purposes.