In March, net flows into equity mutual funds surged by 56%, totaling ₹40,450 crore. This increase comes as domestic investors stepped up their investments during a period marked by the sharpest market decline in five years, with the Sensex and Nifty dropping nearly 5%. Despite this, the mutual fund industry saw a record ₹32,807 crore in Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs), although the SIP stoppage ratio hit 101%, indicating more plans were stopped than registered. The overall assets under management (AUM) for the industry fell by 10.4% to ₹73.48 lakh crore due to market volatility and outflows from debt funds, as corporate withdrawals increased ahead of the financial year-end. Notably, the flexi-cap category attracted the highest allocation of ₹10,052 crore. Meanwhile, gold ETFs saw a decline in inflows, dropping to ₹2,266 crore from ₹5,255 crore the previous month, reflecting changing investor preferences amid fluctuating precious metal prices. Concerns over higher Securities Transaction Tax (STT) rates led to significant outflows from arbitrage funds, which totaled ₹21,113 crore.