The approved list
RBI permits NBFCs to lend only against a specific list of Group 1 securities. Zerodha Capital lends against its own curated list drawn from that group, based on its risk management policies. The current list is at zerodhacapital.com/approved-list.
A security may be removed from the approved list if it no longer aligns with the company's risk management policies and defined parameters.
How many securities you can pledge
You can pledge up to 50 different securities (scrips) at a time. A scrip is the shares or securities of a single company, so shares of three companies count as three scrips.
If you want to pledge more than 50 scrips, you can do so after one working day, once the first pledge request has been processed. You can then pledge additional securities to increase your loan amount.
Pledge charges are levied by CDSL at Rs. 32 per security plus 18% GST, and apply each time a security is pledged and unpledged.
Why you may be asked to pledge a mix of securities
If you select only one security, or only stocks even though you also hold mutual funds, you will see a nudge: Select several stocks or select mutual funds from your portfolio.
Pledging a mix of stocks and mutual funds diversifies your collateral and lowers the chance of your loan-to-value ratio rising because of volatility in a single stock.