Foreign portfolio investors’ (FPIs) ownership in companies listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped to a 15-year low of 16.9 percent in the September 2025 quarter, marking a continued decline that started in early 2023, according to the latest India Ownership Tracker from NSE.
Despite minor upticks for two quarters, the proportion of FPI shareholding has consistently decreased since March 2023. Factors contributing to this trend include volatility in global capital flows and profit-booking by foreign investors. During the first half of FY26, FPIs experienced a 63 basis points reduction in shareholding, with outflows totaling $8.7 billion in the September quarter.
In terms of value, FPI holdings fell by 5.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to ₹75.2 lakh crore. Despite this decline, FPI investments have historically increased at an annualized rate of 17 percent over the past 20 years, outpacing the overall market capitalization growth of 16.1 percent.
Ownership by FPIs in the Nifty 50 and Nifty 500 indices also saw declines, dropping by 43 basis points and 46 basis points to 24.1 percent and 18 percent, respectively, representing the lowest levels in over 13 years. This decline was widespread, particularly in consumption and commodity sectors such as Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), energy, and materials. While FPIs favored financials and communication services, they adopted a cautious approach towards the information technology sector and held an underweight position in industrials.
In contrast, domestic mutual funds (DMFs) reported an increase in shareholding, reaching their highest level since the inception of this tracking, driven by record equity inflows of ₹1.64 lakh crore in Q2 FY26. DMFs raised their ownership in NSE-listed companies to 10.9 percent, increasing their share in the Nifty 50 index to 13.5 percent and 11.4 percent in the Nifty 500 index. Monthly systematic investment plan (SIP) inflows averaged ₹28,697 crore during the quarter, reflecting a sequential rise of 6.8 percent and a year-on-year increase of 20.6 percent.
The strength of domestic flows increased the overall domestic institutional investor (DII) ownership—encompassing mutual funds, insurers, banks, and other financial institutions—to 18.7 percent, surpassing FPI share for the fourth consecutive quarter. The gap between DII and FPI ownership, which was minus 12 percentage points in September 2014, has now shifted in favor of domestic investors.
The share of individual investors in NSE-listed companies remained stable at 9.6 percent, consistent within the 9.5 to 9.8 percent range observed over the past nine quarters. Retail inflows experienced a resurgence during the quarter, totaling ₹20,469 crore. Furthermore, individual investor ownership outside the top 10 percent by market capitalization rose by 48 basis points to a 19-year high of 16.7 percent, indicating increasing interest in mid- and small-cap stocks.
Promoter ownership remained steady at 50.1 percent, with a small uptick in foreign promoter stakes compensating for declines among private Indian promoters. However, in the Nifty 50, promoter share decreased for the sixth consecutive quarter to 40 percent, the lowest level in 23 years. Government ownership also saw a slight decline of 10 basis points to 10 percent, extending a consistent decrease over the past year.
Published on November 13, 2025.
