Summary of this article
Promoters still rule the markets, holding around 50% of NSE’s total market cap.
Indian investors’ influence is growing fast.
FPIs' share sank to the lowest in over 15 years.
Who owns India’s gigantic stock market worth Rs 471.02 lakh crore? The market capitalisation of all companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) as of November 13, 2025, is Rs 471.02 lakh crore.
Promoters Rule
Promoters rule over with approx. 50 per cent share, shows data from ‘India Ownership Tracker’, a quarterly report released by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Promoters include private Indian promoters, Government and foreign promoters, followed by Foreign Portfolio Investors with approx. 17 per cent stake. Look at the chart below to figure out the complete ownership details.
As per the Report, Real Estate boasts the highest promoter share at 63.9 per cent, followed by utilities (60.6 per cent) and Materials (56.2 per cent), while financials marked the lowest promoter control at 41.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, the government's share, now at 10 per cent, remains focused on financials, energy, industrials, and utilities (comprising over 90 per cent of total government holdings).
These patterns, as per the report, underscore a concentration of promoter power in capital-intensive or regulated sectors, while more market-driven industries show diluted promoter influence, according to the NSE Report.
Major Changes in Ownership Trends: Domestic Investors vs FPIs
While direct ownership of individual investors held broadly steady at 9.6 per cent in the listed universe, individual investors’ stake in the Indian stock markets, both direct and through mutual funds, has reached a record 22-year high at 18.75 per cent as of September 2025, according to data from the Report.
Individuals hold Rs 83.6 lakh crore in the Indian stock markets in all (direct investing and via mutual funds), growing at an annualised 29.8 per cent in the last five years.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors' (FPIs) ownership in NSE-listed companies sank for the quarter ending September 2025. Their share fell further to 16.9 per cent, the lowest in over 15 years, after consistent withdrawal since March 2023, amounting to net annual outflows of $29.6 billion.
Earlier, FPIs have been more dominant than the Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) for decades. But by March 2025, DIIs quietly took the lead, holding 17.6 per cent of NSE stocks - just edging out FIIs at 17.2 per cent.
Despite this retreat, the FPI portfolio remains concentrated, with Financials (24.8 per cent), Communication Services (23.8 per cent), and Real Estate (19.4 per cent) collectively accounting for the lion's share of FPI allocations.
Conversely, their exposure to IT fell to a 93-quarter low (16.5 per cent), and Consumer Staples to the weakest level since 2004.
Coming to Domestic Mutual Funds (DMFs). They now hold an even bigger share of 10.9 per cent in the NSE-listed companies, amid strong SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) inflows and sustained equity buying. This was the ninth consecutive quarter of record high shareholding.
Mutual funds collected Rs 29,529 crore via SIP in October, according to data from Amfi (Association of Mutual Funds in India). The inflows were marginally higher than those witnessed in the month of September (Rs 28,697 crore) this year and over 16 per cent higher than the inflows in the same month last year.
Who owns the most-sought-after index, Nifty 50 and the broader market index, Nifty 500?
Now, Nifty 50 is an index that represents the largest 50 companies of the country and Nifty 500 represents the largest 500 companies listed on NSE. Below are the charts that show the ownership pattern by total market capitalisation.
India’s stock market is witnessing a clear shift — from foreign dominance to growing domestic strength. With rising retail participation and steady mutual fund inflows, the country’s market ownership is becoming increasingly homegrown. But is the FPI’s reduced interest a worrying sign or just part of a long-term structural change?
