Top 10 Equity Indices Powering Passive Investing in India: Big-Picture View 29Jan2026
(The views expressed here are for information purposes only and should not be construed as a recommendation or investment advice. While the author is a CFA Charterholder with nearly 25 years of experience in financial markets, this content is intended to share general insights and does not constitute financial guidance. Please consult your financial adviser before taking any investment decision. Safe to assume the author has a vested interest in stocks / investments discussed if any.)
In an earlier blog, we looked at how passive equity investing in India was shaping up using data as of 30June2025.
Since then, the passive space has continued to grow, with fresh flows and market movements altering the passive landscape.
This blog updates that analysis using the latest available data as of 31Dec2025.
By ranking the top equity indices by passive AUM, it takes a big-picture view of where investor money is actually concentrated.
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Related blogs:
Check Update 11Jan2026 with Charts 98 and 99 of the blog for Total Assets of India MF Industry (13-year data)
Check Update 19Nov2025 with Chart 88 of the blog for passive fund net inflows
Check Update 19Nov2025 with Chart 87 of the blog for passive equity fund assets growth
Passive Titans of India: The Top 10 Equity Indices by Fund Size 17Jul2025
India Flagship Equity ETFs with Low Fees and Fair Trading Volumes 12Jun2025 (passive funds)
Low Expense Ratios, High Returns: Why Passive Equity Funds Matter 06Jun2025 (passive funds)
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1. The Big Picture
India’s mutual fund industry has seen tremendous growth in the past five years.
As of 31Dec2025, the total size of mutual fund industry is Rs 80.23 lakh crore -- it had grown by 2.6 times in the past five years, from a level of Rs 31 lakh crore as on 31Dec2020.
The snapshot of total assets under management or AUM is as follows (31Dec2025): See chart 1 below for details:
The AUM of all active equity segment is Rs 35.73 lakh crore and that of passive equity (both exchange traded funds or ETFs as well as index funds) is Rs 10.07 lakh crore, totaling Rs 45.80 lakh crore.
The share of all equity in total mutual fund industry AUM is 57.1 per cent -- the share has grown from a level of 41.1 per cent as of 31Mar2019.
Remarkably, the share of passive equity funds in total equity assets is nearly 22 per cent.
Of the total passive equity segment, equity ETF assets are Rs 7.99 lakh crore dominating with 79 per cent of total passive; while equity index funds asset size is Rs 2.08 lakh crore with 19 per cent share.
It may be noted the total equity assets do not include equity portion of Hybrid schemes. The break-up of debt, equity and other segments of Hybrid category is not made available by AMFI or Association of Mutual Funds of India, the industry body.
Hybrid schemes consist of schemes that invest in a blend of asset classes across the spectrum -- like, debt, equity, gold and silver.
The total number of passive equity funds are 468 as at the end of Dec2025. There are a total of 122 unique equity benchmark indices upon which passive equity funds, both ETFs as well as index funds, are based.
Chart 1: Big picture - India passive equity funds and their asset size as of 31Dec2025:
AUM: Rs 4.97 lakh crore (49.4% of total passive AUM).
Total number of passive funds: 44
ETFs: Rs 4.03 lakh crore (81%)
Index funds: Rs 0.95 lakh crore (19%)
Conclusion: This index dominates India's passive investing space and is the clear market leader in both ETF and index fund formats.
2. BSE Sensex:
AUM: Rs 2.47 lakh crore (24.5% of total passive)
Heavily ETF-focused (94.6% of AUM in ETFs).
Shows investor preference for ETFs in flagship indices, Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex.
3. Concentration in Two Indices
Nifty 50 and Sensex together account for Rs 7.44 lakh crore, which is 73.9 per cent of the total passive equity AUM. The rest eight indices make up only 16.1 per cent of the total.
a). NSE / Nifty indices collectively account for Rs 7.20 lakh crore (71.5 per cent of total) of passive equity AUM.
b). BSE indices oversee around Rs 2.68 lakh crore (26.6 per cent).
c). Foreign indices—like Nasdaq‑100—make up just Rs 19,000 crore (just 1.9 per ent) of the mix.
Indices with combined passive equity AUM of less than Rs 2,000 crore have been excluded from the index-wise ranking and grouped under “funds not included above.” (see chart 5 given as "additional data" at the end of the blog)
These excluded indices together account for about 3.7 per cent (Rs 37,400 crore) of total passive equity AUM -- spread across 208 passive funds -- indicating a long tail of very small and thinly tracked benchmarks.
Of this, ETFs account for 112 funds with a combined AUM of roughly Rs 18,535 crore. Index funds make up the remaining 96 funds, managing about Rs 18,864 crore.
Most of these indices have limited investor participation and are often represented by just one or two funds. Their small asset size suggests either niche investor appeal or products that are still in an early stage of adoption.
Excluding them helps keep the analysis focused on indices that meaningfully influence the overall passive equity landscape.
Passive
investing in India is highly concentrated around a few big
indices—mainly Nifty 50, Sensex, CPSE and Bharat‑22. Retail or
niche-mandate indices have much lower traction, even though there are
many of them.
This underlines a structural imbalance: most passive equity assets are locked in established, large-cap indices, while a wide array of other indices—despite being available for investment—hold minimal AUM individually or collectively.
scale.
(the blog post is still under construction; please bear with me till i complete it)
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References and additional data:
AMFI Monthly Data
Nifty Passive Insights - Quarterly
NSE Passive Funds - dedicated website for passive funds
Rupee Vest MF screener
NSE Index Dashboard - Dec2025 PDF (to compare risk / return data of Nifty Indices)
Check Update 11Jan2026 with Charts 98 and 99 of the blog for Total Assets of India MF Industry (13-year data)
Check Update 19Nov2025 with Chart 88 of the blog for passive fund net inflows
Check Update 19Nov2025 with Chart 87 of the blog for passive equity fund assets growth
Mutual Fund Asset Class Returns 31Dec2025 (Fund categories with similar returns)------------------------
References and additional data:
Nif
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