MUMBAI — Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) now own a record 21.3 per cent of India's Nifty 500 companies, while foreign portfolio investor (FPI) ownership in the same index has fallen to 16.8 per cent, according to a Motilal Oswal Financial Services analysis of September-quarter shareholding data reported this week.

Source: BigBreakingWire — FPI ownership falls to 14-year low (Mint analysis / Motilal Oswal data)

The gap is wider across the whole market. An analysis of BSE data reported by Mint found that FPIs held 14.02 per cent of 5,638 BSE-listed companies at the end of September — their lowest share since December 2011. Foreign ownership fell by nearly 0.4 percentage points during the September quarter and by 154 basis points over the past year.

21.3%DII ownership of Nifty 500 — a record high
16.8%FPI ownership of Nifty 500
14.02%FPI share of 5,638 BSE-listed firms — lowest since Dec 2011
Rs 1.7 lakh croreNet DII equity buying in the September quarter

The shift came even though foreign investors returned as buyers. FPIs invested a net Rs 13,970 crore in the September quarter after withdrawing Rs 1.43 lakh crore in the June quarter, but domestic institutions invested a net Rs 1.7 lakh crore in the same three months, so the foreign share of ownership still shrank. Domestic mutual funds' ownership also reached a record 11.59 per cent.

Reports on the data describe the change as structural rather than a one-quarter swing: sustained monthly inflows into mutual funds through systematic investment plans have given domestic institutions a steady pool of money to invest, absorbing foreign selling and supporting share prices through volatile periods.

For ordinary investors, the changing balance means India's market is now driven less by foreign fund flows than it was a decade ago — foreign selling no longer automatically drags the whole market down, though analysts note that valuations and company earnings will still decide returns. (Sources: Motilal Oswal Financial Services shareholding analysis reported by BigBreakingWire; Mint analysis of BSE data; HexaWealth market summary, November 6, 2026.)