Index funds in India

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Index funds in India are passive open-ended mutual funds that replicate a recognised market index by holding its constituent securities in the same weights, regulated by SEBI under the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations 1996 . They are the principal passive vehicle in the Indian fund industry alongside exchange-traded funds , aiming to match an index return minus a small expense ratio rather than beat it.

Passive assets in India, index funds plus ETFs, crossed about Rs 14 lakh crore by December 2025, roughly 17 per cent of total mutual fund industry assets, per AMFI monthly data. That share was in the low single digits a decade earlier. The growth tracks three forces: the 2013 arrival of direct plans , which stripped distributor commission out of the expense ratio; rising awareness that most large-cap active funds lag their benchmark net of fees; and a steady fall in index-fund TER to the 0.05 to 0.30 per cent band on direct plans.

International Index Fund on WebNotes

Index funds in India