UTI Master Index Fund (1998), India's first index fund

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

UTI Master Index Fund, launched in 1998 by the Unit Trust of India, was India’s first passive index-tracking mutual fund. Structured as an open-end scheme that replicated the composition of the BSE Sensex (the Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark 30-stock index), the fund offered investors proportionate exposure to India’s large-cap equity market at lower cost than active equity funds, without relying on a fund manager’s stock-selection decisions. Its launch predated the Nifty BeES ETF of December 2001 by approximately three years, making it the foundational product in the history of passive investing in India.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The BSE Limited (formerly the Bombay Stock Exchange) is Asia’s oldest stock exchange, established in 1875 on Dalal Street, Mumbai, under the name “The Native Share and Stock Brokers’ Association.” BSE holds the distinction of being the first exchange in India to receive a permanent recognition under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (SCRA 1956) and operates the SENSEX, formally the S&P BSE SENSEX, which is the most widely followed barometer of the Indian equity market and one of the oldest equity indices in Asia.

Sensex on WebNotes

UTI Master Index Fund (1998), India's first index fund

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)