Singapore leads FII holdings as overall FII share drops to 16.71% in September Quarter

Data shows that the total value of FII holdings declined from Rs 77.58 lakh crore at the end of June to Rs 74.20 lakh crore by September 30, a reduction of Rs 3.38 lakh crore for the quarter. Free-float foreign ownership also moved lower, from 34.08 per cent to 33.43 per cent, while the average FII share by volume eased from 5.76 per cent to 5.65 per cent.

Foreign Institutional Investors’ ownership in NSE-listed companies fell further in the September 2025 quarter, slipping to 16.71 per cent from 17.05 per cent in June, with the Government of Singapore being the largest disclosed foreign holder in India with investments worth Rs 1.93 lakh crore, according to PRIME Database. This comes amidst an increase in holdings across other investor categories.

Data shows that the total value of FII holdings declined from Rs 77.58 lakh crore at the end of June to Rs 74.20 lakh crore by September 30, a reduction of Rs 3.38 lakh crore for the quarter. Free-float foreign ownership also moved lower, from 34.08 percent to 33.43 percent, while the average FII share by volume eased from 5.76 per cent to 5.65 percent.

The number of FIIs holding more than 1 percent in at least one listed company fell from 346 in March 2025 to 326 in September 2025, a 5.8 percent decline, with the Government of Singapore remaining the largest disclosed foreign investor with holdings of Rs 1.94 lakh crore across 59 companies, a 16.7 percent decrease from Rs 2.33 lakh crore across 62 companies in March 2025. Norges Bank held Rs 1.41 lakh crore in 100 companies, broadly unchanged in value compared with March and reflecting a reduction of four companies from its earlier 104. Vanguard reported Rs 0.62 lakh crore across 39 companies, representing a 5.8 per cent increase from Rs 0.59 lakh crore in March. Goldman Sachs held Rs 0.51 lakh crore in 57 companies, an increase of 11.2 percent from Rs 0.46 lakh crore across 62 companies six months earlier. Capital Group, which held Rs 0.77 lakh crore across 48 companies in March, reported Rs 0.41 lakh crore across 38 companies by September, a sharp 46.8 percent decline.

Sector-wise, FIIs increased their share M-o-M in Consumer Discretionary from 16.15 per cent to 17.36 per cent, the strongest proportional rise of the quarter. Their share in Industrials also increased, moving from 6.95 per cent to 7.13 per cent. The sharpest reductions were in Information Technology, where the FII share fell from 7.96 per cent to 6.69 per cent, and in Financial Services, which declined from 31.38 per cent to 30.92 per cent. Smaller decreases were recorded in Energy and other sectors.

Among disclosed FIIs, Singapore-based investors accounted for 29.14 per cent of the total value, followed by those from the United States at 27.76 per cent and Norway at 16.70 per cent. By count of investors, Mauritius accounted for 32.72 per cent, ahead of the United States and the Cayman Islands.

Prime data also showed that the gap in their share in companies listed on NSE is declining by a 71 basis points in the quarter ending September 30, 2025 to reach just 5.78 per cent, with the gap nearly halved in the last two years alone from 10.32 per cent as on June 30, 2023. At its peak, the gap was 17.15 per cent on March 31, 2015 with FII share at 20.71 per cent and MF share at just 3.56 per cent. During the quarter, the share of MFs reached an all-time high of 10.93 percent.