46 stocks, 275 entrants: Why India’s market-cap definitions face a rethink

The article from Hindu BusinessLine explores the ongoing debate surrounding India's stock and mutual fund classification system, which currently categorizes the top 100 companies as large-caps, the next 150 as mid-caps, and all others beyond the 250th rank as small-caps. Market participants, including fund managers, brokers, and investment bankers, are questioning this framework's relevance given the rapid expansion of the country's equity market.

Sanjeev Prasad, Co-Head and Managing Director at Kotak Institutional Equities, argues that the definition of large-caps should be based on market capitalization thresholds rather than a fixed number of companies. He highlights the high level of churn within benchmark indices, with only 46 stocks in the Nifty Midcap 150 Index remaining constant over the past five years, while 275 unique stocks entered or exited the index.

Prasad suggests that frequent changes in index constituents, driven by market narratives and sectoral themes rather than fundamentals, create misleading benchmarks and contribute to a "survivorship bias" effect. Mahavir Lunawat, Managing Director of Pantomath Group, further argues that the current classification framework needs an overhaul, pointing out that companies with market capitalizations around Rs 40,000 crore are categorized as small-caps simply because they fall outside the top 250 stocks.

Lunawat warns that such rigid classifications are concentrating institutional money into a limited universe of stocks despite the significant expansion of India's listed market. Market veteran Arun Kejriwal has gone a step further, advocating for the introduction of new categories, such as micro cap and mini micro cap, to better capture the breadth of India’s equity market.

Brief written by urgent.news from Hindu BusinessLine's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.