Top 10 blue-chips’ share of India’s m-cap drops to lowest since 2017

India's top 10 blue-chip stocks have seen their collective market share plummet to a decade-low, mainly due to heavy foreign selling and poor performance. In October 9, these firms held 17.65% of the total market capitalization, the lowest since January 2017. Their combined market cap stood at ₹84.84 lakh crore, down from ₹480.82 lakh crore earlier.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have been selling large-cap stocks aggressively, withdrawing over ₹3 lakh crore from Indian markets since 2026, with the top 10 firms accounting for nearly 60-70% of this selling. Also contributing to the decline is the weaker Indian rupee. The concentration of market value among the largest companies has been steadily decreasing in recent years, from 25% at the start of 2023 to 21% in January 2025.

Meanwhile, domestic flows have bolstered the smaller companies. As a result, their share in the total market capitalisation rose to 20.6% and 23.1% respectively for small- and mid-cap companies in September 2026, up from around 18% at the start of 2024. The shift indicates changing investor sentiments towards emerging opportunities in sectors like public infrastructure.

Reliance Industries, India's largest company, has declined 26% this year, while HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel have fallen 27% and 15% respectively. Large-cap fatigue is largely due to the underperformance of traditional index heavyweights.