Since September 2024, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have systematically dismantled their stakes in 43 out of 50 Nifty stocks, flattening the benchmark’s two-year return to zero and exposing a stark reality that when global capital flees, even India’s ultimate bluechips bleed.
The shareholding pattern reveals that the damage is concentrated at the very top. High-flying consumer discretionary favorites, tech giants, and heavy-weight private lenders have all been hit by the institutional retreat, with a select group of 13 major companies bearing the brunt of the selling between September 2024 and March 2026.
Trent leads the carnage as FII holding has collapsed from 26.62% to 15.59%. The stock has fallen 51% from its all-time high. Eternal, formerly Zomato, saw foreign ownership nearly halve in proportional terms down from 52.53% to 32.61%, a nearly 20-percentage-point exit. It trades 33% below its peak. TCS, India's IT bellwether, has shed nearly a quarter of its FII ownership, now at 9.66%, and sits 53% off its all-time high.
The list reads like a who's who of India Inc. Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, Dr. Reddy's, Cipla, Tech Mahindra, Max Healthcare, Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki — all have seen FII stakes fall by more than 20% in relative terms. The sell-off has not been sector-specific but a broad and sustained retreat across several quarters.
