The robust pace of dealmaking has been underpinned by the growing influence of domestic mutual funds and insurers, even as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have remained cautious about investing in Indian equities.
According to data from Prime Database, existing investors have sold shares worth ₹3.63 lakh crore so far this year across 9,616 block and bulk deals. The strong pace of such transactions is particularly notable given the weakness in the broader market, with the benchmark Nifty 50 down about 7% so far this year.
| YEAR |
Value(Rs. Lakh crore) |
|
2021 |
3.17 |
|
2022 |
3.27 |
|
2023 |
3.93 |
|
2024 |
6.41 |
|
2025 |
5.84 |
|
2026* |
3.63 |
By comparison, investors sold shares worth a record ₹6.41 lakh crore through block deals in 2024 and another ₹5.84 lakh crore in 2025, when the Nifty 50 gained about 9% and 11%, respectively. The pace of block and bulk deal activity has therefore moderated this year.“The surge in bulk deals can be partly attributed to strong institutional liquidity, particularly the robust monthly inflows into mutual funds, which are prompting fund managers to deploy capital,” said Pranav Haldea, Managing Director of PRIME Database Group.
Haldea added that while frontline stocks and indices may not be performing well, several other segments of the market have rallied in recent months. For sellers, too, valuations need to be attractive enough to make it worthwhile to encash their holdings.
Among the largest deals this year, Worldwide Emerging Market Holding, a promoter-group entity of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, divested a 2% stake in the company for ₹7,486 crore through open-market transactions on the BSE in May. US-based Capital Group and Europacific Growth Fund were among the major buyers.
Samayat Services LLP sold a 9.3% stake in Vishal Mega Mart in February, raising ₹5,091 crore. It was the second-largest block deal of the year, after the Adani Ports transaction.
Centella Mauritius Holdings Ltd. raised ₹4,451 crore by selling nearly a 7% stake in Aster DM Healthcare. Meanwhile, Adani promoter-group entity Ardour Investment Holding raised ₹3,247 crore by selling 2.2 crore shares of Adani Green Energy.JSW Energy also sold ₹3,150 crore worth of shares in JSW Steel on May 18, 2026.
In August, Pilani Investment and Industries Corporation, an Aditya Birla Group entity, raised ₹2,896 crore by selling 25 lakh shares of flagship company UltraTech Cement at an average price of ₹11,585 apiece on the BSE.
Other large block deals included SoftBank Vision Fund’s sale of ₹2,888 crore worth of Lenskart Solutions shares in August, following a ₹2,873 crore sale in June. SVF II Lightbulb sold 5.65 crore Lenskart shares in June at an average price of ₹508.55 apiece. Two months later, it sold shares at an average price of ₹641.75, according to bulk-deal data compiled by CNBC-TV18.
The data further shows that deal activity picked up after April, with monthly block deals averaging around ₹55,000 crore.
Alongside the surge in secondary sales, India’s equity capital market is also witnessing strong activity in primary issuances, offers for sale (OFS) and qualified institutional placements (QIPs). Resilient domestic liquidity is helping sustain demand for new share offerings despite the lacklustre performance of the broader stock market.
“Market depth is sufficient to support multiple large IPOs. We expect $60–70 billion of fundraising in FY27 through IPOs, OFS, block deals and other capital-market transactions,” said Abhinav Bharti, Managing Director and Head of India ECM at JPMorgan.
Bharti added that appetite for primary capital investments is increasing, and JPMorgan is tracking $7–8 billion of IPO fundraising in H2 FY27.
