Corporate and high-net-worth investor ( HNWI ) participation in India’s exchange-traded fund ( ETF ) industry more than doubled between 2021 and 2025, with corporate investors rising from 39,358 to 94,042 and HNWIs from 2,939 to 11,183. 

Total assets invested in the industry reached a record high of US$107.82 billion in June 2025. This surpasses the previous highs of US$93.44 billion in 2024 and US$68.36 billion in 2023, according to research and consultancy firm ETFGI, citing data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India. 

Corporate Investors remain the dominant force, accounting for 87.22% of total ETF assets in June 2025. Foreign Institutional Investors ( FIIs ) represent the smallest share, with just 0.00004% of the market. 

Both  corporate and high-net-worth investor AUM have shown steady growth from June 2021 through 2025, reflecting increasing institutional and affluent individual interest in ETFs.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi ) defines a high-net-worth investor as an individual who invests more than 200,000 rupees ( US$2,389 ) per transaction.

Gold ETFs on the rise

Nearly 40% of assets invested in gold ETFs are held by HNW and retail investors.

A total of 228,700 HNWI portfolios reported holding US$2.38 billion in gold ETFs, representing a 31.44% market share. This marks a significant increase from 2021, when only 43,319 HNWI portfolios held gold ETFs. 

Over 7.41 million retail investor portfolios held US$605 million in gold ETFs, accounting for 8.01% of the market. In comparison, only 1.78 million retail portfolios reported gold ETF holdings in 2021.

On the other hand, 16,761 corporate portfolios reported holding US$4.58 billion, which represents 60.55% of the total assets invested in gold ETFs.

As of the end of June, India’s ETF industry had 264 ETFs, with 264 listings and assets of US$107.74 billion, from 24 providers on two exchanges, ETFGI says.

In June alone, the sector gathered net inflows of US$161.20 million. Commodity ETFs gathered the largest net inflows with US$489.91 million, while equity ETFs suffered the largest net outflows of US$323.84 million, followed by fixed income ETFs with US$4.88 million.