What is stock market Index in India | List all the indexes and the stocks that holds

Imagine the stock market as a massive stadium filled with hundreds of players (companies) – it is quite difficult to monitor all of them at once! A stock market index is then used to make it easier to do so. It is kind of like a scoreboard to show the overall performance of a selected group of top companies. It informs you if the market is going up, down, or remaining even – thus, giving you the ability to feel the investors’ mood with just one look!

India has got a bunch of well-known indexes, and each of them has its own unique feature – for example, the glamorous Sensex and Nifty 50 that not only count but also monitor the biggest and the strongest companies are the leading ones; whereas, on the other hand, there are indexes that concentrate on the sectors like banks, IT, or mid-sized growth heroes.

What is a Stock Market Index in India?

An index of the stock market in India measures the performance of a predetermined collection of shares, and thus, it is indicative of the whole market or a part of it. Those who invest in stocks can rely on it to predict market movement, the state of the economy, and the performance of the industry. NSE and BSE are the two major exchanges where indices are calculated with the help of free-float market capitalization weighting giving the bigger firms a more significant role to play.

India boasts numerous indices, which are divided into broad-based (e.g., market-cap focused), sectoral (e.g., banking or IT), and strategy-based (e.g., low volatility) groups. A summary of the main indices, with their category along with short descriptions and current constituent stocks (as of December 2025), is given below.

Major Broad-Based Indices

These represent the overall market or market-cap segments.

Index Name	Exchange	Description	Number of Constituents	Key Constituents (Alphabetical Order)
Nifty 50	NSE	Benchmark index of 50 largest, most liquid large-cap companies across 13 sectors. Base: Nov 3, 1995 (value 1000).	50	Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Apollo Hospitals, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, Britannia Industries, Cipla, Coal India, Divi’s Laboratories, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Eicher Motors, Grasim Industries, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, HDFC Life Insurance, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle India, NTPC, ONGC, Power Grid, Reliance Industries, SBI, Shree Cement, Sun Pharma, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Titan Company, UltraTech Cement, Wipro, Zomato.
BSE Sensex	BSE	Oldest index (base: Apr 1, 1979, value 100), tracking 30 blue-chip large-cap companies.	30	Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle India, NTPC, Power Grid, Reliance Industries, SBI, Sun Pharma, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Titan Company, UltraTech Cement, Wipro.
Nifty Next 50 (Junior Nifty)	NSE	Tracks the next 50 large-cap companies after Nifty 50, potential future additions to Nifty 50.	50	Adani Green Energy, Adani Power, Adani Total Gas, Ambuja Cements, Apollo Tyres, Ashok Leyland, Avenue Supermarts, Bharat Electronics, Bharat Petroleum, Biocon, Colgate-Palmolive, Coromandel International, Crompton Greaves Consumer, Cummins India, Dabur India, DLF, Dr. Lal PathLabs, Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Properties, Havells India, Hindustan Aeronautics, Hindustan Petroleum, Hindustan Zinc, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, IDFC First Bank, Indian Oil Corporation, Indraprastha Gas, Info Edge (India), InterGlobe Aviation, Ipca Laboratories, Jindal Steel & Power, JSW Energy, Lupin, Manappuram Finance, Max Financial Services, Max Healthcare, Mphasis, Page Industries, Persistent Systems, PI Industries, Pidilite Industries, PNB Housing Finance, Polycab India, Prestige Estates, REC, Samvardhana Motherson, SRF, Supreme Industries, TVS Motor Company, Varun Beverages, Voltas, Zydus Lifesciences.
Nifty 100	NSE	Combines Nifty 50 and Nifty Next 50 for top 100 large- and mid-cap stocks.	100	(Includes all from Nifty 50 + Nifty Next 50 above.)
BSE 100	BSE	Tracks top 100 companies by market cap on BSE.	100	(Overlaps heavily with Nifty 100; includes Reliance Industries, TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, etc.)
Nifty 200	NSE	Broader index of top 200 companies by market cap.	200	(Includes Nifty 100 + additional mid-caps like ABB India, ACC, Aditya Birla Capital.)
BSE 200	BSE	Tracks top 200 companies on BSE.	200	(Similar to Nifty 200; includes large- and mid-caps like ITC, SBI, Larsen & Toubro.)
Nifty 500	NSE	Represents ~90% of NSE’s float-adjusted market cap (large-, mid-, and small-cap).	500	(Includes Nifty 200 + mid/small-caps like 3M India, Aarti Industries, ABB, ACC.)
BSE 500	BSE	Broad index covering ~93% of BSE’s market cap.	500	(Similar to Nifty 500; includes diverse stocks like Balrampur Chini Mills, Welspun Living, Hindustan Zinc.)
Nifty Midcap 100	NSE	Tracks 100 liquid mid-cap companies.	100	(E.g., ACC, Aditya Birla Capital, AIA Engineering, Akzo Nobel India, Alkem Laboratories, Apollo Tyres, Ashok Leyland, Astral, AU Small Finance Bank, Aurobindo Pharma.)
BSE MidCap	BSE	Tracks 150 mid-cap companies.	150	(E.g., BSE Ltd., CESC, Central Depository Services, Cyient, Deepak Nitrite.)
Nifty Midcap 150	NSE	Expanded mid-cap index.	150	(Overlaps with Nifty Midcap 100 + additions like Bharat Dynamics, Blue Star.)
Nifty Smallcap 100	NSE	Tracks 100 liquid small-cap companies.	100	(E.g., Aarti Drugs, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, Affle India, Agarwal Industrial, Aksh Optifibre, Alok Industries, Alpine Housing, Anant Raj, Andhra Paper, Anupam Rasayan.)
BSE SmallCap	BSE	Tracks small-cap performance.	250+ (varies)	(E.g., 20 Microns, Aarti Surfactants, Aananda Lakshmi Spinning, Abans Holdings, ABC Capital.)

Major Sectoral Indices

These focus on specific industries.

Index Name	Exchange	Description	Number of Constituents	Key Constituents (Examples)
Nifty Bank	NSE	Tracks major banking stocks.	12	AU Small Finance Bank, Axis Bank, Bandhan Bank, Bharat Rashtra Bank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank, SBI.
BSE Bankex	BSE	BSE’s banking sector index.	10	(Overlaps: HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank.)
Nifty IT	NSE	Tracks IT and software services.	10	HCL Technologies, Infosys, LTIMindtree, Persistent Systems, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Elxsi, Tech Mahindra, Wipro.
BSE IT	BSE	BSE’s IT sector index.	15+	(Similar: Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Tech.)
Nifty Pharma	NSE	Pharmaceutical and biotech focus.	20	Aurobindo Pharma, Cipla, Divi’s Laboratories, Dr. Reddy’s, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Zydus Lifesciences.
Nifty Auto	NSE	Automobile and ancillary companies.	15	Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, Bharat Forge, Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors.
Nifty FMCG	NSE	Fast-moving consumer goods.	15	Britannia, Colgate-Palmolive, Dabur, Godrej Consumer, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Nestle India, Varun Beverages.
Nifty Metal	NSE	Metals and mining.	15	Hindalco, JSW Steel, National Aluminium, Tata Steel, Vedanta.
Nifty Realty	NSE	Real estate developers.	10	DLF, Godrej Properties, Macrotech Developers, Prestige Estates, Sobha.
Nifty Energy	NSE	Oil, gas, and power.	10	Bharat Petroleum, Coal India, ONGC, Power Grid, Reliance Industries.

Conclusion

In simple words, an index in the Indian stock market is a performance measure that tells the market about the major companies’ activities. It indicates the overall trend of the market.

Among them, the most widely recognized are the Nifty 50 (top 50 large companies listed on the NSE) and the Sensex (top 30 large companies listed on the BSE). The famous companies included in these are Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Infosys, TCS, ITC, and Tata Motors. In addition to these, there are various indexes for banks, IT companies, small companies, and other sectors.

To sum up, indexes are a quick way to get an idea about the Indian stock market’s overall situation without having to verify each and every company.

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