FPIs' sell-off continues: ₹30,000cr pulled from Indian equities this month
What's the story
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have pulled out more than ₹30,000 crore from Indian equities in the first half of March.
This comes after a massive outflow of ₹34,574 crore in February and a whopping ₹78,027 crore in January.
The total outflow by FPIs has now hit an astounding ₹1.42 lakh crore this year alone according to depository data.
Investment trends
14 weeks of net outflows
FPIs have offloaded shares worth ₹30,015 crore from Indian equities this month, marking the 14th consecutive week of net outflows.
The prolonged selling pressure is driven by a combination of global and domestic factors.
Uncertainty surrounding US trade policies under President Donald Trump raised concerns about a potential tariff-induced recession, weighing on global risk appetite and prompting FPIs to adopt a cautious stance toward emerging markets like India.
Investment shifts
US bond yields and dollar strength attract FPIs
Elevated US bond yields as well as a strong dollar have made American assets more appealing, contributing to the FPI outflows.
Further, the depreciation of the Indian rupee (INR) has worsened the trend as it erodes the returns for foreign investors.
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, noted that the FPI outflows from India have mainly been directed toward Chinese stocks which have been outperforming other markets in 2025.
Investment patterns
FPI outflows and investments in debt
Despite outflows, FPIs invested ₹7,355 crore in debt general limit and withdrew ₹325 crore from the debt voluntary retention route.
This shows cautious approach by foreign investors who had significantly scaled back investments in Indian equities last year, with net inflows of just ₹427 crore.
The year 2023 saw net inflows of ₹1.71 lakh crore driven by optimism over India's strong economic fundamentals while 2022 had net outflow of ₹1.21 lakh crore amid aggressive rate hikes by global central banks.