Foreign investors pulled ₹52,100 crore from Indian shares in October so far

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have sold a net ₹52,100 crore of Indian equities in October 2026, according to depository data reported on 18 October. That is already more than the ₹35,861 crore they withdrew in all of September.

The selling follows a brief reversal. In August, FPIs were net buyers of ₹29,631 crore. Including October so far, net outflows from Indian equities in 2026 total about ₹3.12 lakh crore, against ₹1.66 lakh crore for the whole of 2025.

Bonds too

The selling was not limited to shares. In September, FPIs withdrew ₹20,727 crore from Indian debt, with outflows across the general limit, the Voluntary Retention Route and the Fully Accessible Route.

The rupee and reserves

Foreign selling adds pressure on the rupee, because investors convert rupees into dollars when they leave. In mid-October the currency recovered for a while: it strengthened from 96.72 to the dollar on 9 October to 94.89 on 16 October, a day on which exchange data showed foreign institutional investors were net buyers of ₹1,165.92 crore. On 19 October the rupee slipped to 94.92 and the Sensex fell 876 points to 73,852.90.

India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $12.95 billion in the week to 2 October and by a further $8.58 billion in the week to 9 October, to $726.03 billion.