The Securities and Exchange Board of India has issued a circular setting the criteria for when benchmarks and indices based on listed securities will be treated as Significant Indices under the SEBI Index Providers Regulations, 2024, and has published an initial list of 48 such indices. A benchmark or index, including an index of indices, will qualify if the daily average cumulative assets under management tracking or benchmarking it across mutual fund schemes exceeds INR 20,000 crore for each of the past six months in the half years ending 30 June and 31 December. Index providers offering any listed Significant Index must apply for registration with SEBI within six months, except where all of their Significant Indices are notified by the Reserve Bank of India as Significant Benchmarks or classified by it as Authorized Benchmarks under Section 45W directions. Once an index is placed on the Significant Indices list, it will stay there unless the cumulative AUM tracking or benchmarking it fails to meet the threshold for three continuous years, or six consecutive half yearly reviews. The first list is based on mutual fund scheme AUM from 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2025 and includes indices provided by BSE Index Services Pvt. Ltd., CRISIL and NSE Indices Limited, including BSE Sensex, Nifty 50, Nifty Bank and a range of debt, hybrid, midcap and smallcap benchmarks. Existing providers of Significant Indices may continue their index provider activity if they submit a registration application within six months. Entities already registered with SEBI in another capacity but carrying out index provider activities departmentally must move those activities into a separate legal entity within two years. The circular takes effect immediately, and the grievance redress mechanism under the regulations applies only to Significant Indices provided by SEBI registered index providers.
Securities & Exchange Board of India 2026-05-05
Securities and Exchange Board of India defines Significant Indices at INR 20,000 crore AUM threshold and requires listed providers to register
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has issued a circular defining when benchmarks and indices based on listed securities qualify as Significant Indices under the SEBI Index Providers Regulations, 2024, and has published an initial list of 48 such indices. An index qualifies if mutual fund schemes tracking or benchmarking it have daily average cumulative assets under management above INR 20,000 crore for each of the past six months in the half years ending 30 June and 31 December. Index providers of listed Significant Indices must register with SEBI within six months unless all their Significant Indices are notified or classified by the Reserve Bank of India, and entities currently conducting index provider activities departmentally must transfer these to a separate legal entity within two years.