What are FII and DII in India?

Quick Answer: FII means foreign institutional investor and DII means domestic institutional investor. In India the regulatory term for the foreign side is now FPI, or foreign portfolio investor. NSE publishes their daily buying and selling in the cash market, and NSDL publishes the FPI side separately.

FII and DII are the two institutional halves of the Indian market: money managed professionally from outside the country, and money managed professionally inside it. Between them they account for the bulk of institutional turnover on any given day.

Daily figures are published free by the exchange and by the depository. They are also the most misread numbers in the market, because a net figure for one day describes flows, not value, and a provisional figure is not a final one.

What are FII and DII in the stock market?

Both are institutional investors, separated only by where the institution is based. DIIs are Indian mutual funds, insurers, banks and pension funds; FIIs are their foreign equivalents, and on 28 September 2026 the two sides traded in opposite directions, with FIIs net sellers of ₹5,353.22 crore and DIIs net buyers of ₹5,189.02 crore (NSE).

The distinction matters because the two groups answer to different pressures. A domestic fund invests the flows it receives from Indian savers; a foreign fund allocates across countries and can be moved by currency, global rates or a decision taken nowhere near India.

Neither is a signal about any security. A net figure records what happened in aggregate on one day, across every stock traded in that segment, and Multibagg's FII and DII page presents the daily series as published.

Gross figures carry information the net hides. On 28 September 2026 foreign institutions bought ₹9,047.56 crore and sold ₹14,400.78 crore, so a net of −₹5,353.22 crore sat on top of more than ₹23,000 crore of two-way turnover (NSE).

What is the full form of FII and DII, and why does SEBI say FPI?

FII is foreign institutional investor and DII is domestic institutional investor, and one of the two labels is no longer the regulatory one. The live category for the foreign side is the foreign portfolio investor, governed by SEBI's FPI Regulations, 2019, and the older FII regime was folded into that framework.

Everyday market language kept the older term. NSE's own daily report splits the market into "FII/FPI" and "DII", carrying both words in one label.

Concentration is capped too. A single FPI, including its investor group, must stay below ten per cent of a company's total paid-up equity capital on a fully diluted basis.

How are FII and DII flows reported in India in 2026?

Two official series run in parallel, both daily and both free. NSE's FII/DII trading activity report carries gross purchases, gross sales and net figures for the cash market, and NSDL publishes the FPI side across equity, debt, hybrid and mutual funds.

FII and DII cash-market flows, NSE and NSDL, 22–28 September 2026

The two series do not reconcile line for line, and are not meant to. NSE covers the cash market on the exchange; NSDL covers FPI activity across segments and routes, including the primary market.

For a cumulative 2026 figure, read it from NSDL's FPI reports or NSE's own series rather than from a secondary aggregator, because the aggregators differ on what they include.

Why do FII and DII flows often move in opposite directions?

Because the two groups are responding to different inputs, and because one side's selling has to be absorbed by a buyer. On 28 September 2026 the NSE figures show exactly that shape, with foreign institutions net sellers and domestic institutions net buyers on the same day.

It is a tendency, not a rule. On 23 September 2026, both sides were net buyers, foreign institutions at ₹1,617.45 crore and domestic institutions at ₹2,341.46 crore (NSE).

Domestic flows are steadier by construction. Money arriving through systematic investment plans is deployed on a schedule that does not consult the day's global news.

Foreign flows react to conditions set outside India, including the currency. NSDL reports the FPI net alongside a dollar figure and the conversion rate used, which was ₹95.8179 to the dollar on 23 September 2026.

Is the daily figure final when it is published?

No, and there are two versions. NSDL's daily trends report sets out the split: stock exchanges compile the provisional FII/FPI figure from information trading members give during the session, while confirmed data comes from reports custodians submit to the depositories, covering trades up to the previous trading day.

So the number carried on the evening of a session is provisional. The confirmed series arrives later and can differ.

That is a reason to date every figure you quote, and our notes on FII outflows and their effect on the Nifty and a session of DII net buying against FII selling both carry their dates for that reason.

Where can you see FII and DII data every day?

NSE's FII/DII trading activity report carries the cash-market split each session. NSDL's daily trends report carries the FPI side. The NSE figures above are dated 22, 23 and 28 September 2026, and the NSDL figures 23 September 2026. Both are free, and both are the origin of what every app and news site republishes.

A longer-run picture needs the same sources read over time rather than a single day. Our note on foreign ownership of Indian equities at a 14-year low covers that longer arc.

Company-level foreign holding is a different disclosure again, reported quarterly in the shareholding pattern rather than daily, and visible on each company page in Multibagg's stocks section.

Read the flow beside the company

A daily net figure describes the market, not a business. For what institutions hold in one company, the quarterly shareholding pattern filed within 21 days of each quarter's end is the record, and the daily series above is context around it.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only. Multibagg AI is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser or research analyst, and it does not provide investment, financial, legal or tax advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or invest in any security. Market data is shown as of the dates stated and may have changed since. Please consult a SEBI-registered adviser before making any investment decision.