Foreign Investment Flows – Debt-Led Inflows with Equity Support

24 Feb 2026 , 02:42 PM

Foreign portfolio investors remained net buyers during the week ended February 13, 2026, with total net inflows of INR 69.34 billion. Overall flows were supported mainly by strong debt purchases, indicating continued foreign interest in India’s fixed-income opportunities, while equity flows remained mixed.

Equity Markets: Equity inflows for the week stood at INR 19.42 billion. The primary market attracted the bulk of these investments at INR 23.96 billion, reflecting steady participation in new issuances. In contrast, the secondary market recorded a net outflow of INR 4.55 billion, suggesting some profit-taking in existing equities. Hybrid instruments also saw a mild withdrawal of around INR 2.0 billion, slightly moderating the overall equity-linked inflows.

Debt and Alternative Segments: Debt instruments accounted for the largest share of foreign investment, with INR 51.39 billion in net inflows — the strongest contributor for the week and a sign of improving sentiment toward Indian bonds. Mutual funds saw only marginal inflows of INR 0.54 billion, while alternative investment funds remained inactive with no net movement.

Table: Net Investment Data

Asset Class	Net Investment (INR Billions)
Foreign_Investors	69.34
Foreign_Investors.Debt	51.39
Foreign_Investors.Equity	19.42
Foreign_Investors.Equity.Primary	23.96
Foreign_Investors.Equity.Secondary	-4.55
Foreign_Investors.Mutual_Fund	0.54
Foreign_Investors.Hybrid	-2.0
Foreign_Investors.AIF	0.0

Source: NSDL

Table: Recent history of FPI flows

Week Ending	Net Investment (INR Billions)
13 Feb, 2026	69.34
06 Feb, 2026	132.47
30 Jan, 2026	60.76
23 Jan, 2026	-50.27
16 Jan, 2026	-143.06
09 Jan, 2026	-82.27
02 Jan, 2026	-96.41
26 Dec, 2025	-98.09
19 Dec, 2025	35.37
12 Dec, 2025	-112.6

Source: NSDL

Figure: History of FPI flows

Source: NSDL

FPI flows in Equity

FPIs turned net buyers in Indian equities during the week ended February 13, 2026, with net inflows of INR 19.4 billion. The inflow was driven mainly by strong participation in the primary market, which recorded investments of about INR 24.0 billion, while the secondary market saw a modest outflow of INR 4.5 billion. Primary-market buying more than offset the secondary-market selling, keeping overall equity flows in positive territory despite a shift from the previous week’s strong secondary-market inflow.

While FPIs have been sellers in the secondary market for the majority of the past 10 weeks, the trend had reversed around the last week of January. Post budget, FPI inflows in the secondary market were the highest in recent times. However, sentiment towards technology sectors has worsened due to worries over AI. This has likely resulted in heavy FPI selling in India’s IT services, which has impacted overall flows.

Table: Recent history of FPI flows in equity

Week Ending	FPI.Equity	FPI.Equity.Primary	FPI.Equity.Secondary
13 Feb, 2026	19.4	24.0	-4.5
06 Feb, 2026	97.3	3.1	94.2
30 Jan, 2026	27.6	17.6	10.0
23 Jan, 2026	-97.4	5.5	-102.9
16 Jan, 2026	-116.0	5.2	-121.2
09 Jan, 2026	-85.1	0.3	-85.4
02 Jan, 2026	-131.7	1.3	-132.9
26 Dec, 2025	-43.9	5.4	-49.3
19 Dec, 2025	58.0	49.7	8.3
12 Dec, 2025	-59.8	37.4	-97.2

Source: NSDL

Figure: History of FPI flows in equity

Source: NSDL

FPI flows in Debt

The latest weekly data shows that foreign investors remained net buyers in Indian debt during the week ended February 13, 2026, recording net inflows of INR 51.39 billion, compared with net inflows of INR 43.40 billion in the previous week. This marks another week of positive debt flows and represents the strongest weekly inflow seen in the current phase, indicating continued improvement in foreign participation following the volatility observed earlier in the year.

Debt flows in recent months have picked up. After a poor December, during which FPI outflows were witnessed every week, FPI flows into debt turned sharply positive in 2026. Barring one week, FPI flows have been positive in 2026.

Table: Recent history of FPI flows in debt

Week Ending	Net Investment (INR Billions)
13 Feb, 2026	51.4
06 Feb, 2026	43.4
30 Jan, 2026	33.2
23 Jan, 2026	43.0
16 Jan, 2026	-26.5
09 Jan, 2026	0.2
02 Jan, 2026	36.2
26 Dec, 2025	-52.7
19 Dec, 2025	-14.8
12 Dec, 2025	-56.7

Source: NSDL

Figure: History of FPI flows in debt

Source: NSDL