India losing its position as the world’s fifth-largest stock market to Taiwan has reignited debate around market valuations, the AI boom and whether headline rankings truly reflect economic strength. But according to Deepak Shenoy, CEO of Capitalmind Mutual Fund, the comparison needs far more context than just market capitalisation numbers.
Taiwan recently overtook India in total after a sharp rally in semiconductor and AI-linked technology stocks. According to Bloomberg data, equity market valuation climbed to $4.95 trillion, marginally ahead of India’s $4.92 trillion market capitalisation.
The surge has been driven largely by the global artificial intelligence trade, where Taiwan sits at the heart of the semiconductor supply chain through Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker. Taiwan’s benchmark TAIEX index has surged 48% in 2026 so far, while TSMC itself has gained 43% year-to-date amid exploding demand for chips.
Against this backdrop, Shenoy posted a nuanced take on X, arguing that India should avoid getting carried away either by rankings or by comparisons that ignore deeper economic realities.
“Interestingly, the Taiwanese stock market is like 40% — one stock. But before you dismiss that, the second-largest stock, MediaTek, is about as large as the largest Indian stock,” Shenoy wrote.
Shenoy pointed out that even Taiwan’s second- and third-largest listed companies are enormous by Indian standards.
“The second largest stock, MediaTek, is about as large as the largest Indian stock, the oilco and telco. The third one, Delta, is bigger than our second-largest stock, the big private bank,” he said.
While Taiwan’s market-cap milestone triggered reactions across Indian financial circles, Shenoy cautioned against viewing rankings as indicators of national success in isolation.
“India will take time to grow. We don’t want false accolades, so it’s time to work hard and get there in time; regardless of whether TSMC falls, the quality of life in Taiwan and per capita income will remain far higher than India,” Shenoy wrote.
also stressed that India’s long-term opportunity remains intact, but sustainable growth will require deeper structural improvements rather than celebration over rankings alone.
“If we fix ours, we’ll become bigger, much bigger than today. Ranks are premature, we have great things to do ahead of us,” he added.
His comment highlighted how concentrated Taiwan’s stock market has become around a handful of globally dominant technology firms. In fact, the AI boom has transformed markets worldwide into increasingly narrow leadership stories, where a few mega-cap companies drive disproportionate market gains.
Yet Shenoy’s broader message was not about downplaying Taiwan’s success. Instead, it was about acknowledging how far India still has to go in terms of economic productivity, income levels and global industrial competitiveness.
Why Taiwan’s rise reflects the global AI boom
Taiwan’s rise in global stock market rankings has coincided with the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure globally. As demand for advanced AI chips surged, TSMC became one of the biggest beneficiaries because it manufactures chips for several global technology giants.
The concentration is so significant that Taiwan’s financial regulator recently increased the investment limit domestic funds can allocate to a single stock to 25% from 10%, provided the company holds more than 10% weight in the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Currently, only TSMC qualifies under that rule.
India, meanwhile, has faced several headwinds in recent months, including foreign investor outflows, rupee weakness, slowing corporate earnings growth and rising oil prices. Unlike Taiwan, India has also not yet emerged as a major listed-market beneficiary of the global AI trade.
Global capital has increasingly gravitated toward markets tied closely to semiconductors, AI infrastructure and advanced technology manufacturing. Taiwan, South Korea and the United States have therefore attracted stronger investor flows compared with many traditional emerging markets.
His comments reflected a broader reality often overlooked in market-cap comparisons. Despite India’s larger population and faster rates, Taiwan continues to maintain significantly higher per-capita income, stronger manufacturing capabilities and a far more advanced position in global technology supply chains.
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