Reliance Industries (RIL), India’s largest company by market capitalisation, has slipped to the third position in terms of weightage in the benchmark Nifty 50 index, with ICICI Bank overtaking it as the second-largest constituent.
Although Reliance Industries commands the highest overall market capitalisation of nearly ₹17.14 lakh crore on the NSE, its free-float market capitalisation stands at a little over ₹8.52 lakh crore. As a result, the company currently holds an 8.27% weight in the index.
In comparison, ICICI Bank has a total market capitalisation of more than ₹9.09 lakh crore, while its free-float market capitalisation stands at ₹9.05 lakh crore on the NSE — higher than ’ free-float value. This has enabled to emerge as the second-largest stock by weightage in the Nifty 50 index.
The Nifty 50 index weight is calculated using the free-float market capitalisation methodology. It comprises 50 companies selected from the Nifty 100 universe based on free-float market capitalisation and liquidity criteria, including an average impact cost of 0.50% or less for 90% of observations for a basket size of ₹10 crore.
continues to hold the highest weightage in the Nifty 50 index at 10.56%. The private sector lender has a total market capitalisation of ₹11.33 lakh crore and a free-float market capitalisation of nearly ₹11.24 lakh crore.
Top Nifty 50 Constituents by Weightage
Apart from HDFC Bank, the top constituents of the Nifty 50 index include ICICI Bank (8.78%), Reliance Industries (8.27%), (5.20%), Larsen & Toubro (4.43%), (3.77%), (3.71%), Axis Bank (3.42%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (2.62%), and (2.56%).
Full Market Capitalisation vs Free-Float Market Capitalisation
Full market capitalisation represents the total value of all outstanding shares of a company, including promoter holdings, government stakes, and shares held by strategic investors that are typically not actively traded in the market.
Free-float market capitalisation, on the other hand, reflects the total value of shares that are freely available for trading in the open market. It excludes promoter holdings and other locked-in shares, focusing only on stock available to retail and institutional investors.
As a result, free-float market capitalisation is generally lower than a company’s total market value and is widely used by major indices — including those by NSE, BSE, MSCI, and S&P — to determine constituent weightages more accurately.