The number
Among the 26 Nifty 50 index funds with a direct plan, the expense ratio runs from 0.10% to 0.86% a year. The median is 0.24%.
All 26 own the same 50 companies in the same weights. Nothing a fund manager does can change what the index returns, so what each fund charges, and how cleanly it tracks, is the whole difference between them.
Expense ratios are the direct-plan figures fund houses reported to AMFI at the end of September 2026. Returns come from daily NAVs as of 30 September 2026, Growth option. A tax-saving ELSS fund that also tracks the Nifty 50 is left out, because its three-year lock-in makes it a different product.
The ranking
| Fund | Expense ratio | 1 year | 3 years, a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navi | 0.10% | −7.17% | 5.88% |
| Kotak | 0.12% | −7.17% | 5.77% |
| Nippon India | 0.13% | −7.18% | 5.86% |
| Edelweiss | 0.14% | −7.12% | 5.84% |
| Bandhan | 0.14% | −7.23% | 5.84% |
| Axis | 0.16% | −7.20% | 5.85% |
| Motilal Oswal | 0.19% | −7.19% | 5.87% |
| JioBlackRock | 0.21% | −7.19% | |
| HSBC | 0.22% | −7.24% | 5.80% |
| DSP | 0.22% | −7.19% | 5.85% |
| Aditya Birla Sun Life | 0.23% | −7.24% | 5.81% |
| SBI | 0.23% | −7.33% | 5.78% |
| Angel One | 0.24% | −7.32% | |
| ICICI Prudential | 0.24% | −7.29% | 5.77% |
| UTI | 0.25% | −7.25% | 5.82% |
| Mirae Asset | 0.25% | −7.28% | |
| Tata | 0.26% | −7.32% | 5.73% |
| HDFC | 0.29% | −7.33% | 5.77% |
| Franklin India | 0.30% | −7.23% | 5.81% |
| Bajaj Finserv | 0.31% | −7.57% | |
| Groww | 0.45% | −7.51% | |
| Baroda BNP Paribas | 0.49% | −7.30% | |
| LIC MF | 0.56% | −7.63% | 5.63% |
| Taurus | 0.86% | −7.84% | 5.07% |
Two more funds are too new for a one-year return: Zerodha's, at 0.27%, and Choice's, at 0.76%. A blank three-year cell means the fund is younger than three years.
Cost shows up in the return
Over the year, the best of the 24 funds lost 7.12% and the worst 7.84%. The difference, 0.72 points, is close to the 0.76-point gap between the cheapest and dearest expense ratio in the table.
The pattern holds across the list, not just at the ends. The correlation between expense ratio and one-year return is −0.89 across 24 funds. Over three years it is −0.93 across 18. Taurus and LIC MF, the two dearest funds with three-year records, have the two weakest three-year returns.
Over three years, Taurus compounded at 5.07% a year against Navi's 5.88%. On ₹10 lakh, 0.81 points a year is about ₹27,000 over three years, for the same 50 stocks.
The fit is not perfect. Kotak's fund is the second cheapest today but sits in the bottom half on three-year return. An expense ratio is a snapshot of one day; a fund that cut its fee recently carries an older, higher fee in its three-year record.
About tracking difference
Tracking difference is an index fund's return minus the index's total return, dividends included. Our data holds the Nifty 50 price index, which leaves dividends out, so the figures here can only be read against each other, not against an official tracking difference.
The price index fell 8.09% over the year. Every fund in the table lost less than that, because the funds collect the dividends the price index ignores; the Nifty 50's dividend yield averaged 1.27% over the year. What is left after dividends is each fund's cost and slippage, and the cheapest funds kept the most.
Fund houses publish their own tracking difference against the total return index every month, on their websites and on AMFI's.
What this does not tell you
Cost is not the only thing. A fund's size, how it handles cash from new money, and its exit load also matter. Most of these differences are small, and cost is the largest and most predictable.
A cheap fund can get dearer. Fund houses change expense ratios within SEBI's caps, and a fund launched at a low fee may raise it.
The index fell this year. All of these funds lost money over the twelve months to 30 September 2026, because the Nifty 50 did. An index fund promises the index, not a gain.
Where to go from here
The index fund page lists every scheme, and the ultra-cheap index fund screen ranks them by cost. The guides to index funds and ETFs and tracking error explain what to check beyond the fee.
For where the Nifty 50 itself stands on valuation, see the Nifty 50's P/E against its history. For how much fees compound across all fund types, see the direct vs regular expense gap.
For how closely the same funds follow the index, see Nifty 50 index funds: tracking error and the cost gap.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest Nifty 50 index fund?
On the expense ratios fund houses reported to AMFI at the end of September 2026, Navi Nifty 50 Index Fund's direct plan was the cheapest at 0.10% a year, followed by Kotak at 0.12% and Nippon India at 0.13%. The median across 26 funds was 0.24%.
Does a lower expense ratio mean a better index fund return?
Among Nifty 50 index funds, mostly yes. Over the year to 30 September 2026, the correlation between a fund's expense ratio and its return was −0.89 across 24 funds; over three years it was −0.93 across 18. The dearest fund, at 0.86%, trailed the best by 0.72 points over the year.
What is tracking difference?
The gap between an index fund's return and the total return of the index it copies, dividends included. It is mostly the fund's costs plus small losses from holding cash and trading. Every Nifty 50 fund owns the same 50 stocks, so differences in their returns are differences in tracking.
This is commentary on published data, not investment advice. WealthTicker is not a SEBI-registered adviser or distributor. Figures are as of the dates stated and can be revised by their source.
Keep reading
Direct vs regular plans: the 1.16-point equity fee gap
A regular equity plan costs a median 1.16 points a year more than its direct twin, on AMFI's September 2026 data. Over ten years, direct ended 10.2% ahead.
Equity fund exit loads: what 569 schemes charge
Of 521 non-ELSS equity funds with a Scheme Summary Document, 484 charge an exit load. 82% of those charge 1%, and 39% keep it for a full year.
The most expensive equity funds, even on direct plans
The median direct-plan equity fund charged 1.07% a year at the end of September 2026. 21 of 540 charged 2% or more, and the dearest 3.20%.