The question
A Nifty 50 index fund owns India's fifty biggest companies. A Nifty 500 fund owns the 500 largest: large, mid and small caps, each in proportion to its market value. A Nifty Total Market fund goes one step further. These are the broadest index funds on sale, and there are nine of them.
All figures are Direct plan, Growth option, from daily NAVs to Friday 9 October 2026. Returns of a year or more are annualised. Funds on factor or weighting versions of the index (Nifty500 Momentum 50, Value 50, Equal Weight, Multicap 50:25:25) follow different rules and are left out.
Two indices, almost the same
The Nifty 500 covers the 500 largest companies. The Nifty Total Market adds the 250 companies of the Nifty Microcap 250, for about 750. The funds' portfolios bear that out: at 30 September 2026 the Nifty 500 funds held about 500 stocks and the Total Market funds 748 to 755.
The extra names are small. In the three Total Market funds, about 250 stocks outside the Nifty 500 made up only 4.4% of the money. The top of both portfolios is the same: HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries.
Total returns, with dividends reinvested, rebuilt from NSE's daily close and dividend yield the way our fund pages build a benchmark (methodology):
| Period | Nifty 500 | Nifty Total Market |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | −4.86% | −4.25% |
| 3 years | 9.71% | 10.03% |
| 5 years | 8.60% | — |
The microcaps added 0.61 points over the year and 0.32 a year over three. On 9 October the two indices traded at P/Es of 21.56 and 21.74.
The nine funds
| Fund | Index | TER | Assets (₹ crore) | Since | 1 year | 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axis | Nifty 500 | 0.17% | 319 | Jul 2024 | −5.36% | — |
| Motilal Oswal | Nifty 500 | 0.23% | 3,114 | Sep 2019 | −5.15% | 9.25% |
| DSP | Nifty 500 | 0.33% | 16 | Jan 2026 | — | — |
| SBI | Nifty 500 | 0.34% | 775 | Oct 2024 | −5.42% | — |
| ICICI Prudential | Nifty 500 | 0.46% | 100 | Dec 2024 | −5.68% | — |
| Angel One | Total Market | 0.34% | 62 | Mar 2025 | −4.72% | — |
| Mirae Asset | Total Market | 0.35% | 51 | Oct 2024 | −4.37% | — |
| Groww | Total Market | 0.66% | 370 | Oct 2023 | −4.96% | 10.09% |
| Bandhan | Total Market | 0.71% | 48 | Jul 2024 | −5.00% | — |
TER is the latest Direct-plan expense ratio, disclosed between 30 September and 8 October 2026. Assets are AMFI's July–September 2026 average, all plans together. Groww's three-year figure runs from its launch on 25 October 2023, a fortnight short of three full years.
The nine funds hold ₹4,856 crore. Motilal Oswal's Nifty 500 fund, the only one with five years of history, has ₹3,114 crore of it. Four of the nine are under two years old.
How far each fund trails its index
Fund return minus its own index's total return, in percentage points a year:
| Fund | 1 year | 3 years |
|---|---|---|
| Mirae Asset (Total Market) | −0.12 | — |
| Motilal Oswal (Nifty 500) | −0.28 | −0.46 |
| Angel One (Total Market) | −0.47 | — |
| Axis (Nifty 500) | −0.50 | — |
| SBI (Nifty 500) | −0.56 | — |
| Groww (Total Market) | −0.71 | −0.88 |
| Bandhan (Total Market) | −0.76 | — |
| ICICI Prudential (Nifty 500) | −0.82 | — |
Groww's three-year gap is measured over the same window as its return, from 25 October 2023. Over five years Motilal Oswal's fund trailed the Nifty 500 by 0.53 points a year.
What stands out
The cheapest fund is not the closest. Axis charges 0.17%, the lowest of the nine and low enough for our ultra-cheap index funds screen, yet trailed by 0.50 points over the year. Motilal Oswal charges 0.23% and trailed by 0.28. Mirae Asset, at 0.35%, came within 0.12 of its index.
Most of the Total Market money sits with a higher fee. Groww's fund holds ₹370 crore of the ₹531 crore in the four Total Market funds, charges 0.66% and trailed by 0.88 points a year since launch. Angel One and Mirae Asset charge about half that.
Only two funds have a tracking error at all. Motilal Oswal's is 0.27%. Groww's 0.61% is measured against the Nifty 500, the benchmark our fund pages use for Total Market funds, so part of that figure is the gap between the two indices rather than the fund's own tracking.
What the fee gap is worth over ten years
₹10 lakh at a hypothetical 12% a year before costs, held for ten years:
| Fee | Return after fee | Value after 10 years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest (Axis, Nifty 500) | 0.17% | 11.83% | ₹30.59 lakh |
| Dearest (Bandhan, Total Market) | 0.71% | 11.29% | ₹29.14 lakh |
The difference is about ₹1.45 lakh. Within the Nifty 500 group alone (0.17% against ICICI Prudential's 0.46%) it is about ₹78,000. The impact of 1% calculator runs it with your own numbers.
ETFs and the BSE 500
Only two ETFs on these indices have reached any size: Motilal Oswal Nifty 500 ETF (₹298 crore, 0.39%) and Angel One Nifty Total Market ETF (₹43 crore, 0.29%). BSE's own 500-company index has an HDFC index fund at 0.35% with ₹323 crore; it is a different index, so its returns are not comparable line for line.
What this does not tell you
Whether one broad fund beats a mix of narrower ones. A Nifty 500 fund puts most of its money in large caps simply because they are large. The cost of the narrower route is in Nifty 50 index funds ranked by cost, and active flexi-cap funds are the closest active alternative.
How the young funds will track. One year is not much of a record.
Valuation. The Nifty 500's P/E history is in Nifty 500 P/E at 21.9, and the microcap slice's in Nifty Microcap 250 P/E at 27.3.
Index data from NSE Indices; expense ratios from AMFI. Every passive fund is on the index fund page, and the index funds and ETFs guide covers the basics. None of this is a recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the Nifty 500 and the Nifty Total Market?
The Nifty Total Market adds about 250 smaller companies to the Nifty 500, roughly 750 in all. In the funds' 30 September 2026 portfolios those extra names were only about 4.4% of the money, so the two indices move closely: over the year to 9 October 2026 their total returns were −4.86% and −4.25%.
Which Nifty 500 index fund is the cheapest?
Among Direct plans, Axis Nifty 500 Index Fund at 0.17% a year, then Motilal Oswal at 0.23%, from TERs disclosed in early October 2026. Among Total Market funds, Angel One charges 0.34% and Mirae Asset 0.35%.
How much does the fee difference between broad-market index funds add up to?
On ₹10 lakh growing at a hypothetical 12% a year before costs, a 0.17% fee leaves about ₹30.59 lakh after ten years and a 0.71% fee about ₹29.14 lakh, a gap of about ₹1.45 lakh.
This is commentary on published data, not investment advice. WealthTicker is not a SEBI-registered adviser or distributor. Figures are WealthTicker’s own calculations from public data — AMFI’s fund NAVs and disclosures, NSE’s index and FII/DII files, and the fund houses’ monthly portfolios (how we calculate). They are as of the dates stated and can be revised by their source.
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