Nifty IT P/E at 21.1, level with the Nifty 50

The reading

Nifty IT closed at 29,671.30 on Wednesday, 25 March 2026, at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08. Its price-to-book ratio was 5.50 and its dividend yield 3.57%. Thursday was a market holiday, so that is the latest close.

The figures are NSE's own end-of-day publication, charted on the Nifty IT valuation page.

Against five years of history

NSE moved its index P/Es to consolidated earnings on 31 March 2021. That day Nifty IT's P/E went from 33.22 to 28.65 with the index down 1%, so the comparisons here start there: 1,231 sessions.

Only 10 sessions closed at a lower P/E and 8 at a lower P/B. All three extremes of the period, the lowest P/E, the lowest P/B and the highest yield, came on the same day: 19 March 2026, when the index closed at 28,579.60.

On the older standalone basis, a P/E below 21 was common. It was the norm in 2008 and 2009 and again from 2016 to 2018, when the index's P/E spent long stretches between 15 and 20, and frequent in 2012 and 2013. The five years since 2021 have simply been dearer ones for IT.

A fall in price, not in profits

"Earnings" is the index divided by its P/E: the profit behind one unit of the index.

Over the year the index is down 21.3% while those earnings are up about 6.7%. Almost all of the price fall came in the last eight weeks: 22.0% since 30 January, with earnings flat. February alone took 19.5% off the index, most of it on three days: −5.87% on 4 February, −5.51% on 12 February and −4.74% on 24 February.

So far in 2026 the index is down 21.7%. The Nifty 50 is down 10.8%.

Level with the Nifty 50

Since March 2021, IT has usually cost more than the market on earnings. The ratio of its P/E to the Nifty 50's has ranged from 0.85 to 1.68, with a median of 1.26.

On 25 March it was 1.03 (21.08 against 20.39). Between 23 February and 17 March, IT's P/E was below the Nifty 50's on eight sessions, with the lowest ratio, 0.96, on 24 February. Before that, the last time was 27 May 2021, two months after the methodology change.

The longer record puts that in context. From 2015 to 2020, on the standalone basis, IT's P/E was below the Nifty 50's on nearly every session. A discount to the market is not new for this index. The premium from mid-2021 to February 2026 was the exception in that longer view, not the rule.

The yield

At 3.57%, Nifty IT yields more than two and a half times the Nifty 50's 1.34%. Yield times P/E gives the share of profit paid out as dividends: about 75% for IT today. Since March 2021 that share has ranged from 36% to 92%, with a median of 64%. These companies have long paid out most of what they earn, and with the price down, the yield shows it.

What this does not tell you

Flat earnings are trailing earnings. The P/E divides by the last twelve months of profit. If the next twelve are lower, today's ratio is flattering.

It is one sector. A few large companies can set most of the index's earnings and price.

Cheap on history is not a forecast. A P/E can keep falling if prices do, or if earnings turn down.

This is the index, not a technology fund. Funds in the theme hold their own mix and weights.

Where to go from here

The Nifty P/E ratio page has the Nifty 50 side of the comparison, and our Nifty 50 P/E post from earlier this month reads its level. The guide to sectoral and thematic funds covers the concentration that comes with a single-sector bet, and how to read an index P/E ratio explains the measure itself.