The National Stock Exchange launched futures and options on the Nifty India FPI 150 Index on August 12, 2026, adding a new index derivative to its equity derivatives portfolio. According to NSE, the cash-settled contracts will be available in three serial monthly cycles and expire on the last Tuesday of the expiry month. The launch provides investors with another instrument for hedging and portfolio diversification, as reported by Business Standard. For the initial launch, the exchange is offering three expiry cycles: August 2026 (expiring August 25, 2026), September 2026 (expiring September 29, 2026), and October 2026 (expiring October 27, 2026). The contracts will be available in NSE's equity derivatives segment under the underlying Nifty India FPI 150 Index, with futures classified as FUTIDX and options as OPTIDX, both carrying the symbol NIFTYFPI.
The Nifty India FPI 150 was launched by NSE Indices on August 16, 2025 and aims to track the performance of the top 150 stocks selected from Nifty 500 that ensure accessibility and investibility for foreign investors in India. As reported by Business Standard, the index selects stocks based on six-month average foreign-investible free-float market capitalisation, covering the most liquid and high-free-float stocks. The weight of each stock in the index is based on its foreign investible free-float market capitalisation. The index excludes stocks with foreign room of less than 10 per cent and those on the Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) foreign portfolio investor (FPI) 'Red Flag' or 'Breach List'. The index was launched on August 16, 2025, with a base date of October 3, 2022 and a base value of 1,000, and is rebalanced quarterly with reviews conducted in March, June, September and December.
According to the Nifty India FPI 150 Factsheet dated July 31, 2026, financial services is the largest sector, accounting for 25.59 per cent of the index. Oil, gas and consumable fuels accounted for 9.84 per cent, information technology 8.43 per cent, healthcare 7.73 per cent and automobile and auto components 7.70 per cent. As reported by Business Standard, Reliance Industries was the largest constituent at 6.66 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank at 4.83 per cent, Bharti Airtel at 4.52 per cent, ICICI Bank at 4.32 per cent and Infosys at 2.99 per cent. The index had its highest sector representation from financial services at 26.15 per cent as of June 2026, with oil, gas and consumable fuels accounting for 10.03 per cent and healthcare weighing 7.51 per cent.
NSE has specified detailed trading parameters for the new derivatives contracts through Circular Ref. 103/2026, Reference No. NSE/FAOP/75239, dated July 16, 2026. The contracts will have a lot size of 1,100 and a tick size of ₹0.05. The Nifty India FPI 150 options contracts will comprise European-style call and put options with two strike-range structures. The narrow-range strike scheme will use a step value of 5 with a 20-1-20 strike scheme, while the wide-range strike scheme will use a step value of 20 with a 12-1-12 strike scheme. The wide-range structure will include 20 strikes because of the 5-point strike interval. The exchange has also specified that the wide-range structure will include 20 strikes because of the 5-point strike interval. The quantity freeze for both futures and options will be 8,500, and NSE will permit spread contracts between the three available monthly contracts (M1-M2, M1-M3 and M2-M3). The contracts will be cash settled, with daily settlement using the closing price of the futures contract, and final settlement using the index closing value on the last trading day.
The launch adds the Nifty India FPI 150 to NSE's index derivatives product range and introduces futures and options around an index specifically constructed around foreign-investor accessibility. According to Reuters, NSE expects the product to provide market participants with an additional tool for hedging and portfolio diversification. Unlike a derivative contract on an individual stock, the new product will derive its value from the performance of the 150-stock Nifty India FPI 150 Index, with the index itself constructed from eligible constituents of the broader Nifty 500. The exchange stated that the contract.gz file, the MII contract file and the spread file made available to trading members through the NSE Extranet from August 11, 2026, at end of day would reflect the new monthly futures and options contracts. Trading members were advised to load the files into their trading applications before trading begins on August 12, 2026, with no change in the structure of any reports in connection with the introduction of the contracts.
