FII and DII data is the exchanges’ record of how much foreign and domestic institutions purchased and sold in a session. Each group’s net figure is its purchases minus its sales. The numbers are released after the session and stated in rupees crore.
Definition and Formula
An FII is a large foreign institution investing in the Indian market. It is now more commonly called an FPI. Examples include pension funds, sovereign funds and foreign mutual funds. A DII is a large Indian institution: a mutual fund, an insurance company, a bank or a pension fund.
After each session the exchanges publish, for each group, the total value purchased and the total value sold. The net figure is the first minus the second. A positive net means the group purchased more than it sold that session; a negative net means the reverse.
The first release each evening is provisional. It can be revised afterwards, and the revision is not always small. A figure read on the evening and the same figure read a day later are two separate statements about one session.
Cash and derivatives are reported separately, and the two are not interchangeable. This site’s FII/DII page carries the cash segment alone, and says so on the page. A figure labelled only "FII net" without its segment cannot be checked against anything.
The totals are values, not counts. They state how many rupees changed hands. They give no indication of how many traders were involved, or how large any single position was.
The two groups are also not two halves of one market. Retail traders, proprietary desks and others trade in the same session, and appear in neither total. So an FII net and a DII net do not have to offset each other, and frequently do not.
One practical point about reading a series of these figures: they are published per session. They accumulate only if someone adds them up. A run of positive nets over several sessions is a sum that has to be computed. That sum is a different measurement from any single day in it.
Formula: Net = total value purchased − total value sold · Stated in ₹ crore, per group and segment, per session
A Worked Example
Illustrative figures — not any actual day’s data.
| FII purchases (₹ cr) | 12,480.35 |
|---|---|
| FII sales (₹ cr) | 13,905.60 |
| DII purchases (₹ cr) | 11,240.80 |
| DII sales (₹ cr) | 9,846.15 |
| FII net (₹ cr) | −1,425.25 |
|---|---|
| DII net (₹ cr) | +1,394.65 |
The two net figures are the subtraction shown above. The four inputs are made up for this page. The real figures for each session are on the FII/DII data page linked below.
What This Number Tells You
For one group in one segment and session, the net figure states how much more was purchased than sold, or the reverse.
The purchase and sale totals alongside it state the size of the trading behind the net. The same net can rest on very small or very large totals.
And What It Does Not Tell You
The figures say nothing about what any group will do next. They are a record of one session that has already ended.
They do not state why anything was purchased or sold. A sale may fund a redemption and a purchase may hedge something the report does not cover.
A cash segment net says nothing about the same group’s derivatives trading. That side is reported on its own, and can point the other way in the same session.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are FII and FPI the same thing?
In current usage, effectively yes. FPI is the term the regulator uses now, and FII remains in common use for the same category of foreign institution.
Why is the figure called provisional?
Because it is the first release of the evening and can be revised afterwards. This site labels the figure the way the exchange does.
Does this data cover derivatives?
Not on the page linked below, which carries the cash segment alone and states so. Derivatives trading is reported on its own and is a different measurement.
What unit are the numbers in?
Rupees crore. They are values, not counts of contracts or of traders.
Do the FII and DII nets have to offset each other?
No. Retail traders, proprietary desks and others trade in the same session, and appear in neither total. So the two nets are independent figures that happen to be published together.