Promoter stake sales surge 7-fold in Q1

Cashing in In the first six months of 2025, promoters have already sold 65% of the stake they offloaded in entire 2024.

- Srushti Vaidya

Promoters of companies are cashing in their shares on high valuations. The value of promoter holdings in listed companies that were sold in the April-to-June period surged almost sevenfold from the previous quarter as higher market valuations offered them a better price.

Shares sold by promoters on the country's top two exchanges increased 6.69 times on a quarterly basis and 1.54 times from a year earlier to ₹2.61 trillion in the first quarter of FY26, according to Prime Database, which cited insider trading disclosures.

By comparison, promoters sold shares worth ₹1.68 trillion in Q1 of FY25 and ₹39,000 crore in Q4 of FY25.

In all, promoters have sold ₹3 trillion worth of shares in the first six months this year.

The highest-selling promoter was the government, which sold shares worth ₹29,963 crore in ITI Ltd. Among the others, Pastel, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Singtel, sold shares worth ₹12,880 crore in Bharti Airtel, and the Chinkerpoo Family Trust set up by Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of IndiGo, sold shares worth ₹10,408 crore in InterGlobe Aviation.

Promoter stake sales in Vishal Mega Mart and Wipro were among the top five.