In a consultation paper issued on Monday, the regulator said an index will be classified as “significant” if it is tracked or used as a benchmark by domestic mutual fund schemes with cumulative assets under management (AUM) exceeding Rs 20,000 crore.
Experts said that with exchange traded funds and index funds accounting for a growing share of investor assets, bringing index providers under a formal registration and regulatory framework has become critical.
The proposal also lays down a detailed methodology to calculate such AUM and has been put out for public comments until January 30.
According to the draft circular, the cumulative AUM will be computed based on the daily average AUM of mutual fund schemes for each month over the previous six months, ending June 30 and December 31 every year. In cases where a mutual fund scheme tracks multiple indices, the AUM attributable to each index will be calculated proportionately. For indices of indices, the underlying AUM will be apportioned based on respective weights.
Sebi has also published an indicative list of significant indices based on mutual fund data between January 1 and June 30, 2025. These include several flagship equity benchmarks such as the Sensex, Nifty 50, Nifty Bank, Nifty 100 and Nifty 500, along with a wide range of debt, hybrid and thematic indices administered by BSE Index Services, NSE Indices and CRISIL.
However, indices that are already regulated by the Reserve Bank of India – such as RBI-notified significant benchmarks – will be excluded from Sebi’s purview.
Index providers administering such significant indices will be required to apply for registration with Sebi within six months of the circular’s issuance.
 "Securities and Exchange Board of India, Sebi")