NSE Launches Nifty500 Ahimsa Index: 326 Stocks In It; Can You Invest Directly? Eligibility & Future ETF Plans

India’s stock market has added a new benchmark for investors who want their investments to reflect their personal values as well as financial goals. NSE Indices, a subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), has launched the Nifty500 Ahimsa Index, an equity index that tracks companies whose businesses are considered to be aligned with the principle of Ahimsa, or non-violence.

Nifty500 Ahimsa: NSE Introduces New Index for Ethical and Value-Based Investing

Unlike traditional market indices that focus primarily on market capitalisation or sector representation, the new benchmark filters companies based on ethical criteria before including them. The index is expected to become the foundation for future passive investment products such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index funds designed for value-conscious investors.

What Is Nifty500 Ahimsa Index?

The Nifty500 Ahimsa Index is a thematic stock market index created by NSE Indices in collaboration with the Ahimsagain Foundation.

It selects companies from the broader Nifty 500 Index that satisfy the foundation’s Ahimsa Investment Movement (AIM) framework. The framework evaluates whether a company’s products, services and overall business activities are consistent with the philosophy of non-violence, particularly with respect to animal welfare.

Only companies classified under the Green category qualify for inclusion in the index, while businesses placed in the Orange or Red categories are excluded.

The benchmark currently consists of 326 companies.

Understand Nifty 500 Index

To understand the Ahimsa Index, it is important to understand its parent index. The Nifty 500 is one of India’s broadest stock market indices. It combines companies from the Nifty 100 and Nifty Midcap 150 along with additional listed firms to provide exposure across large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap companies.

Together, these companies represent a significant share of India’s listed market capitalisation and span almost every major sector of the economy, including banking, IT, automobiles, healthcare, manufacturing, consumer goods, energy and infrastructure.

Because of its broad market coverage, the Nifty 500 is widely regarded as a benchmark representing the overall Indian equity market.

How NSE Selects Companies for the Nifty500 Ahimsa Index

The Nifty500 Ahimsa Index follows a structured selection process to ensure that only companies meeting its ethical investment criteria are included.

The framework assesses a company’s products, services and overall business activities based on their alignment with the principles of Ahimsa, or non-violence. Based on this evaluation, companies are placed into one of three categories:

Green: Companies that strongly align with Ahimsa principles and qualify for inclusion in the index.

Orange: Companies that require further evaluation or have only partial alignment with the framework.

Red: Companies whose business activities do not meet the Ahimsa criteria and are excluded from the index.

Only companies classified under the Green category are selected for the Nifty500 Ahimsa Index. Once selected, their weightage in the index is determined using the free-float market capitalisation method, and the index is reviewed and rebalanced twice a year to ensure it continues to reflect the latest eligibility criteria.

Top Companies in the Nifty500 Ahimsa Index

The Nifty500 Ahimsa Index is currently led by some of India’s largest listed companies. Bharti Airtel holds the highest weight in the index at 6.01%, followed by Infosys with 3.74%, Mahindra & Mahindra at 2.92%, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) at 2.21%, and Maruti Suzuki India at 1.96%.

Since the benchmark follows the free-float market capitalisation methodology, companies with a larger publicly traded market value receive higher weightage in the index than smaller constituents.

Can Investors Invest Directly in the Nifty500 Ahimsa Index?

No. Like other NSE indices, the Nifty500 Ahimsa Index is only a market benchmark and cannot be purchased directly by investors.

However, it is expected to serve as the foundation for future passive investment products such as Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), index mutual funds and other structured investment products. If asset management companies decide to launch such funds, retail and institutional investors will be able to gain exposure to the index through these investment vehicles.

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