ICRA Analytics data for September 30, 2026, showed five gold ETFs hold 80% of the ₹1.86 lakh crore assets. Nippon India ETF Gold BeES led with 30.6% share. Ashwini Kumar said, "the ability of newer schemes to attract assets would be an important indicator of how competition in the category evolves."
India’s gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) market had assets under management (AUM) of ₹1.86 lakh crore across 26 schemes as of September 30, 2026. Yet, nearly four-fifths of these assets were concentrated in just five schemes, even as returns across gold ETFs remained broadly similar, according to ICRA Analytics.
The concentration raises a question for investors: if gold ETFs track the same underlying asset, what explains the dominance of a few schemes, and what should investors compare before choosing one?
Nippon India ETF Gold BeES led the category with AUM of ₹56,982 crore, accounting for 30.6% of total assets. ICICI Prudential Gold ETF, SBI Gold ETF, HDFC Gold ETF and Kotak Gold ETF were the other four largest schemes. Together, they managed ₹1.49 lakh crore, or 80.2% of the category’s AUM.
The top 10 schemes accounted for 92.4% of assets, leaving the remaining 16 schemes with a combined share of 7.6%.
Why are gold ETF assets concentrated in a few schemes?
The size of a scheme’s AUM reflects the assets it manages, but it does not by itself establish why investors choose it. Brand familiarity, distribution reach, liquidity and trading activity may influence investor preferences, although the ICRA Analytics data does not quantify the contribution of each factor.
The report also found that returns across schemes were closely aligned. The five largest gold ETFs delivered one-year CAGRs of 27.2% to 27.5% as of September 30, while most other schemes with a full year of return history reported CAGRs of 26.1% to 28.1%.
ICRA Analytics said the similarity in returns suggested that performance differences alone did not explain the concentration of assets.
Ashwini Kumar, senior vice president and head of market data at ICRA Analytics, said the ability of newer schemes to attract assets would be an important indicator of how competition in the category evolves.
Does a larger gold ETF necessarily mean a better investment?
Not necessarily. Gold ETFs aim to track domestic gold prices, so investors may find that returns across schemes are broadly similar. However, scheme size alone does not determine the investment outcome.
Investors comparing gold ETFs can examine:
Tracking error: How closely the scheme follows its benchmark over time.
Expense ratio: The annual cost charged by the fund, which affects net returns.
Liquidity and bid-ask spread: How easily units can be bought or sold on the exchange and the difference between buying and selling prices.
Premium or discount to NAV: Whether the market price of an ETF unit is close to its net asset value.
Trading activity: Whether there is sufficient market participation to facilitate transactions at reasonable prices.
These factors can matter when selecting between schemes that provide exposure to the same underlying asset.
What does the September correction mean for investors?
Gold ETF category average returns corrected by 4.78% over one month as of September 30, according to ICRA Analytics. However, one-year returns remained positive, with most schemes that had a full year of return history reporting CAGRs of 26.1% to 28.1%.
The figures illustrate the difference between short-term price movements and longer-period returns. Positive one-year performance does not rule out further corrections, and gold ETFs remain exposed to fluctuations in gold prices.
What about newer gold ETFs?
Thirteen schemes with less than three years of return history managed ₹14,575 crore, or around 8% of category AUM. Four schemes with less than a year of history together managed ₹942 crore.
ICRA Analytics said the ability of newer schemes to scale up would be important in assessing how competition develops in the category.