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Analysis•01 Feb 2026

Best Index Fund

S
By Surjith

This is not financial advice. Only for educational purposes.

There are more than 25 NIFTY 50 Index Funds available. Expense ratios changes over time. Tracking error also changes over time.

How can you choose the best Index Fund without looking at expense ratios and tracking error?

Step 1: Get all NIFTY 50 Index Funds in India

Below is the list of all NIFTY 50 Index Funds in India available as on Jan 29, 2026.

Fund NameStart Date3yr Return
HDFC Nifty 50 Index Fund - Growth Plan2006-04-0313.22%
Franklin India INDEX FUND- NSE NIFTY 50 INDEX FUND- Direct - Growth2013-01-0113.67%
Tata Nifty 50 Index Fund -Direct Plan2013-01-0213.19%
Aditya Birla Sun Life Nifty 50 Index Fund - Growth - Direct Plan2013-01-0213.69%
BANDHAN Nifty 50 Index Fund-Direct Plan-Growth2013-01-0213.74%
LIC MF Nifty 50 Index Fund-Direct Plan-Growth2013-01-0213.52%
Nippon India Index Fund - Nifty 50 Plan - Direct Plan Growth Plan - Growth Option2013-01-0213.73%
UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund - Growth Option- Direct2013-01-0213.72%
Taurus Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth2013-01-0312.82%
DSP Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth2019-02-2213.72%
Motilal Oswal Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct plan - Growth2019-12-2613.78%
Kotak Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct Plan-Growth2021-06-2413.6%
Navi Nifty 50 Index Fund-Direct Plan-Growth2021-07-1613.76%
Edelweiss Nifty 50 Index Fund Direct Plan Growth2021-10-0713.65%
Axis Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth2021-12-0813.74%
Quantum Nifty 50 ETF Fund of Fund - Direct Plan - Growth2022-08-0513.78%
HSBC NIFTY 50 INDEX FUND - Direct Growth2022-11-2813.71%
360 ONE ELSS Tax Saver Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth2023-01-0213.53%
Baroda BNP Paribas Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth option2024-01-30N/A
Mirae Asset Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth2024-10-25N/A
ICICI Prudential Nifty 500 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth2024-12-23N/A
Bajaj Finserv Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct - Growth2025-05-19N/A
ANGEL ONE NIFTY 50 INDEX FUND-DIRECT-GROWTH2025-05-28N/A
Groww Nifty 50 Index Fund Direct Growth2025-07-22N/A
JioBlackRock Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth Option2025-08-22N/A
Zerodha Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth2025-10-17N/A

Even though all these funds are tracking the same index, the return varies from 12.82% to 13.78% almost 1% CAGR difference.

For analysis purpose, let's consider only the funds which has longest history started in 2013. There are 9 Funds Totally.

Fund NameExpense RatioTracking Error
HDFC Nifty 50 Index Fund - Growth Plan0.200.02
Franklin India INDEX FUND- NSE NIFTY 50 INDEX FUND- Direct - Growth0.280.28
Tata Nifty 50 Index Fund -Direct Plan0.190.14
Aditya Birla Sun Life Nifty 50 Index Fund - Growth - Direct Plan0.210.01
BANDHAN Nifty 50 Index Fund-Direct Plan-Growth0.100.02
LIC MF Nifty 50 Index Fund-Direct Plan-Growth0.640.09
Nippon India Index Fund - Nifty 50 Plan - Direct Plan Growth Plan - Growth Option0.070.03
UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund - Growth Option- Direct0.210.02
Taurus Nifty 50 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth0.720.19

Nippon has the lowest expense ratio. Aditya Birla has the lowest tracking error.

Which one is the ratio to look at to find the best fund? Let's find it out.

Step 2: Calculate the Rolling Returns

Rolling Returns is the analysis of returns for every possible start and end date combination. For example:

  • Period 1: Jan 3, 2013 → Jan 3, 2018
  • Period 2: Jan 4, 2013 → Jan 4, 2018
  • Period 3: Jan 5, 2013 → Jan 5, 2018

Combining all these periods, we get the rolling returns.

Here's the 3 Year Rolling Returns for each fund

MetricHDFCFranklin IndiaTataAditya BirlaBANDHANLICNippon IndiaUTITaurus
Avg %12.95%12.76%13.01%12.64%13.24%12.71%12.99%13.17%12.90%
Median %13.15%12.98%13.25%12.91%13.44%12.95%13.24%13.36%12.97%
Min %-4.99%-5.10%-4.28%-5.12%-4.47%-5.24%-4.84%-4.83%-4.63%
Max %31.62%31.19%31.13%31.25%31.83%31.54%31.79%32.06%31.48%

Bandhan has higher average & median return amoung all 9 funds but Tata has the best downside protection (minimum return).

Here's the 3 Year Rolling Return Distribution Analysis

Return RangeHDFCFranklin IndiaTataAditya BirlaBANDHANLICNippon IndiaUTITaurus
Negative25 (1.01%)32 (1.29%)24 (0.97%)31 (1.25%)20 (0.81%)32 (1.30%)24 (0.97%)24 (0.97%)21 (0.85%)
0–8%242 (9.76%)267 (10.77%)264 (10.65%)316 (12.75%)243 (9.80%)288 (11.66%)262 (10.57%)233 (9.40%)268 (10.79%)
8–12%708 (28.56%)711 (28.68%)682 (27.51%)699 (28.21%)658 (26.54%)700 (28.35%)688 (27.75%)680 (27.43%)717 (28.88%)
12–20%1339 (54.01%)1309 (52.80%)1341 (54.09%)1268 (51.17%)1386 (55.91%)1286 (52.09%)1337 (53.93%)1373 (55.39%)1312 (52.84%)
>20%165 (6.66%)160 (6.45%)168 (6.78%)164 (6.62%)172 (6.94%)163 (6.60%)168 (6.78%)169 (6.82%)165 (6.65%)

Bandhan gave negative returns 20 times while Tata gave 24 times negative.

Clearly Bandhan is better than the lowest expense ratio fund Nippon India and better than the lowest tracking error fund Aditya Birla.


Let's Continue analysing with longer time periods

5 Year Rolling Returns

MetricHDFCFranklin IndiaTataAditya BirlaBANDHANLICNippon IndiaUTITaurus
Avg %13.29%13.06%13.38%12.96%13.60%13.03%13.34%13.52%13.33%
Median %13.51%13.19%13.45%13.03%13.77%13.12%13.46%13.67%13.57%
Min %-1.43%-1.55%-1.01%-1.81%-1.13%-1.80%-1.54%-1.32%-1.21%
Max %26.21%26.01%25.97%26.09%26.44%26.21%26.40%26.56%25.73%

Bandhan has the highest average & median returns. Still Tata has the best downside protection (minimum return). UTI has the highest maximum returns over Bandhan.

10 Year Rolling Returns

MetricHDFCFranklin IndiaTataAditya BirlaBANDHANLICNippon IndiaUTITaurus
Avg %12.89%12.69%12.95%12.57%13.18%12.63%12.93%13.11%12.84%
Median %12.91%12.71%12.98%12.60%13.20%12.65%12.95%13.14%12.86%
Min %10.25%10.10%10.37%10.01%10.52%10.04%10.28%10.48%10.18%
Max %14.66%14.40%14.66%14.23%14.95%14.35%14.67%14.86%14.67%

Bandhan Clearly outperform all the other funds in 10 year rolling returns.

We can conclude already that Bandhan is the best fund. But Let's dive deeper to actually know how much the fund is better than the others.


Step 3: Calculate Win Rate - Head-to-Head Fund Comparison

Finally, & the best way to compare Index Fund is the "Head-to-Head" win rate. For every single day since 2013, comparing which fund had higher returns on each rolling period.

3 Year Head-to-Head win rate

PeriodHDFCFranklin IndiaAditya BirlaBANDHANLICNippon IndiaUTITaurusTata
3yr win rate0.81%0%0%58.55%0%0%24.51%15.72%0.41%
5yr win rate0%0%0%73.92%0%0%17.57%7.95%0.56%
7yr win rate0%0%0%98.65%0%0%0.20%1.08%0.07%
10yr win rate0%0%0%100%0%0%0%0%0%

Bandhan has the highest win rate above all the other funds with huge margin in all time periods.

Key Takeaways

  • Expense Ratio Doesn't Matter - Expense Ratio keeps changing, so it's not a good metric to look at for choosing a fund.
  • Head-to-Head Win Rate is the best metric - It tells you which fund has performed better than the other fund in a head-to-head comparison.

Conclusion

Bandhan Nifty 50 Index Fund is undoubtedly the best Nifty 50 Index Fund.

Does this mean you should go start your SIP in Bandhan Nifty 50 Index Fund today? No

We'll look at data why you shouldn't blindly start SIP even with the best fund in the next story.


*Data Source: NSE India & AMFI. Analysis period: Jan 2013 - Jan 2026.

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