New Delhi, Feb. 4 -- The ownership of India's listed firms is undergoing a fundamental shift. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, aggregate promoter holdings have slipped below the key 50% threshold. This breach of a major psychological level highlights a structural transition in market power, returning to levels last seen briefly in the pre-pandemic era of early 2020.

So, who is driving this shift? Public shareholders backed largely by institutional investors such as mutual funds, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and individuals are steadily increasing their ownership in listed companies.

A Mint analysis of shareholding data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), covering 4,673 listed companies, showed ...