Against the tide: Why FIIs increased stake in Hitachi Energy, GE Vernova, Polycab India and others despite mass selloff

FII ownership in Indian equities is at a 17-year low, says NSE’s market pulse report. What may look pessimistic at first glance may provide a contrasting fact after digging deeper into it. The headline numbers may show FPI ownership hitting record lows, which is also true, but the categorisation reveals interesting insights. The NSE’s report also highlights, excluding NIFTY50, that the FPI ownership in Indian equities has remained broadly stable and inched up marginally in the previous year. A deep dive into this fact reveals that FIIs have consistently added stakes in select Midcap names and continue to remain bullish on them. Here are the top five stocks from the NIFTY Midcap 100, where FIIs have increased their stakes considerably and consistently.

Hitachi Energy India

Hitachi Energy India, which is one of the key players in the power utility and equipment space, witnessed strong traction from foreign institutional investors throughout the FY26. FII’s have more than doubled their stake in the company, jumping from 4.96% in FY25 to 11.6% in FY26. The confidence was largely driven by robust financial performance and industry tailwinds. For FY26, the company posted a revenue growth of 27.6% YoY to ₹8,147 crore as compared to ₹6,384 crore in FY25. The operating EBITDA for the year more than doubled to ₹1,252 crore as against ₹592 crore in the previous year. Lastly, the profitability for the year soared from ₹384 crore to ₹987 crore in the same period. Owing to robust financial performance and consistent traction from FII, the share price soared 115% in the past year, and 101% in 2026 alone.

Polycab India

Polycab India, which is one of India’s leading electrical equipment manufacturers, saw a sharp increase in FII ownership in the past four quarters. FII has increased their stake in the company 64% as compared to the previous year, from 11.1% in FY25 to 18.2% in FY26. The strong conviction was developed by its strong fundamental performance during the year. The company posted all-around double-digit growth for the period ending March 2026. The topline grew by 27% YoY to ₹8,864 crore, and the EBITDA jumped 13% to ₹1,161 crore. The quarterly profit jumped 7% YoY to ₹785 crore. Similarly, for FY26, the revenue jumped 29% YoY and net profit soared 32% YoY. The strong buying interest by FIIs lifted the stock price performance to 60% for one year, 25% on a YTD basis in 2026 alone.

GE Vernova T&D India

Another power and distribution player has witnessed strong interest from FIIs throughout FY26. GE Vernova T&D India is part of the GE Vernova group, a global energy company and offers products like power transformers and circuit breakers. It is important to note that 50% of India’s power flow is monitored through digital solutions provided by the company. Foreign institutional investors increased their stake in the company by 56% YoY, from 13% in FY25 to 20.39% in FY26. Similar to the above two companies, the fundamental performance of GE Vernova T&D India remained robust throughout FY26. As of FY26, the company’s revenue jumped 45% YoY to ₹6,210 crore, and net profit soared from ₹820 crore to ₹1,710 crore. The order backlog for FY26 jumped 70% to ₹21,460 crore. The share price more than doubled at 128% in the last one year and rallied 59% in 2026 alone.

GMR Airports

The company is the largest private airport operator in India, with 27% share of passenger traffic in India as of FY25. The company is witnessing FII interest consistently for the past four quarters as they increased their stake in the company from 15.09% in FY25 to 20.39% in FY26. The company is yet to announce its Q4FY26 earnings report, but the previous quarter’s trend shows improvement in profitability. The company’s net profit for Q3FY26 more than doubled from ₹103 crore in Q2FY26 to ₹246 crore. The company had posted a net loss of ₹65 crore and 196 crore in Q1FY26 and Q4FY25. Shares of the company delivered 12% returns on a yearly basis and remain in negative territory for 2026 to date.

Ashok Leyland

Ashok Leyland, a flagship company of the Hinduja Group, operates as 2nd largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Similar to the above four companies, the commercial vehicle player received strong interest from FIIs as they raised their stakes from 23.5% in FY25 to 24.5% in FY26. For Q3FY26, the company posted 35% YoY jump in net profit at ₹862 crore. The company posted record metrics despite structural headwinds in the Q3FY26. Management highlighted stronger growth in FY27 as compared to FY26, owing to reformative changes in the industry, which boosted the demand. Shares of Ashok Leyland delivered 35% returns in the past one year and remain in negative territory in 2026.

Along with the above top five names, below companies also received interest from FIIs throughout FY26.