What is a bulk deal? How big share trades really happen in India
Rishi Ajmera · 30 October 2026
Every trading day, after the market closes, the stock exchanges publish two short lists: bulk deals and block deals. They show who bought or sold a large number of shares in a company that day — a mutual fund, a foreign fund, a promoter, a trading firm, sometimes even an individual investor — along with the number of shares and the price.
These lists make the news almost every day: "Fund X picks up stake in Company Y via bulk deal". Yet very few people know what actually happens behind such a trade. What makes a trade a "bulk deal"? Who arranges it? Which rules apply? Why does the buyer's name become public? And how is a block deal different?
This guide explains all of it step by step, in plain language, with worked examples. The companies in the examples are made up, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any share.
The short answer
- A bulk deal is when one investor buys or sells more than 0.5% of a company's listed shares on an exchange in a single day. It happens in the normal market, during normal trading hours. The broker reports it, and the exchange publishes the investor's name the same evening.
- A block deal is one large, pre-agreed trade between a buyer and a seller, worth at least ₹25 crore per order, done in a special 15-minute window at a price close to the market price.
- Both exist for one reason: transparency. SEBI wants every investor to know when large holders move in or out of a company.
What is a bulk deal?
SEBI has defined bulk deals since 2004. A trade, or a set of trades, becomes a bulk deal when the total number of shares one client buys or sells in a company in one day is more than 0.5% of that company's equity shares listed on the exchange.
Four things are worth noticing in that definition:
- It's about percentage, not rupees. There is no minimum rupee value. What matters is the share of the company.
- All of a client's trades that day are added up. One huge order or a hundred small ones spread through the day — if the total crosses 0.5%, it's a bulk deal.
- It happens in the normal market. There's no special window. The trades go through the regular order book between 9:15 am and 3:30 pm, and the other side of each trade can be anyone in the market.
- It's counted exchange by exchange. NSE and BSE each look at the trades done on their own platform and publish their own list.
A bulk deal is a label, not a type of order. You don't "place" a bulk deal — your trades become one when they cross 0.5% of the company in a day.
How big is 0.5%?
It depends entirely on how many shares the company has. In a small company, a few lakh rupees can cross the line. In a very large company, even many crores of rupees may not be enough.
| Company's listed shares | 0.5% of them (the bulk-deal line) |
|---|---|
| 80 lakh | 40,000 shares |
| 1 crore | 50,000 shares |
| 10 crore | 5 lakh shares |
| 50 crore | 25 lakh shares |
| 500 crore | 2.5 crore shares |
A company's total number of shares is shown in its shareholding pattern, which it files with the exchanges every quarter.
Who reports a bulk deal, and when
The investor doesn't report it — the broker does. Under the SEBI rule, the broker who executed the trades must give the exchange the name of the stock, the client's name, the number of shares bought or sold, and the price.
- If a single trade is above 0.5%, the broker reports it immediately after it is executed.
- If several trades add up to more than 0.5% during the day, the broker reports them within one hour after the market closes.
- The exchange then publishes the list to the public the same day, after market hours.
What is a block deal?
A block deal is a single large trade between a buyer and a seller who have already agreed on the quantity and the price. It is done in a separate trading window, away from the normal order book. That way a very large order doesn't swing the price while it is being filled, and neither the buyer nor the seller is put at a disadvantage.
The current rules come from SEBI's circular of 8 October 2025, which took effect on 7 December 2025:
- Morning window: 8:45 am to 9:00 am. The reference price is the stock's previous day's closing price.
- Afternoon window: 2:05 pm to 2:20 pm. The reference price is the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of the stock's trades between 1:45 pm and 2:00 pm. The exchanges calculate it and announce it between 2:00 and 2:05 pm.
- Price range: orders must be within 3% above or below the reference price, also subject to the stock's usual price band and surveillance measures.
- Minimum order size: ₹25 crore.
- Delivery is compulsory. Every block trade must end in actual delivery of shares. It can't be squared off or reversed.
- Exact match: a buy order and a sell order trade only when both the price and the quantity match exactly.
- Public disclosure: the exchanges publish the name of the stock, the client's name, the quantity and the price the same day, after market hours.
- The same rules apply to the block-deal window in the optional T+0 (same-day) settlement cycle.
What changed in December 2025
| Rule | Before 7 Dec 2025 | From 7 Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum order size | ₹10 crore | ₹25 crore |
| Price range | ±1% of the reference price | ±3% of the reference price |
| Afternoon reference price | VWAP of 1:30–2:00 pm | VWAP of 1:45–2:00 pm |
| Windows | 8:45–9:00 am and 2:05–2:20 pm | Unchanged |
The wider price range gives buyers and sellers more room to agree on a price, and the higher minimum keeps the window for genuinely large trades.
Bulk deal vs block deal at a glance
| Bulk deal | Block deal | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | One client's trades in a stock adding up to more than 0.5% of the company's listed shares in a day | One large, pre-agreed trade between a buyer and a seller |
| Where it happens | Normal market, 9:15 am – 3:30 pm | Special windows: 8:45–9:00 am and 2:05–2:20 pm |
| Minimum size | No rupee minimum — the 0.5% line | ₹25 crore per order |
| Price | Whatever the market gives | Within ±3% of the reference price |
| Other side of the trade | Anyone in the market | The agreed counterparty — orders must match exactly |
| Visible in the normal order book? | Yes, as the trades happen | No — it runs in a separate window |
| Who reports it | The broker, to the exchange | The exchange records it directly |
| Made public | Same day, after market hours | Same day, after market hours |
Why news headlines can be confusing
News reports often call any large stake sale a "block deal", even when the trade was done in the normal market. The exchanges use the strict meaning: a trade in the block-deal window is a block deal; a large trade in the normal market that crosses 0.5% is a bulk deal. So if a headline says "block deal" and you can't find it in the exchange's block-deal list, look in the bulk-deal list.
Who does bulk and block deals — and why
Sellers
- Promoters selling part of their stake — for example, to raise money for another business, to repay loans taken against their shares, or to bring the public's holding up to the minimum 25% that listed companies must maintain.
- Private equity and venture capital funds selling investments they made before the company listed, once their lock-in period after the IPO has ended.
- Parent companies reducing their stake in a listed subsidiary.
- Mutual funds, insurers and foreign funds reducing or exiting a position.
Buyers
- Mutual funds, insurance companies and pension funds.
- Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).
- Family offices and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs).
- Trading firms, including high-frequency traders, which may buy and sell the same stock within the same day.
- Individual investors — in a small company, crossing 0.5% doesn't take a lot of money.
Remember: the list tells you who traded and at what price. It does not tell you why. And for every buyer in the market, there was a seller.
How a big deal actually happens, step by step
Let's follow a large stake sale from the first decision to the final disclosure. Every deal is a little different, but this is the usual pattern.
Step 1 — The seller decides, and checks they're allowed to sell
- The seller gets internal approval — a fund's investment committee, or the board if a company is selling.
- Insider-trading checks. If the seller is a promoter, director or "designated person" of the company, the company's compliance officer checks that the trading window is open (it closes from the end of every quarter until 48 hours after the results are announced), that the seller doesn't hold unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI), and gives pre-clearance where the company's code requires it.
- Lock-in and pledges. Shares still under a lock-in — for example, promoter shares for a period after an IPO — can't be sold. Pledged shares must be released from the pledge first.
Step 2 — The seller hires a broker or investment bank
- Large sales usually go through the equity capital markets (ECM) or block-trading desk of an investment bank or a large broking firm. For very large deals, two or three banks may work together.
- They agree the number of shares, the lowest acceptable price, the fee, and often a lock-up — the seller's promise not to sell more shares for a set period after the deal, so buyers know more shares from the same seller won't hit the market soon.
- Lawyers prepare the documents and check the insider-trading and takeover rules. A tax adviser works out the seller's capital gains tax. A foreign seller's custodian bank gets ready to deliver the shares.
Step 3 — The bank quietly finds buyers (book building)
- The bank approaches large investors, usually after the market closes, so that news of the sale doesn't move the price during trading hours.
- It shares a term sheet: how many shares are on offer, the floor price (the lowest price the seller will accept), the lock-up, and the deadline for bids.
- Investors send in their bids — how many shares, and at what price — often overnight.
- The bank and the seller fix the final price and decide how many shares each buyer gets (the allocation).
- Until the deal is public, everyone who knows about it must keep it confidential and must not trade on it.
Step 4 — The trade is executed
- As a block deal: in the morning window (8:45–9:00 am), the seller's broker places a sell order for each buyer, and each buyer's broker places a matching buy order — same price, same quantity. The price must be within 3% of the previous day's close, and every order must be at least ₹25 crore.
- In the normal market: if the agreed price is outside the block-window range, or a buyer's order is smaller than ₹25 crore, the trade can be done in the normal market instead. It then appears in the bulk-deal list if it crosses 0.5%.
- Bit by bit: a fund building or reducing a position over several days usually doesn't place one giant order. Its broker's execution algorithms — such as VWAP (spreads the order in line with the day's trading volume) or TWAP (spreads it evenly over time) — split it into many small orders, so the order itself moves the price as little as possible. If one day's total crosses 0.5%, that day's trades are reported as a bulk deal.
Step 5 — Settlement
The clearing corporation settles the trade on T+1 — the next trading day. The shares move into the buyers' demat accounts and the money goes to the seller. Under the optional T+0 cycle, eligible trades settle on the same day.
Step 6 — The disclosures
- That evening: the exchange publishes the deal in its bulk-deal or block-deal list.
- Within 2 working days — takeover rules (SEBI SAST Regulations): anyone whose holding, together with people acting with them, reaches 5% or more must tell the company and the exchanges. Anyone already holding 5% or more must also disclose every change of more than 2% since their last disclosure — including when their holding falls below 5%.
- Within 2 trading days — insider-trading rules (SEBI PIT Regulations): promoters, promoter-group members, directors and designated persons must tell the company if their trades in a calendar quarter add up to more than ₹10 lakh. The company then informs the exchanges within 2 trading days.
- Every quarter: the change shows up in the company's shareholding pattern.
Buyers also keep an eye on bigger lines. If a buyer's holding crosses 25% — or someone who already holds 25% or more buys more than 5% in one financial year — they must make an open offer to buy shares from the other shareholders. Funds have their own limits too: a mutual fund can't own more than 10% of a company's voting shares across all its schemes, and a single foreign portfolio investor group must stay below 10% of a company.
Who do you need to consult?
It depends on who you are and what you're doing.
If you're an individual investor who may cross 0.5%
- Your broker. You don't need special permission — your trades are simply reported. Check that your broker allows the order size and that you have the funds or margin.
- A chartered accountant (CA) for capital gains tax and other tax questions.
- A SEBI-registered investment adviser if you want personal advice on whether a trade suits you.
- The company's compliance officer before you trade, if you're an employee, director or designated person of that company.
If you're a promoter or large shareholder planning to sell
- The company secretary / compliance officer — trading window, pre-clearance and disclosures.
- An investment bank or a broker's block desk — finding buyers and running the deal.
- Legal counsel — insider-trading and takeover rules, and the deal documents.
- A tax adviser — capital gains.
- Your depository participant (DP) or custodian — moving the shares.
Who does what in a block deal
| Who | What they do |
|---|---|
| Seller | Decides to sell, sets the lowest acceptable price, agrees any lock-up |
| Investment bank / broker | Finds buyers, collects bids, fixes the price and allocation, places the sell orders |
| Buyers and their brokers | Bid for shares, then place the matching buy orders |
| Company's compliance officer | Checks insider-trading rules for promoters, directors and designated persons |
| Lawyers and tax advisers | Documents, rule checks and tax |
| Stock exchange | Runs the block window, matches the orders, publishes the deal |
| Clearing corporation | Settles the trade — shares to the buyers, money to the seller |
| Depositories and DPs | Move the shares between demat accounts |
| SEBI | Makes the rules and watches for misuse |
Worked examples
All companies, names and numbers below are made up, only to show how the rules work.
Example 1: A mutual fund's purchase becomes a bulk deal
Suryodaya Textiles Ltd has 10 crore shares listed. 0.5% of that is 5 lakh shares.
A mutual fund wants to buy 7 lakh shares. Its broker uses a VWAP algorithm, which buys in small pieces through the day. By 3:30 pm the fund has bought 7,00,000 shares at an average price of ₹212.40 — about ₹14.87 crore in all.
7 lakh is more than 5 lakh, so this is a bulk deal. Within an hour of the close, the broker reports it, and that evening the exchange's bulk-deal list shows one line:
| Symbol | Client name | Buy / Sell | Quantity | Avg. price (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SURYODAYA | Example Mutual Fund | BUY | 7,00,000 | 212.40 |
The fund now owns 0.7% more of the company. If this purchase had taken its total holding to 5% or more, it would also have to file a takeover-rules disclosure within 2 working days.
Example 2: An individual investor in a small company
Kaveri Agro Foods Ltd is a small company with 80 lakh shares listed. 0.5% is just 40,000 shares.
An individual investor buys 45,000 shares at ₹96 — about ₹43.2 lakh. That's more than 0.5% of the company, so it's a bulk deal, and the investor's own name appears in that evening's list.
The same ₹43.2 lakh spent on a large company with 500 crore shares would be a tiny fraction of 0.5% and would never show up. The test is the share of the company, not the amount of money.
Example 3: A private equity fund sells through a block deal
Meridian Logistics Ltd has 50 crore shares. A private equity fund owns 8% (4 crore shares) and wants to sell 3% (1.5 crore shares). On Monday the stock closes at ₹420.
- Monday, after the close: the fund's bank sends a term sheet to large investors — 1.5 crore shares, floor price ₹410, and a 90-day lock-up on the fund's remaining 5%. ₹410 is about 2.4% below Monday's close, inside the 3% limit (the lowest price allowed would be ₹407.40).
- Monday night: bids come in for more shares than are on offer. The bank and the fund fix the price at ₹411 and choose five buyers.
- Tuesday, 8:45–9:00 am: in the morning block window, the seller's broker and each buyer's broker enter matching orders — same quantity, same price:
| Buyer | Shares | Value at ₹411 |
|---|---|---|
| Mutual fund A | 50,00,000 | ₹205.5 crore |
| Insurance company B | 40,00,000 | ₹164.4 crore |
| Foreign fund C | 30,00,000 | ₹123.3 crore |
| Foreign fund D | 20,00,000 | ₹82.2 crore |
| Mutual fund E | 10,00,000 | ₹41.1 crore |
| Total | 1,50,00,000 | ₹616.5 crore |
- Every order is above the ₹25 crore minimum, and every buy order matches a sell order exactly.
- Tuesday evening: the exchange's block-deal list shows all five trades, with the buyers' names, the quantities and the ₹411 price.
- Wednesday (T+1): the shares reach the buyers' demat accounts, and the fund receives its money.
- By Thursday (within 2 working days): the fund discloses under the takeover rules that its holding fell from 8% to 5% — a change of more than 2%. Mutual fund A's 50 lakh shares are 1% of the company. If it already held 4.5%, it now holds 5.5%, has crossed 5%, and must disclose too.
- For the next 90 days: the lock-up stops the fund from selling its remaining 5%.
Example 4: The same name on both sides
Sometimes a bulk-deal list shows the same client buying 6,20,000 shares at ₹88.10 and selling 6,18,500 shares at ₹88.15 in one stock on the same day. That is usually a trading firm that bought and sold within the day — not someone building a long-term stake. It's worth checking whether a name appears on both sides before reading anything into it.
Where to see bulk and block deals
- NSE: the "Large deals" section of its website lists bulk deals and block deals.
- BSE: publishes its own bulk-deal and block-deal lists on its website.
- Company disclosures: takeover-rules and insider-trading disclosures appear in the company's announcements on the exchange websites, and the quarterly shareholding pattern shows the overall change.
The lists are published after market hours, so a deal done today appears this evening.
How to read a bulk-deal list
- Date — the day of the trades.
- Symbol and security name — the stock.
- Client name — who bought or sold.
- Buy / Sell — which side they were on.
- Quantity traded — the client's total shares in that stock for the day.
- Trade price / weighted average price — the average price across all their trades in that stock that day.
Common myths
- "A bulk deal means the price will go up." No. A bulk deal records that a large trade happened; it doesn't predict anything. For every buyer there was a seller.
- "Only big institutions do bulk deals." No. Anyone whose trades cross 0.5% of a company in a day is in the list — including individuals in small companies.
- "Block deals are secret." They're agreed privately, but the names, the quantity and the price are made public the same day.
- "The buyer must be investing for the long term." Not necessarily. Some names in the list are trading firms that buy and sell within the same day.
- "A bulk deal is insider trading." No. A bulk deal is just a disclosure label. Insider trading means trading while holding unpublished price-sensitive information — and that is illegal at any size.
What this has to do with algo trading
Large investors rarely fire one giant order into the market. They use execution algorithms — VWAP, TWAP and similar — that follow fixed rules to break a big order into many small ones. It's the same basic idea behind retail algo trading: you decide the rules, and software places the orders exactly as you set them.
MyAlgoMate is a technology provider. Our algo trading software automates the rules you set. We don't give tips, calls or advice on any stock, and the trading decisions are always yours.
Key takeaways
- A bulk deal is one client's trades in a stock adding up to more than 0.5% of the company's listed shares in a day, in the normal market. The broker reports it, and the exchange publishes it the same evening.
- A block deal is one pre-agreed trade of at least ₹25 crore, in the 8:45–9:00 am or 2:05–2:20 pm window, within ±3% of the reference price, with compulsory delivery.
- A big deal involves a whole team: the seller, investment banks and brokers, compliance officers, lawyers, tax advisers, the exchange, the clearing corporation and the depositories.
- After the trade come the disclosures: the exchange's list the same day, takeover-rules filings at 5% and at every 2% change, and insider-trading filings for promoters and insiders.
- A deal list shows who traded and at what price — never why.
This article is for education only. It is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. All companies, names and figures in the examples are made up. Rules can change — check SEBI's circulars and the exchanges' websites for the latest version.