Big Bulls bleed: How Vijay Kedia, Rekha Jhunjhunwala, and Ashish Kacholia lost ₹28,000 cr in the market meltdown

The Indian stock market has seen a sharp correction in the last few months, impacting even the Big Bulls of Dalal Street. Ace investors Vijay Kedia, Rekha Jhunjhunwala, and Ashish Kacholia have seen their portfolios take a massive hit, falling in the range of 20% to 60% during the recent market correction. These three veteran investors cumulatively lost over ₹28,000 crore as the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty plunged nearly 14% from their all-time high levels, while the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices nosedived up to 21%.

Here’s How Big Bulls’ Portfolios Fared During the Market Rout

Rekha Jhunjhunwala’s Portfolio

While the portfolios of Ashish Kacholia and Vijay Kedia have fallen by up to 35%, Rekha Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio has emerged as the biggest casualty of the bear run, falling sharply by 61.4% since October 1, 2024. This drop represents a loss of ₹26,866 crore for Jhunjhunwala, who inherited the portfolio from her late husband, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, known as India’s Warren Buffett. The value of the portfolio has been derived using the December 2024 stake and the closing price on March 5, 2025, while the September 2024 holding value was calculated using the September 2024 stake and the closing level on September 30, 2024.As per the latest corporate shareholdings filed, Rekha Jhunjhunwala publicly holds 25 stocks with a current net worth of over ₹16,896 crore, compared to ₹43,762 crore at the end of the September 2024 quarter. Her primary investments are in Inventurus Knowledge Solutions, Concord Biotech, Titan, Tata Motors, and Star Health.

Ashish Kacholia’s Portfolio

The ace investor, known for picking small and mid-cap stocks, managed to buck the bearish market trend, limiting his losses to 19% since October 1. Data shows that the portfolio of Ashish Kacholia has dropped by ₹557 crore to ₹2,371 crore from ₹2,928 crore as of September 30, 2024.According to the latest corporate shareholdings filed, Ashish Kacholia publicly holds 44 stocks as of December 31, 2024, which include hospitality, education, infrastructure, and manufacturing stocks.

Vijay Kedia’s Portfolio

The recent market correction has significantly impacted the portfolio of Vijay Kedia, who is known for investing in small and mid-cap stocks. The ace investor has lost 34.8% of total value, or ₹632 crore, in the market rout since October 1, 2024. As of March 5, 2025, Vijay Kedia’s portfolio stood at ₹1,183 crore.

Kedia, one of the most followed investors in the Indian market, publicly holds 15 stocks through himself and his self-owned company, Kedia Securities Pvt Ltd. His portfolio stocks—Atul Auto and Tejas Networks—have seen a sharp correction in the recent market crash.

In a recent interaction with Fortune India, veteran investor Vijay Kedia said that the Indian markets were currently in “consolidation” mode, calling it a normal trend and predicting that the pains were likely to be temporary. “The domestic market has been rising for the past three to four years, and now it is in a reaction mode. The market will keep on consolidating somewhere here and there. I don’t think this budget will take the market to a new height,” he said.

On persistent fund outflows by foreign investors, Kedia said that the trend was not going to change soon, as there was no major driver to pull foreign institutional investors (FIIs) back into the domestic market. However, he noted that sustained selling by FIIs would be countered by strong buying from domestic institutional investors (DIIs), limiting the downtrend. “I think FIIs will keep selling Indian equities, and DIIs will keep buying stocks. The DIIs will not let this market fall much, and FIIs will not let it go up much.”

The Indian equity benchmarks have registered a historic correction, extending losses for five consecutive months—a trend not seen since 1996. The BSE Sensex and Nifty50 have tumbled up to 14% from their September 2024 peaks, while mid-cap and small-cap indices have corrected between 19% and 21%. FIIs continued to exit Indian equities, offloading ₹15,500 crore in the first five days of March, after selling nearly ₹59,000 crore in February and a heavier ₹87,374 crore in January. This brings total FII outflows in CY25 YTD to ₹1.61 lakh crore. The primary drivers behind this exodus are rising U.S. bond yields, global economic concerns, and a shift toward safer assets. However, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) have remained consistent buyers, injecting ₹1.7 lakh crore so far in CY25.