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SPAN plus exposure, indicative, for the real deposit.
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F&O Lot Size Calculator
The current NSE index lot sizes, on the January 2026 revision: Nifty 50 is 65, Bank Nifty is 30, FinNifty is 60, Nifty Midcap Select is 120, Nifty Next 50 is 25. Pick an index and this tool prefills the current lot size, then turns it into the number that actually matters: the contract value, equal to the lot size times the price times the lots, which is the real exposure you carry, alongside an indicative margin ballpark.
The lot size sets the minimum bet, and it is not fixed. When SEBI raised the minimum contract value, the lots were cut; the contract value they produce is the exposure you carry, often many multiples of the margin you post or the premium you pay.
Presets
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Index
Prefilled to the current Jan 2026 lot size for the selected index. Editable: overwrite it with the lot on your contract if it has since been revised.
The index level or the traded futures price. Contract value is this times the lot size times the lots.
Indicative context (editable)
A rough deposit-to-hold figure for an index future, commonly 10 to 16 percent. Indicative only. For the real SPAN plus exposure figure use the margin calculator.
Optional. If you buy one option lot at this premium, the tool contrasts the premium paid against the contract value it is exposed to. Set 0 to skip.
Lot size
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Contract value per lot
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Total contract value
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Indicative margin
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!
The margin figure is indicative. It is a flat percentage of contract value, not the exchange SPAN engine, and real margin moves with volatility. Use it for scale only, and take the live number from the margin calculator and your broker. The lot size and contract value above are exact from your inputs.
What you carry vs what you put up
Indicative margin posted
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Sample premium paid (1 lot buy)
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Contract value across the NSE index derivatives
Each index lot is engineered so the lot size times the index level lands inside SEBI's minimum contract-value band. The bars redraw from your inputs; your selected index uses the level and lot you entered, the others use sample current levels.
The contract-value breakdown
| Line | How it is computed | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Total contract value |
Read before you use these figures
Knowing the lot size and the contract value tells you the size of the bet. It does not tell you whether the bet is the right size for your account, which is decided by the loss you can absorb on that contract value, not by the margin the broker will lend against it. Turning the exposure into a survivable position is what the method we teach is built around.
Current NSE index F&O lot sizes as of July 2026
These are the market lot sizes for NSE index derivatives on the January 2026 revision. The contract value shown is one lot at an indicative current level; it is the notional a single lot controls. Data as of July 2026, verify the current NSE circular before you rely on it. Individual stock F&O lots differ by underlying, change on periodic review, and are not listed here; read the relevant NSE lot-size circular for a specific stock.
| Index | Previous lot | Current lot (Jan 2026) | Indicative level | Contract value, 1 lot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | 75 | 65 | 24,000 | ₹15.60 lakh |
| Bank Nifty | 35 | 30 | 52,000 | ₹15.60 lakh |
| FinNifty (Nifty Fin Services) | 65 | 60 | 26,000 | ₹15.60 lakh |
| Nifty Midcap Select | 140 | 120 | 13,000 | ₹15.60 lakh |
| Nifty Next 50 | 25 | 25 | 68,000 | ₹17.00 lakh |
The clustering is not a coincidence. Four of the five contract values land at almost exactly 15.60 lakh rupees despite wildly different lot sizes and index levels, because the lot is set precisely so the product lands inside SEBI's mandated 15 lakh to 20 lakh band. The lot size is the dial the exchange turns to keep that product in range as the index moves.
The one principle
A lot size is not a fact about an index, it is a policy lever. The exchange sets it so that the lot size times the index level, the contract value, sits inside the minimum band SEBI mandates. So the lot changes whenever the index has drifted far enough, and the number you should watch is never the lot on its own but the contract value it produces, because that is the real money at risk. A 15,60,000 rupee Nifty contract moves 15,600 rupees for every 1 percent the index moves, whether you posted 1.87 lakh of margin or paid 16,000 for an option. The margin and the premium are the entry ticket; the contract value is the ride.
Retail reads the premium and thinks it has read the risk. It has read the ticket price. The SEBI FY25 study found over 91 percent of individual traders in the equity derivatives segment were net loss-making, with aggregate net losses near 1,05,603 crore rupees, up roughly 41 percent on the prior year. A large share of that is the contract-value blind spot: a 250 rupee option that felt like a 16,000 rupee bet was, all along, an exposure to a 15,60,000 rupee contract, and the loss was measured on the contract, not on the ticket.
The math, derived
Contract value is the only formula on this page, and it is deliberately simple, because the danger is not the arithmetic, it is which number you act on. Read it once and the three quantities that traders confuse, contract value, margin and premium, separate cleanly.
CONTRACT VALUE
contract value per lot = lot size × price
total contract value = lot size × price × lots the exposure you carry
INDICATIVE MARGIN (deposit to hold, not the risk)
indicative margin = margin% × total contract value futures indicatively 10 to 16%
implied leverage = contract value ÷ margin = 1 ÷ margin%
OPTION PREMIUM (ticket to play, not the size of the bet)
premium outlay = premium per unit × lot size × lots
exposure multiple = contract value ÷ premium outlay how many times the ticket the exposure is
contract value per lot = lot size × price
total contract value = lot size × price × lots the exposure you carry
INDICATIVE MARGIN (deposit to hold, not the risk)
indicative margin = margin% × total contract value futures indicatively 10 to 16%
implied leverage = contract value ÷ margin = 1 ÷ margin%
OPTION PREMIUM (ticket to play, not the size of the bet)
premium outlay = premium per unit × lot size × lots
exposure multiple = contract value ÷ premium outlay how many times the ticket the exposure is
Worked on the defaults: Nifty at the January 2026 lot size of 65, level 24,000, one lot. Contract value is 65 times 24,000, which is 15,60,000 rupees. Two lots would be 31,20,000. The indicative margin at 12 percent is 1,87,200 rupees, an implied leverage of about 8.3 times. A sample option premium of 250 per unit is 250 times 65, which is 16,250 rupees, so the contract value is about 96 times the premium. One Bank Nifty lot of 30 at 52,000 is 30 times 52,000, again 15,60,000 rupees. The lots differ, the levels differ, the contract values match, because the lot is engineered to make them match.
Why minimum contract value drives the lot, not the other way round. Most traders assume the lot size is chosen first and the contract value falls out of it. It is the reverse. SEBI fixes the contract-value band, and the exchange solves for the lot size that keeps the product in range at the current index level. That is why the lot is a moving number: it is the output of an equation whose other input, the index level, is always drifting.
The exposure stack: contract value, margin, premium
Reference: the lot-size revision history and why it moved
The lot has been reset twice in about a year, in both directions, which is the clearest possible proof that it is a policy dial and not a constant. The trigger each time was SEBI's minimum contract-value band and the drift of the index against it.
| Index | Long-standing | Under the framework | Jan 2026 revision | Net direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | 25 | 75 | 65 | up, then trimmed |
| Bank Nifty | 15 | 35 | 30 | up, then trimmed |
| FinNifty | 25 | 65 | 60 | up, then trimmed |
| Nifty Midcap Select | 50 | 140 | 120 | up, then trimmed |
| Nifty Next 50 | 10 | 25 | 25 | up, then held |
The mechanism reads in two steps. First, in November 2024, SEBI raised the minimum contract value from the old 5 lakh to 10 lakh band to 15 lakh to 20 lakh rupees, a deliberate move to make an index derivative a serious-sized commitment rather than a pocket-money punt. To clear the new floor, lot sizes had to jump: Nifty from 25 to 75, Bank Nifty from 15 to 35. Second, as the indices rose through 2025, those enlarged lots pushed contract values toward the top of the band, so for the January 2026 series NSE trimmed the lots, Nifty to 65 and Bank Nifty to 30, to pull the contract value back toward the middle. The lot went up because the floor rose, then came down because the index rose. Neither move was about the lot; both were about keeping the contract value in the band.
The reading in one line. Any tool or teacher still quoting 25 for Nifty or 15 for Bank Nifty is two revisions out of date. A lot size has a shelf life, so a lot-size page has a date on it, and this one says as of July 2026, verify the current NSE circular.
Why a rising index cuts the lot: the contract-value band
Reference: contract value is not the margin, and not the premium
Three different numbers attach to one F&O position, and traders routinely act on the wrong one. This is the contrast that the whole page turns on.
| Quantity | What it is | Indicative size, 1 Nifty lot | Who it applies to | What a 2% index move does to it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract value | The full notional, lot size times price. The real exposure. | ₹15,60,000 | Every F&O position, long or short, buyer or seller. | about ₹31,200 gained or lost |
| Margin | The deposit posted to hold a future or short option. A fraction of contract value. | ₹1,87,200 | Futures and option writers, posted upfront and topped up. | a 2% move is about 17% of it |
| Premium | The price of an option, paid by the buyer, received by the writer. | ₹16,250 | Option buyers pay it in full; it is their maximum loss. | the contract value moves about 2× the premium |
The rows are ordered by how much they mislead. The premium is the smallest number and the one retail fixates on, because it is what leaves the account at entry. But a 2 percent move in the index, an ordinary day, is roughly twice the entire premium, because the premium bought exposure to the contract value, not to itself. The margin is a middle number that looks like the size of the bet and is not; it is a performance deposit against the contract value, which is why the deeper treatment of it, SPAN plus exposure and the leverage it implies, sits on the margin calculator.
Failure modes: where the lot size still misleads
A correct lot size and a correct contract value do not make a position understood. Five common misreadings turn a clean number into a costly one.
1. Reading the premium as the position. A 250 rupee option feels like a 16,000 rupee bet. It is a ticket to an exposure of about 15,60,000 rupees. The buyer's loss is capped at the premium, which lulls, but the size of the swing on the way, and the speed at which the premium can go to zero, are set by the contract value, not by what was paid. Small ticket is not small position.
2. Confusing margin with the size of the bet. The margin is a deposit, indicatively an eighth of contract value, so it makes a 15.6 lakh exposure look like a 1.9 lakh one. Sizing from the margin the broker will allow, rather than from the contract value and the loss you can absorb, is the single most common route to a blown account. Size from the exposure, then check the margin fits, never the other way round.
3. Assuming the lot size is fixed. It is reset on periodic NSE review, and it has moved twice in about a year in both directions. A lot memorised last year, or printed in a static table, is very likely stale. Always confirm the live lot on the current NSE circular before you size or place an order, especially across a revision window when an old open contract can still carry the previous lot until it expires.
4. Applying index lots to stock F&O. This page covers index derivatives only. Single-stock futures and options have their own lot per underlying, set to a lower minimum contract-value band, so a cheaper share carries a far larger lot than a costly one. There is no single stock lot to memorise; each is in its own NSE circular and each is revised on its own schedule.
5. Forgetting the contract value is a moving target too. Contract value is lot times price, and the price moves every second. The 15.60 lakh on the table is a snapshot at an indicative level; at a higher index it is more, at a lower index it is less, and on expiry it is settled against the final level. The reference number tells you the scale, not the exact rupee exposure at the instant you trade.
The opinionated part: the lot is the smallest bet the regulator will let you make
It is worth being direct about what the lot size is for. SEBI did not raise the minimum contract value to help traders; it raised it to price some of them out. The stated aim of the Framework for Strengthening Equity Index Derivatives was investor protection, and the blunt instrument was size: make the smallest possible index bet large enough that a casual participant with a small account cannot comfortably take it. A 15,60,000 rupee contract, held on a lakh or two of margin, is not a beginner's instrument, and the framework was an admission that too many beginners were treating it as one.
The SEBI FY25 study is the number that makes the point unarguable: over 91 percent of individual traders in the equity derivatives segment were net loss-making, with aggregate net losses of about 1,05,603 crore rupees, up roughly 41 percent on the year before. The contract-value blind spot is woven through that statistic. A trader who reads the 250 rupee premium as the risk, and the 1.87 lakh margin as the position, has mis-measured the bet by one and two orders of magnitude respectively, and has sized accordingly. The lot size did not cause the losses. Mistaking the ticket for the ride did. The single habit that separates a desk from the FY25 cohort is that a desk always sizes from the contract value, checks that the margin fits, and never lets the smallness of the entry ticket stand in for the size of the exposure.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Nifty lot size in 2026?
+The Nifty 50 lot size is 65 units, on the NSE revision effective the January 2026 derivatives series, down from 75. At an index level near 24,000 that is a contract value of about 15,60,000 rupees per lot, since contract value is the lot size times the index level. The number has moved twice in about a year: Nifty was long 25, was raised to 75 under SEBI's higher contract-value framework from November 2024, then cut to 65 for the January 2026 series. Any tool still showing 25 or 75 for Nifty is on a superseded lot size. This figure is as of July 2026; lot sizes are reset on periodic NSE review, so confirm the current NSE circular before you rely on it.
What is the Bank Nifty lot size in 2026?
+The Bank Nifty lot size is 30 units, on the January 2026 NSE revision, down from 35. At an index level near 52,000 that is a contract value of about 15,60,000 rupees per lot. Like Nifty, it has moved twice: Bank Nifty was long 15, was raised under SEBI's minimum contract-value framework from late 2024, and was set to 30 for the January 2026 series. Because Bank Nifty is more volatile than Nifty, one lot carries a larger day-to-day rupee swing on a similar contract value, and its indicative margin runs a little higher as a percentage. This is as of July 2026; verify the current NSE circular.
What are the current FinNifty, Nifty Midcap Select and Nifty Next 50 lot sizes?
+On the January 2026 revision, Nifty Financial Services, commonly called FinNifty, is 60 units, down from 65. Nifty Midcap Select is 120 units, down from 140. Nifty Next 50 is 25 units, unchanged in this revision. Each is set so that the lot size times the index level lands inside SEBI's minimum contract-value band of roughly 15 lakh to 20 lakh rupees: FinNifty near 26,000 and Midcap Select near 13,000 both work out to about 15,60,000 rupees a lot, and Nifty Next 50 near 68,000 to about 17,00,000. These are as of July 2026 and are reset on periodic NSE review; confirm the current NSE circular.
How is contract value calculated for F&O?
+Contract value is the lot size multiplied by the price, and for a position, multiplied again by the number of lots. For one Nifty lot of 65 at a level of 24,000, the contract value is 65 times 24,000, which is 15,60,000 rupees; two lots is 31,20,000. For one Bank Nifty lot of 30 at 52,000, it is 30 times 52,000, again 15,60,000. This is the notional you control, and it is the number that matters most, because a percentage move in the index is a percentage move on the full contract value, not on the smaller margin you posted or the premium you paid. A 1 percent move on a 15,60,000 contract is 15,600 rupees, whatever you deposited to hold it.
Why do F&O lot sizes keep changing?
+Because the lot size is not a fixed property of the index, it is a lever the exchange sets so the contract value stays inside a band SEBI mandates. SEBI's Framework for Strengthening Equity Index Derivatives raised the minimum contract value from the old 5 lakh to 10 lakh band to 15 lakh to 20 lakh rupees, effective 20 November 2024, to make index derivatives a larger, less casual bet. That forced lot sizes up. Then, as the indices rose through 2025, the same lots pushed contract values toward the top of the band, so NSE re-reviewed and cut them for the January 2026 series to re-centre contract value near the middle of the band. The lot is reset whenever the index has drifted enough to move the contract value out of range, which is why it changes on periodic review rather than staying still.
Is the contract value the same as the margin I have to pay?
+No, and confusing the two is the most expensive beginner error in derivatives. Contract value is the full notional you control, about 15,60,000 rupees for one Nifty lot near 24,000. The margin is a deposit against that position, indicatively 10 to 16 percent of contract value for an index future, so roughly 1.5 lakh to 1.9 lakh rupees. The gap between them is your leverage, about eight times. The danger is that the margin looks like the size of the bet, when the real exposure is the contract value: a move against you is measured on the full 15,60,000, not on the 1.87 lakh you deposited. For an indicative margin figure this page gives a ballpark, and the deeper SPAN and exposure estimate lives on the margin calculator; the exact live number is your broker's.
What are the lot sizes for individual stock F&O?
+Stock futures and options have their own lot sizes, one per underlying, and they differ widely from stock to stock because each is set so that a single lot clears the same minimum contract-value threshold, currently around 5 lakh to 10 lakh rupees for single-stock derivatives, a lower band than the index one. A lower-priced share therefore has a much larger lot than a high-priced share. Those lots are also revised by NSE on a periodic schedule as prices move, and stocks enter and exit the F&O list at review. This page deliberately covers only the index derivatives, where the data is clean and public; for a specific stock's current lot size, read the relevant NSE lot-size circular rather than any static table, because a stock lot you memorised last year is very likely stale.
How much money do I need to trade one lot of Nifty?
+It depends on the position. To hold one Nifty futures lot you post initial margin, indicatively about 1.5 lakh to 1.9 lakh rupees near a level of 24,000, and that margin is a living requirement, not a one-time fee: it can rise with volatility and is topped up on daily mark to market. To buy one Nifty option lot you pay the premium in full, which might be 10,000 to 20,000 rupees depending on the strike, and that premium is your entire outlay and your maximum loss. But neither number is the size of the bet. The bet is the contract value of about 15,60,000 rupees, and prudent practice is to size from the loss you can absorb on that exposure, not from the margin your broker will allow. That inversion is what the position sizing calculator is built to enforce.
When did the January 2026 lot sizes take effect, and do weekly and monthly contracts differ?
+The revised January 2026 lot sizes apply from the January 2026 series across all tenures, but the exact switchover date differs by contract because a live contract keeps its lot size until it expires. Weekly index contracts reflected the new lots from the first January 2026 weekly expiry, and monthly contracts from the January month-end expiry, with longer quarterly and half-yearly contracts transitioned around the same window. In practice, from late January 2026 onward every fresh index contract uses the revised lots: Nifty 65, Bank Nifty 30, FinNifty 60, Nifty Midcap Select 120, Nifty Next 50 25. The lot size is a property of the contract series, not of the day you trade, so an old contract still open during the transition can carry the previous lot until it settles.
Where the facts come from
Sources
- Revised January 2026 index lot sizes. NSE circular NSE/FAOP/70616 revising market lot sizes for index derivatives from the January 2026 series: Nifty 50 to 65, Bank Nifty to 30, Nifty Financial Services to 60, Nifty Midcap Select to 120, Nifty Next 50 unchanged at 25; weekly contracts from the first January 2026 expiry, monthly from the January month-end expiry. nsearchives.nseindia.com
- The minimum contract-value framework. SEBI, Framework for Strengthening Equity Index Derivatives, raising the minimum contract value from the 5 lakh to 10 lakh band to 15 lakh to 20 lakh rupees for index derivatives, effective 20 November 2024, which forced the November 2024 lot-size increases (Nifty 25 to 75, Bank Nifty 15 to 35 and similar). As of July 2026, verify the current NSE circular for live lot sizes. sebi.gov.in
- The FY25 loss base rate. SEBI study on the profit and loss of individual traders in the equity derivatives segment: over 91 percent net loss-making in FY25, with aggregate net losses of about 1,05,603 crore rupees, up roughly 41 percent from FY24. sebi.gov.in
Educational note. Lot sizes and contract-value figures on this page are as of July 2026 and are revised by NSE on periodic review; verify the current NSE circular before you trade. The contract value the tool computes is exact from your inputs; the margin figure is an indicative percentage-of-contract-value estimate, not the exchange SPAN engine, and the live number is your broker's. Nothing here is a recommendation to trade, to use leverage, or to buy or sell any security, and it is not investment advice. Bharath Shiksha is an educational publisher, not a SEBI-registered investment adviser or research analyst.