What Is NAV (Net Asset Value) of a Mutual Fund?

NAV — Net Asset Value — is the per-unit price of a mutual fund. It's the number you transact at when you buy or redeem fund units, and it's recalculated once every business day after the markets close.

How NAV is calculated

NAV = (total market value of the fund's holdings − liabilities) ÷ number of units outstanding. As the prices of the stocks and bonds the fund holds move, so does its NAV. A rising NAV means the fund's underlying portfolio has gained value.

A low NAV is NOT 'cheaper'

A common beginner mistake: thinking a fund with a ₹10 NAV is cheaper or better value than one at ₹500. It isn't. NAV just reflects how long the fund has existed and compounded. What matters is the percentage return going forward, not the absolute NAV — a ₹10 fund and a ₹500 fund that both gain 10% give you the same return.

Tracking NAV

Daily NAVs for every Indian scheme come from AMFI. You can fetch a scheme's current NAV, its full history, and trailing returns via the mutual-fund endpoints — see the mutual-fund data guide.