Block Deal
A block deal is a single, large, pre-negotiated trade between two parties executed through a separate block-deal window on the exchange, at a price within a narrow band around the prevailing market price.
Because dumping a very large order into the normal order book would move the price against both sides, exchanges provide dedicated block-deal windows (short morning and afternoon sessions) where two parties who have already agreed a trade can cross it cleanly. SEBI requires a minimum deal size (set in crores of rupees) and confines the execution price to a narrow band around the reference market price, and the shares cannot be squared off intraday.
Block deals are the standard route for marquee transactions: private-equity exits, promoter stake sales to institutions, and large fund-to-fund transfers. The exchange discloses executed block deals with participant names, so the list is scanned daily for signs of who is entering or exiting a stock.
The contrast with bulk deals: a block deal is one negotiated trade in a special window; a bulk deal is ordinary market trading by one client that happens to cross 0.5% of the company's equity in a day.
In practice
Granules India promoter Krishna Prasad Chigurupati sold 1.72 crore shares, 6.94% of the company, in a block deal on 11 September 2026, cutting his stake from 31% to 24.06%. The buyers named included Capital Group, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance, ChrysCapital and Allspring. Read the filing (12 Sep 2026) →
Common questions
What is the minimum size of a block deal in India?
₹25 crore per order. SEBI raised the minimum from ₹10 crore in a revised block-deal framework issued on 8 October 2025, which took effect on 7 December 2025. Every trade in the window must also end in delivery; it cannot be squared off or reversed.
What are the block deal window timings on NSE and BSE?
There are two 15-minute windows. The morning window runs from 8:45 am to 9:00 am and uses the previous day's closing price as its reference. The afternoon window runs from 2:05 pm to 2:20 pm and uses the volume-weighted average price of trades between 1:45 pm and 2:00 pm.
How far from the market price can a block deal be done?
Within 3% either side of the window's reference price. The band was 1% until SEBI's revised framework took effect on 7 December 2025; it was widened to make block deals workable in mid- and small-cap stocks, where the narrower band often left no room to execute.
Can retail investors take part in a block deal?
In principle any client with a trading account can place an order in the window, but with a ₹25 crore minimum per order, block deals are in practice trades between institutions, promoters, private-equity funds and large family offices. Retail investors usually see them afterwards, in the exchanges' daily block-deal lists or in the stake-change filings that follow.
How stocks tend to react
The market reaction depends on who is trading and why: a promoter selling a large block is often read cautiously, while a reputed institution buying one is read as endorsement. A block placed at a discount to the market price frequently drags the stock toward the deal price in the short term.
MarketPing measures this instead of guessing: every analysed announcement carries the stock's actual price reaction across 14 horizons, and the Reaction Lab aggregates how each category of announcement has historically moved stocks.
Related terms
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Educational content, not investment advice. Regulations and tax rules change — verify current rules before acting.