According to the information available with the stock exchanges, small investors, defined as those who can invest up to a nominal amount of Rs 1 lakh in a company, hold close to $10 billion (Rs 40,500 crore) worth shares in the top five companies in terms of market capitalisation.

The combined market value of Reliance Industries, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and TCS account for more than 20 per cent of the entire investors' wealth of just over one trillion dollars, while remaining 80 per cent being spread across over 4,800 publicly traded entities.

The combined market value of the five biggest companies, has soared past $210 billion -- which represents nearly 20 per cent of the cumulative market value of all companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Despite owning so much in these companies, small investors still remain tiny players on the bourses, as majority of the wealth created is going into the kitty of promoters, institutional investors, high-net worth individuals and large investors.

According to an analysis of market value figures and shareholding patterns available with the bourses, the $10 billion worth shares held by small investors in the top five firms accounts for less than 5 per cent of these firms' combined market value of about $210 billion. 

Small investors own shares worth $6.7 billion in the country's most valued firm Reliance Industries, which is nearly two-third of their total wealth in the top five companies.

RIL is followed by TCS with $1.4 billion of small investors' wealth, while ONGC, Bharti Airtel and NTPC together add nearly $1.9 billion to their kitty.

Shares held by promoters worth close to $145 billion in the top five companies, while total public holding in these companies - including the large and small individual investors as well as domestic and foreign financial institutions - is worth about $65 billion.

The small investors mostly hold little stake in big companies, while their holdings are relatively larger in smaller companies.

The information available with the bourses shows that small investors hold an average of 9.5 per cent stake in the 30-Sensex companies and nearly 11.5 per cent of the BSE 500 companies.

Their average holding across the market is close to 22 per cent, but it does not translate into much wealth creation as their larger shareholdings are mostly in companies which have nominal market values.

The combined market value of the 30-Sensex firms stood at about $470 billion at the end of Tuesday's trading, while the share of small investors in these companies is estimated to be about seven per cent at just over $35 billion. The small investors' wealth across the market is estimated to be about $50 billion.