Mumbai, March 23 -- The West Asia conflict has hit foreign portfolio investors' India equity assets under custody (AUC) harder than the Covid-19 pandemic, reflecting the severity of the current market correction.

FPI equity assets fell by $79 billion to $710 billion in the fortnight ended 15 March, from $789 billion in the previous fortnight ended 28 February, when the US-Israel-Iran war began, data from National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) showed.

The fortnightly decline-the steepest in at least six years-exceeds that seen during the pandemic, when FPI assets fell $60 billion to $281 billion in the fortnight ended 31 March 2020, amid global lockdowns.

In absolute terms, too, FPI assets at $710 billion are the lowest since the for...