Mumbai, June 4 (IANS): Indian equity indices saw a steep fall on Tuesday after early counting trends showed a tough contest between the NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha elections.

Investors lost nearly Rs 26 lakh crore due to a steep fall in the equity benchmarks after early trends of the elections started to trickle in Saturday.

By 11 a.m. in Tuesday's session, BSE's market cap touched Rs 400 lakh crore, which was Rs 426 lakh crore when the market closed on Monday.

Indian markets opened with a steep fall on Tuesday. In early trade, Sensex slipped 2,713 points or 3.55 per cent, while the Nifty slipped 838 points or 3.65 per cent.

At 11 am, Sensex was at 72,740, down 3,690 points or 4.83 per cent, while Nifty was at 22,119, down 1,144 points or 4.92 per cent.

The India volatility index (India VIX) was up 33 per cent at 27.59 points.

There was a huge rise in the markets on Monday after the Exit Polls projected a favourable result for the current government in the Lok Sabha elections.

On Monday, Sensex closed 2,507 points or 3.39 per cent higher at 76,468 points, while Nifty ended 733 points or 3.25 per cent higher at 23,263 points.