In Total Returns Index, the return from a company’s share doesn’t just come from the share price movement, but also from dividends. What you see usually see in the papers is the Price Returns Index (PRI). The other variant is the Total Returns Index (TRI). In a TRI, the dividends of the underlying companies of the index are added back into their share prices, which is why it is called the “total return” since the return from a company’s share doesn’t just come from the share price movement, but also from dividends. All equity mutual fund schemes are now supposed to benchmark their performances against a TRI.

Source: Mint April 23, 2018 00:33 UTC