Not ‘gross’, because the costs have been removed from the price. You get the net value in hand
Example
100 investors.
Each has invested Rs 1000 in the fund
Each bought a unit for the price of Rs 10 - each investor holds 100 units
Total invested value of the fund: Rs 1 lakh
A year later, the mutual fund becomes worth Rs 1.5 lakh giving a profit of Rs 50,000
Assume that the fund costs are Rs 10,000, then the net profit is Rs 40,000
Thus, the NAV becomes Rs 14 from Rs 10.
Multiplying the NAV with the number of units in the fund gives your fund return. In this case, each investor’s invested value increases from Rs 1000 to Rs 1400.