RIL India’s most valuable company; Adani firms biggest gainers

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd. has emerged as India’s most valuable company with a value of ₹18.9 lakh crore, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with ₹12.9 lakh crore and HDFC Bank with ₹7.7 lakh crore, according to the latest Burgundy Private Hurun India 500-special report.

During the six-month period from October 2021 to April 2022, the value of Reliance Industries increased by 13.4% or ₹2.2 lakh crore. At the same time, TCS’ value declined marginally by 0.9% and HDFC Bank declined by 15.2%. Adani group companies made the maximum gain during the review period and surpassed all others by a huge margin. In just six months, Adani Green moved up the ranking – from 16th to 6th spot, the report finds.

The report captures a six-month period (from October 30, 2021, to April 30, 2022) of the 500 most valuable non-state-owned companies in India.

Adani Green gained 139% (₹2,62,238 crore) and reached a value of ₹4,50,874 crore. Adani Power reported growth of 157.8% (₹66,185 crore), while Adani Wilmar grew by 189.8% (₹66,427 crore) during the period. The nine companies in the Adani Group have a combined value of ₹17.6 lakh crore and constitute 7.6% of the total value of the 500 top companies on the list. The Adani Group firms, in the review period, increased their value by 88.1%, as against an increase of just 2% by the top 500 companies.

Overall, by absolute value, the biggest gainers were Adani Green Energy, Reliance Industries and Adani Total Gas.

Expectedly, considering their poor debut in the stock market, the value of four listed unicorns - Nykaa, Zomato, Paytm and Policybazaar -- declined by ₹1,61,007 crore during the review period. Paytm was the worst performer having lost 63% (₹63,666 crore) to touch a value of ₹37,724 crore.

“In the first half of CY23, the 2021 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 companies faced formidable headwinds of rising oil and commodity prices as a consequence of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and an interest rate reversal cycle. It is noteworthy that despite the many challenges faced, Indian companies have performed better than their global counterparts," says Apurva Sahijwani, EVP and Head – Burgundy Private, Axis Bank.

As per the report, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India is the most valuable unlisted company in India, which grew 35.6% to ₹2,28,100 crore.

In the entire list, nine companies grew by over 100%. Vedant Fashions tops the list with a growth of 313.9% and is followed by Adani Wilmar (189%) and BillDesk (172.9%).

The FMCG conglomerate of Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved declined 17.9% (₹5,000 crore) to ₹23,000 crore and also slipped in ranking by 36 to 184th spot. Besides, financial services and healthcare were the biggest contributors to the Burgundy Private Hurun India 500-Special Report, with 81 and 55 companies, respectively.

Anas Rahman Junaid MD and chief researcher, Hurun India, says despite two major events like the Russia-Ukraine war and the interest rate hike by the USA Federal Reserve, companies in the list gained 2% during the six months. "NASDAQ declined 16% during the review period, while HANG SENG dropped by 19%. SENSEX reported only a 4% decline. Indian companies have weathered the storm and performed better than their global peers. It shows the inherent strength and depth of the Indian economy."

To make it to the ‘Burgundy Private Hurun India 500-Special Report’ , companies required a value of ₹5,800 crore, equivalent to $760 million. The total value of 219 companies declined during the review period, it says. Ten companies remained flat and 36 dropped out from the list. The total value of the top 10 companies remains flat at ₹71.8 lakh crore, equivalent to 37% of India’s GDP and 31% of the total value of the Burgundy Private Hurun India 500.

Most companies in the list come from 15 states, led by Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu followed by Haryana, Gujarat, and Delhi. By city, Mumbai led with 159 companies, followed by Bengaluru with 59, Gurugram with 38 and Chennai with 36.