Reliance Industries becomes first Indian firm to top $200 bn market cap

TCS is a distant second with market cap of $119 bn; Meanwhile, Mukesh Ambani cements his place as richest man in Asia, seventh-richest globally. His wealth surged by $24.4 bn this year to $83 billion

Reliance Industries (RIL) on Thursday became the first Indian company to surpass $200 billion in market capitalisation (m-cap). At Thursday’s closing price, RIL had an m-cap of Rs 15.3 trillion ($208 billion). Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is a distant second, with an m-cap of Rs 8.75 trillion, ($119 billion). Ambani has, meanwhile, cemented his place as Asia's richest, and the world's seventh richest. He has seen his wealth surge $24.4 billion this year, to $83 billion. RIL is now the 40th most valuable firm globally, ahead of US entities such as Exxon Mobil, PepsiCo, SAP, and Oracle.

At the peak of Covid-driven sell-off in March, RIL’s m-cap had plunged to $73.4 billion. Since then, it has seen its m-cap soar 2.84x. It has added $135 billion in m-cap over the 118 trading sessions since March 23 — translating to a $1.14-billion addition every session.

The rally in RIL this year has been underpinned by the Rs 1.5 trillion-plus investment in Jio Platforms, a successful Rs 53,124-crore rights issue, and the latest deal involving Reliance Retail. Analysts have rerated RIL as it has diversified into new-age businesses and reduced dependence on its oil and gas business.