Top 500 Indian firms added $1.2 trn wealth so far in CY21: Hurun report

This comes on the back of record highs in the stock markets, caused by a fast-growing digital economy and greater optimism for the post-Covid growth trajectory of the Indian economy

The top 500 Indian companies added $1.2 trillion in value to a total of $3 trillion valuation as stock markets rose to record high in 2021 on the back of a fast-growing digital economy coupled with increased optimism for the post-Covid growth trajectory of the Indian economy, as per a latest report from Hurun India, a research firm.

In a report released today, Hurun India said with a total value of $3 trillion, which is more than India’s current GDP, these 500 companies make up the backbone of the Indian economy. Together, these 500 companies had combined sales of $770 billion, and employed 6.9 million staff, which is more than the working population of the United Arab Emirates.

In terms of fastest-growing industries, financial services, software services and healthcare sector cumulatively added Rs 40 trillion of value, the report said.

The Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 listed most valuable private companies in India, ranked according to their value, defined as market capitalization for listed companies, and valuations for non-listed companies. The cut-off date used was October 30, 2021. To make it to the 500 companies’ list, the cut off was Rs 5,600 crore ($750 million).

The report said the value of these companies went up by 68 per cent or Rs 90 trillion, to a total of Rs 228 trillion. Of this, Rs 46 trillion of wealth came from just four companies--Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank and Infosys. Tata group’s 14 companies were big gainers as they added Rs 8.5 trillion and accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the value of 500 companies. TCS was India's largest employer with 507,000 people. It was also the biggest tax payer with a contribution of Rs 11,200 crore to the tax kitty.

The report said Covid-19 vaccine producer, unlisted Serum Institute of India increased its value by 127 per cent to Rs 1.8 trillion and is India’s most valuable unlisted company.

These 500 companies also contributed Rs 1.9 lakh trillion or nearly 62 per cent of corporate income tax collection in FY 2021. 53 of the 500 companies are also featured in the Hurun’s Global Unicorn List 2021, led by BYJU’S, InMobi, and OYO. Just under 11 per cent of the 2021 list are less than 10 years old, led by Mensa Brands, Apna, CRED, BharatPe, Mobile Premier League and Zetwerk.

Whilst the valuations of the 500 companies might appear at first glance to be huge, it is worth comparing against the Hurun Global 500 companies, the report said as Apple’s current valuation is about $2.5 trillion--just a little under the total valuation of Indian 500 companies at $3 trillion.

The total value of the top 10 companies grew 47 per cent to Rs 72.7 trillion ($970 billion), equivalent to 37 per cent of India’s GDP and 32 per cent of the total value of the 500 companies. Of these, six are headquartered in Mumbai.