Rs 1-lakh-cr market-cap club now has 18 firms

In 2008, the 13 companies on the list accounted for 34% of the overall m-cap

India Inc’s coveted club of companies with market capitalisation (m-cap) of more than Rs 1 lakh crore now has 18 members. The current market rally, which has seen benchmark indices gain about 40 per cent in a year, has added five companies to the coveted club.

During the peak of the previous bull market in 2008, there were only 13 companies on this list.

In the past year, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharmaceutical, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors and HCL Technologies have joined the elite club.

Since May 16 this year, the day the results of the Lok Sabha elections were announced, only one company has found its way into the list—HCL Technologies.

In the past year, the overall m-cap of India’s companies has swelled by Rs 33 lakh crore to Rs 92.5 lakh crore, of which the 18 companies with m-cap of more than Rs 1 lakh crore account for 43 per cent, showing concentration of wealth among the top companies has increased. In 2008, the 13 companies on the list accounted for 34 per cent of the overall m-cap.

Companies that have dropped from the list include realty major DLF, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications MMTC, NMDC, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and Steel Authority of India Ltd. The stocks of these companies have come off sharply since 2008.

Currently, Tata Consultancy Services, which wasn’t part of this club in 2008, is at the top of the list. The technology major’s market value is about Rs 1.16 lakh crore more than Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s, the second on the list.

Reliance Industries, at the top of the list in 2008, is now third; its m-cap is Rs 1.2 lakh crore less than what it was then.

In the past year, the list of companies with m-cap of more than Rs 50,000 crore has almost doubled to 40. Thanks to a twofold increase in their stocks, automobile makers Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hero MotoCorp have seen their market value breach the Rs 50,000-crore mark. This club includes UltraTech Cement, Hindustan Zinc and Asian Paints.