RIL overtakes IOC as highest ranked Indian company on Fortune 500 list

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has jumped 42 places to become the highest-ranking Indian firm on the Fortune Global 500 list.

State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) had been the top-ranked Indian company on the list and was first on the Fortune India 500 list which was started in 2010.

"This year, ranked 106, Reliance Industries (RIL) has replaced IOC (117) as the top-ranked Indian company on the Global 500 list," Fortune said.

RIL's revenue soared 32.1 per cent from $62.3 billion in 2018 to $82.3 billion in 2019. In comparison, IOC clocked a 17.7 per cent growth in revenue from $65.9 billion to $77.6 billion.

"Over the past 10 years, RIL's revenue rose at a compounded annual growth rate of 7.2 per cent from $41.1 billion in 2010, while that of IOC rose at 3.64 per cent from $54.3 billion in 2010," it said.

Besides, RIL and IOC, Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), State Bank of India (SBI), Tata Motors, Bharat Petroleum Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Rajesh Exports are the other Indian companies to feature on the list.

ONGC has moved up 37 places to 160th rank on the global list, while SBI lost 20 places to 236th rank. Tata Motors slipped 33 places to 265th position. BPCL rose 39 places to rank 275th spot, while Rajesh Exports slipped 90 places to rank 495th.

US giant Walmart continues to top the Fortune 500 list followed by Chinese state-owned oil and gas company Sinopec Group, which moved one rank up. Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell was ranked third followed by China National Petroleum and State Grid.

Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco appeared for the first time in top 10 at sixth position, while BP, Exxon Mobil, Volkswagen, and Toyota Motor are ranked 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th position respectively.

"The journey of RIL, which marks its 16th year on the Global 500 list this year, to the top position has been interesting. The average difference of its revenues with that of IOC was $9.4 billion in the nine years from 2010 to 2018. The difference was as high as $13.2 billion in 2010. The gap started to narrow after 2016 when RIL's revenue was $11.3 billion lesser than IOC. The difference further fell to $6.6 billion and $3.6 billion in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and RIL surpassed IOC by $4.7 billion in 2019," Fortune said.

Over the 10-year-period, IOC saw its highest revenue at USD 86 billion in 2012, which is $9.8 billion higher than its revenue in 2019.

Interestingly, 2012 also saw RIL registering its second-highest revenue of $76.1 billion. The absolute increase in RIL's revenue between 2012 and 2019 is $8.2 billion. At the 2012 peak, IOC and RIL were ranked at 83 and 99 positions, respectively, on the Global 500 list. In 2018, RIL was ranked 148th and IOC was at 137th place, it added.