 "Sunil Mittal, Bharti Group")
The Bharti group, which owns and operates telecom firm Bharti Airtel, in calendar year 2025 was the biggest gainer among the country’s top business conglomerates.
The combined market capitalisation of its three group companies was up 37.3 per cent last year to ₹14.7 trillion from ₹10.7 trillion at the end of December 2024.
This puts the country’s third-biggest family-owned conglomerate behind the Tata and Mukesh Ambani-led groups, ahead of those of the Adanis, the Bajajs, Kumar Mangalam Birla, and the Mahindras.
All three Bharti group companies outperformed in CY25 but the biggest gain came from Bharti Airtel, the flagship.
The telecom operator’s market capitalisation was up 40.1 per cent to ₹12.67 trillion from ₹9.05 trillion at the end of December 2025.
The combined market capitalisation of the country’s 10 biggest family-owned business groups was up 10 per cent to ₹126.4 trillion from ₹114.9 trillion at the end of CY24.
Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta was the second-biggest gainer and the combined market capitalisation of the group’s three listed companies was up 36.3 per cent to around ₹5 trillion from ₹3.67 trillion at the end of CY24.
The group gained from Hindustan Zinc, which saw a big jump in its share price and drove a record rally in silver. Its market capitalisation was up 38 per cent to ₹2.59 trillion from ₹1.88 trillion at the end of CY24. Hindustan Zinc is India’s largest and the world’s third-biggest silver producer.
Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries comes third on the gainers’ list and the combined market capitalisation of the group’s nine listed companies was up 24.7 per cent to ₹23.4 trillion from ₹18.73 trillion at the end of December 2024.
All the gain came from Reliance Industries, which was up 29.1 per cent to ₹21.24 trillion from ₹16.45 trillion at the end of CY24. In contrast, other listed group companies saw a decline, ranging from 53.3 per cent in the case of Sterling & Wilson to 1.3 per cent for Jio Financial.
In all, eight of the 10 biggest family-owned business groups by market capitalisation gained in CY25.
However, the Tatas took a hit from a sharp correction in the share prices of Tata Consultancy Services, whose market capitalisation was down 21.8 per cent in CY25.
In comparison, business groups with interests in brick-and-mortar industries such as manufacturing, mining, and infrastructure, and those in financial services gained.
Investors’ preference for “traditional” businesses translated into a big gain for the Bajajs (up 21.1 per cent), Kumar Mangalam Birla (up 17 per cent), the Mahindras (up 17 per cent), the JSW group (up 8.3 per cent), and Adanis (up 8 per cent).
The Tata group retained pole position with a group market capitalisation of around ₹27.7 trillion, down 10.9 per cent from ₹31.08 trillion at the end of CY24, followed by the Mukesh Ambani group.
Infosys fell 16.1 per cent.
The Adani group, however, lost the third rank to the Bharti group.
The Bajaj group slipped to fifth place from fourth in CY24. In comparison, the Vedanta group climbed four places to ninth rank from 13th previous year while the Mahindras, the Birlas and JSW climbed one rank each.
In comparison, the combined market capitalisation of all 1,461 companies in the Business Standard sample was up 4.2 per cent to ₹449.59 trillion from ₹431.47 trillion at the end of CY24.
The combined market capitalisation of central public sector companies was up 7 per cent to ₹70.4 trillion while that of listed multinationals such as Hindustan Unilever and Maruti Suzuki increased 0.6 per cent to ₹36.84 trillion.
The combined market capitalisation of independent or institution-owned companies such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and ITC was up 9.2 per cent to ₹58.7 trillion from ₹53.71 trillion at the end of CY24.
HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and the L&T group were among the top 10 business groups in terms of market capitalisation, ahead of Infosys, Vedanta, and the JSW group.
The State Bank of India group with three listed companies ranked among the 10 biggest groups with ₹11.92 trillion at the end of CY25.
The analysis excludes 128 companies that came up with their initial public offers and were listed in CY25.
