NEW DELHI: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has become the first listed Indian company to hit the Rs 20 lakh crore market capitalisation mark as shares of the oil-to-telecom giant hit a record high level on Tuesday.
RIL is now at 49th spot among the top 50 companies globally by market cap. Microsoft is the world’s most valuable company followed by Apple and Saudi Aramco.
RIL shares hit a new high of Rs 2,975.80 on the BSE in the intraday trade of Tuesday. This pushed its m-cap to a record high of Rs 20.01 lakh crore in the intraday trade. At close, the company’s shares were up 1% to Rs 2,928.95 apiece and its m-cap stood at Rs 19.81 lakh crore.
RIL shares have surged more than 13% so far in calendar year 2024 following positive commentary by analysts on peaking capex and a strong performance by its retail arm. Besides erosion in the valuation of Walt Disney’s India unit ahead of its proposed merger with RIL’s media business and expected demerger of its retail and digital arm is said to be a positive for investors. In the last two weeks alone, the stock’s value has gone up by Rs 1 lakh crore.
Among the most valuable listed companies, RIL is followed by Tata Group’s most coveted company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) whose m-cap stood at Rs 15.18 lakh crore at the end of Tuesday’s session. The valuation gap between the two giants has now ballooned to Rs 5 lakh crore. For many years, RIL and TCS competed neck and neck for the top position in the valuation game. The IT behemoth even topped RIL’s m-cap in June 2019 and March 2020.
After TCS, the most valuation scrip on the exchanges is HDFC Bank whose shares are under severe pressure following the Q3FY24 results. The country’s largest lender was last valued at Rs 10.59 lakh crore.
It took less than five years for the RIL to add the last Rs 10 lakh crore to its m-cap as the company during this period has become a force to reckon with in the telecom and retail space besides big growth in its mainstay oil to chemical business. RIL’s m-cap first hit the Rs 1 lakh crore m-cap mark in August 2005, followed by its m-cap soaring to Rs 10 lakh crore in November 2019.
The surge in RIL shares has added many billions to Ambani’s personal wealth. The business tycoon, also Asia’s richest, has now a net worth of around $109 billion, as per the Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index. Ambani is followed by Gautam Adani in the rich list whose net worth stood at $99.4 billion.