MUMBAI: The top 500 private sector companies are bigger than the national GDP commanding a cumulative value of Rs 324 trillion, according to Hurun India’s most valuable private sector companies' list for 2024 released on Tuesday.
According to a calculation, the national GDP stood at $3.5 trillion in 2023.
The top 500 companies’ value also grew at 40 per cent in 2023 to $3.8 trillion. The value is not only more than the national GDP but is also higher than the combined GDP values of the UAE, Indonesia, and Spain.
The report also said that the qualification threshold for the list was Rs 9,580 crore, which is a 43 per cent rise from the 2023 threshold of Rs 6,700 crore.
For the first time, all the companies in the 2024 list are worth at least $1 billion despite a steeply depreciated rupee.
“The companies from the 2024 list make up the backbone of the nation’s private sector, wielding significant economic influence. Between them, they have a cumulative valuation of $3.8 trillion, which is higher than the national GDP, and employ 8.4 million," Anas Rahman Junaid, founder and chief researcher at Hurun India told reporters.
"If you want to understand how the economy is developing, understanding the stories behind the 2024 most valuable companies list, is a great place to start with,” Anas Rahman Junaid added.
With a value of Rs 17.52 trillion, which is more than 12 per cent over 2023 valuation, Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries is the country’s most valuable company, followed by Tata Consultancy Services at Rs 16.1 trillion, up 30%, and HDFC Bank at Rs 14.2 trillion, up 26 per cent.
The next in the list are Bharti Airtel (Rs 9.74 trillion), ICICI Bank (Rs 9.30 trillion), Infosys (Rs 7.99 trillion), ITC (Rs 5.80 trillion), L&T (Rs 5.42 trillion), HCL Tech (Rs 1.18 trillion) and NSE (Rs 4.7 trillion).
Among the other notable gainers in the list are Motilal Oswal Financial Services that lead the 2024 list as the fastest-growing company with a value growth of 297 per cent, followed closely by Inox Wind and Zepto, both nearly tripling their valuations over the year.
Nearly 60 per cent of the companies in the list do not appear in the Fortune India 500, ranked by revenue.
The Hurun list prioritises future profit potential over current sales and does not include state-owned enterprises. If included, over 100 state-owned companies could have made into the list, such as SBI which is valued at over Rs 7.7 trillion LIC, NTPC, ONGC etc.
For the first time, Bharti Airtel enters the top five with an Rs 9.74 trillion valuation, a 75%; the National Stock Exchange, valued at Rs 4.7 trillion also is in the top 10 list for the first time.
"The NSE surged by 201% value to Rs 4.7 trillion, overtaking SII, to emerge as the most valued unlisted company. Logistics startup Zepto (269%), the NSE (201%), and Physics Wallah (172%) top the value growth in percentage among unlisted companies," the report said.