Today, 15 August, is an important date for the history books, as it was the day India was granted its independence from Great Britain.
The Indian Independence Act was signed 70 years ago today, in 1947, and gave the country back complete legislative authority.
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These are the top 10 biggest companies, measured by market capitalisation, that have sprung up and flourished in the country over the past 70 years.
Note: Market cap numbers are in Crore (Rs.cr), a unit in Indian numerical system which is equivalent to 10. One crore rupees is same as 10m rupees ($156,000).
1. Reliance Industries
Founded: 1966
Market cap: Rs.cr 511, 520.07
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By GlobalDataReliance is India’s biggest conglomerate, ahead of Tata. It owns several businesses across the country that operate in energy, security, textiles, petrochemicals, retail, and natural resources.
It’s the most profitable company India, as well as being the largest publicly traded company by market capitalisation.
Reliance is also responsible for almost five percent of India’s total revenues from customs and excise duty and is the highest income tax payer in the private sector.
2. Tata Consultancy Services
Founded: 1968
Market cap: Rs.cr 472,666.32
Part of the Tata group which owns Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is one of the leading IT services across the world.
As India’s tech scene has been growing, TCS has been growing and expanding too, focusing on emerging and new technologies to stay ahead of the game.
For instance, in 2016-17 TSC earned $3bn in revenue from digital technologies, 29 percent more than the year before.
3. HDFC Bank
Founded: 1994
Market cap: Rs.cr 451,459.13
Indian banking and financial services company, HDFC has its headquarters in Mumbai but has a presence in Bahrain, Hong Kong, and Dubai.
The biggest bank on the list, it has 4,727 branches and 12,220 ATMs across 2,666 cities and towns.
Last year, HDFC revealed it would be trialling robo-advisers in some of its branches in Mumbai.
4. State Bank of India
Founded: 1955
Market cap: Rs.cr 240,014.16
Though it had a few previous iterations, the State Bank of India as it is known now began in 1955, before being nationalised in 1956.
It has been known as the biggest bank in India for a while but cemented this status when it merged with five of its associate banks earlier this year in the first ever large scale consolidation in the Indian banking industry.
It has a 20 percent market share in deposits and loans among Indian commercial banks.
5. Maruti Suzuki
Founded: 1982
Market cap: Rs.cr 230,101.93
Half-owned by the Japanese car manufacturer Suzuki, Maruti Suzuki is the biggest car maker in India with around 51 percent of the passenger car market.
Recently, it decided it wanted to increase its stake in the used car market by announcing it wants to establish a network of 300 independent outlets by 2020.
This is because the used car market in India is 1.2 times the size of that of new cars.
6. Infosys
Founded: 1981
Market cap: Rs.cr 224,974.25
Infosys, the multinational corporation, is the second-largest IT services company in India. It provides software development, maintaining and validation services to companies in the finance, insurance and manufacturing sectors.
When the company announced its second quarter results in July, Infosys revealed it had a consolidated net profit of $540m, ahead of analysts’ expectations.
7. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)
Founded: 1956
Market cap: Rs.cr: 207,577.58
ONGC is the country’s biggest oil and gas company. The Indian government owns a 68.94 percent equity stake and has been ranked as the largest profit making PSU in India.
Earlier this year, the Economic Times of India revealed that the company may make plans to tap into the debt market for the first time.
The paper reported it may sell bonds and take out loans as much as $4bn to bankroll projects and pay for the purchase of the government’s stake in rival energy company Hindustan Petroleum Corp.
8. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
Founded: 1959
Market cap: Rs.cr 203,583.82
Also state owned, IndianOil accounts for nearly half of India’s petrol products marker share, making it the largest commercial enterprise in the country.
It is stepping up its production into other avenues for oil. This week, it bought India’s first shale oil from the US as part of its crude diversification strategy.
India is the world’s third-largest oil importer.
9. ICICI bank
Founded: 1994
Market cap: Rs.cr 187,126.38
In 2000, as India’s first internet bank, ICICI became the first Indian commercial bank to list on the NYSE. It was only the second Indian listing too, after its parent company ICICI listen in 1999.
It offers services such as Money2Inidia, an online money transfer service offered to non-resident Indians.
It was also the first bank in the country to offer contactless debit and credit cards to its customers.
10. Kotak Mahrinda
Founded: 1985
Market cap: Rs.cr 187,009.45
Another bank on the list, this one is an investment bank. Kotak Mahindra offers financial services and general banking services to its 9m customers across the country.
As part of the celebration of India’s independence, the bank is offering a specially designed debit card for Rs. 99 instead of the annual fee of Rs. 299.
Kotak says that the entire proceeds from the sale of the cards will go towards educating the country’s soldiers’ children.
