Reliance Industries most valuable Indian company: Hurun Global 500 2023

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Reliance Industries continues to be the most valuable company in India, according to the 2023 Hurun Global 500, a list of the 500 most valuable non-state-controlled companies in the world, released on Wednesday.


However, globally, no Indian company featured in the top 40 ranks. Reliance Industries stood on the 44th spot with a total valuation of $198 billion. The report highlighted that Reliance, which was the most valuable Indian company last year too, fell ten spots in the rankings as its net worth decreased by 2 per cent in the year.


Reliance Industries was followed by Tata Consultancy Services (60) and HDFC Bank (68). The net worth of TCS rose by 14 per cent to $158 billion during the year. Its rank improved by five spots in 2023.


“Following its merger with sister company mortgage provider HDFC, India-based HDFC Bank advanced 43 positions to 68th place,” it said.


Two companies, Titan Company and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, entered the top 500 rankings; Titan on the back of an expansion with 90 new stores and Sun Pharma due to key acquisitions in Israel.


Notably, 48 companies dropped off the list due to a fall in their valuations, including Binance and Activision Blizzard. For India, it included three Adani group companies: Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy and Adani Total Gas.


Overall, India slipped one rank to the sixth spot with 18 companies on the list.


Globally, the list highlighted that it is the first time five companies have crossed the valuation of $1 trillion. These were Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia. All the companies in the top four spots were the same.


Impact of ChatGPT


Interestingly, two companies that saw the maximum valuation gain were Microsoft ($708 billion) and Nvidia (697 billion). Both of these companies are associated with artificial intelligence software ChatGPT. Microsoft has announced significant investments in OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT.


Nvidia, on the other hand, provides the company with semiconductors. It jumped 14 spots as its wealth tripled in the last year.


“Perhaps the single biggest winner of ChatGPT’s explosion into the world a year ago has been Nvidia, which struck gold by dominating with powerful chips for AI, data centres and emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles and the metaverse,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report.


OpenAI itself featured on the list for the first time at 291st rank with a valuation of $50 billion.


“OpenAI broke into the Hurun Global 500 for the first time with a valuation of $50 billion, although it is currently in talks to raise investment at $86 billion,” Hoogewerf added.


Taiwan-based TSMC was another semiconductor company in the top 10 with a valuation of $512 billion. All companies in the top 10, except TSMC, were from the USA.


Moreover, Eli Lilly entered the top 10 ranks with a valuation of $526 billion, a 62 per cent rise over the previous year. The company’s success can be attributed to its new weight-loss drug, Zepbound.

First Published: Jan 31 2024 | 12:32 PM IST