MUMBAI: India has 20 companies on the Hurun list of the world’s 500 most valuable companies, increasing the number from last year by eight. India moved up four spots in the list to fifth behind the US, China, Japan and the UK.
India was an exception, where the Sensex rose 12% over the year. Four companies controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani made the Hurun Global 500 list for the first time: Adani Enterprises (worth $46 billion), Adani Transmission ($44 billion); Adani Total Gas ($43 billion); and Adani Green Energy ($40 billion). Founded in 2014, Adani Transmission is one of the youngest on the list.
Of the 20 Indian companies in the list, 11 are based in Mumbai and four in Ahmedabad. Reliance Industries is the most valuable company (valued at $202 billion), followed by TCS ($139 billion) and HDFC Bank ($97 billion). Financial Services led with seven companies, followed by Software & Services and Energy with three companies each. The valuation cut-off for the top 500 has fallen 23% to $28 billion in 2022, compared to $36.6 billion a year earlier. Overall, the top 500 companies lost $11.1 trillion (19%) in value due to a fall in share prices.
Apple continued to be the world’s most valuable company (worth $2.4 trillion), though its value is down 3% year over year. Microsoft retained second place with a valuation of $1.8 trillion, down 15% year over year.
The financial services sector was the largest contributor to the list at 21% or 104 companies, led by United Health Group, Visa and JP Morgan Chase. The energy sector was the biggest winner.