India moves up to 5th place in list of world’s valuable firms

India, with 20 of the most valuable companies in the world, has moved into the fifth position among countries that are home to the world’s top 500 firms. Last year, it ranked ninth with eight companies. The US continued to top the charts, according to the 2022 Hurun Global 500 list.

Of the 20 Indian companies featuring on the list this year, 11 are based in Mumbai, four in Ahmedabad and one each in Noida, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. The list, released by the Hurun Research Institute, is a compilation of the 500 most valuable non-state-controlled companies in the world. Companies were ranked according to their market capitalisation (for listed companies) and valuations for non-listed companies.

With a $202-billion valuation, Reliance Industries (RIL) topped the charts of Indian companies, while it ranked 34th in the world. It was followed by Tata Consultancy Services ($139 billion) and HDFC Bank ($97 billion).

The list also saw the entry of four companies — Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy, Adani Enterprises and Adani Total Gas — led by billionaire Gautam Adani, with a total valuation of $173 billion.

Globally, Apple retained the title of the most valuable company in the world with a market cap of $2.4 trillion and Microsoft came second ($1.8 trillion), while Alphabet, the parent company of Google, displaced Amazon to take the third place.