India's 10 most valuable companies

The country's top private sector lender, ICICI Bank, made its entry into the list of the top 10 most valuable companies by market capitalisation this week, helped by a sharp rise in banking stocks.

With a market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 128,016 crore (Rs 1,280.16 billion), ICICI Bank now features at tenth rank in the list, knocking state-run BHEL out of the prestigious club. It is the eighth most valuable firm in India.

During the past week, ICICI Bank added Rs 10,809.4 crore (Rs 108.094 billion) to its m-cap.

Analysts said a sharp rise in financial stocks during the past week pushed up the m-cap of most banks.

"Banks led from the front on optimism that lending will pick up in a fast-growing Indian economy and that they are well capitalised," a broker said.

Though the rush for banking stocks helped ICICI Bank make an entry into the top-10 club, its rival, HDFC Bank, is still lagging behind and is ranked at thirteenth, whereas mortgage lender HDFC is seventeenth in terms of market capitalisation.

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1. Reliance Industries Ltd

The past week was fabulous for equity investors and the shareholders of nine of the top-10 companies became richer by a whopping Rs 72,810.43 crore (Rs 728.104 billion).

The maximum value addition came in from corporate leader Reliance Industries Ltd.

Enjoying the numero uno position, RIL saw the addition of Rs 22,509.77 crore (Rs 225.097 billion) to its m-cap during the past week. At the end of trade on Monday, the Mukesh Ambani-led energy giant was valued at Rs 339,955.03 crore (Rs 3,399.550 billion). During the week, RIL's shares rose by 7.1 per cent to regain the Rs 1,000-level for the first time in over a month.

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2. ONGC

State-run ONGC continues to hold on to the second position. Oil and gas major ONGC added Rs 9,207.84 crore (Rs 92.078 billion) to its kitty to take its m-cap to Rs 300,278.77 crore (Rs 3,002.787 billion).

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Meanwhile, India's largest bank and public sector giant, State Bank of India, saw its valuation swell by Rs 7,080.14 crore (Rs 70.801 billion) to Rs 197,111.19 crore (Rs 1,971.112 billion).

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4. Tata Consultancy Services

India's largest IT company, Tata Consultancy Services, was fourth with a market capitalisation of Rs 178,124.77 crore (Rs 1,781.247 billion).

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IT giant Infosys Technologies was fifth. It added Rs 7,698.12 crore (Rs 76.981 billion) to its m-cap. The valuation of the company stood at Rs 172,136.86 crore (Rs 1,721.368 billion).

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6. NTPC

Power major NTPC enlarged its valuation by Rs 2,968.37 crore (Rs 29.684 billion) to Rs 168,619.66 crore (Rs 1,686.196 billion). It is the sixth most valuable company in India.

7. Bharti Airtel

The country's top telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, added Rs 3,170.93 crore (Rs 31.709 billion) to take its m-cap to Rs 139,371.92 crore (Rs 1,393.719 billion). It is the seventh most valuable firm in India.

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Engineering major Larsen & Toubro saw its valuation expand by Rs 4,365.86 crore (Rs 43.658 billion) to Rs 120,569.69 crore (Rs 1,205.697 billion). It is now the ninth most valuable Indian company.

10. BHEL

Public sector major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd BHEL is the tenth most valuable Indian firm. Its market capitalisation stands at Rs 119,621.55 crore (Rs 1,196.215 billion) as on close of trading on Monday.

During the week, the BSE benchmark Sensex recorded a gain of 5.6 per cent and ended at 19,922.30 -- its best close since January 17, 2008, and within striking distance of the 20,000-mark.