India's Largest Companies 2025: Big Banks Highlight India's Presence On The Global 2000

Forbes

2 days ago

India's most profitable private sector bank, HDFC Bank, moved up to No. 53 on this year's Global 2000.
India is among the top five countries to be represented on the 2025 Forbes Global 2000 list, ranking the world's largest publicly traded companies. With 70 companies this year it is No. 4 behind the U.S. (612), China/Hong Kong (317) and Japan (180).
Indian companies span a range of sectors from banking to telecom to consumer goods and this year their combined profit rose to $126 billion from $120 billion last year. Combined assets grew to $5.5 trillion from $5.08 trillion the previous year and the aggregate market value rose marginally to $2.3 trillion from $2.15 trillion last year.
Mumbai-based conglomerate, Reliance Industries, with interests in everything from petrochemicals, oil and gas to retail and telecom, retained the top spot in the country, and moved up four ranks from No.49 to No.45 on the global list. Reliance reported sales of $114 billion, up from $109 billion last year, and was largely insulated from global headwinds with its revenue driven mostly by domestic demand.
More than a third of the companies are drawn from the financial services sector spanning banks, insurance companies and consumer lenders. India's most profitable private sector bank, HDFC Bank, moved up 12 spots to No. 53 on the global list. It took over the No. 2 position in India from state-run behemoth State Bank of India which stayed put at No. 55 globally but slipped to the third position in the country.
Private lenders ICICI Bank and Axis Bank also feature among the top ten in the country, buoyed by a robust banking sector, which was bolstered by the Reserve Bank of India's interest rate cuts, high net interest margins and robust asset quality. (The NIFTY Bank index grew 14% over the past year.)
Seven Indian companies debuted on the Global 2000 this year. Notable among them is Gurgaon-based Eternal, parent of food delivery service Zomato and 10-minute grocery delivery service Blinkit.
Among the large Indian conglomerates, the most entries were from the $164 billion (revenue) Tata group conglomerate. Half a dozen Tata companies made the cut, including regulars such as auto behemoth Tata Motors and IT giant Tata Consultancy Services as well as one new entrant to the list, Mumbai-based retailer Trent. Selling everything from apparel to footwear to grocery, the company saw sales jump to $2 billion from $1.5 billion in the past year as profits rose to $231 million from $181 million.
The company that climbed up the most in the ranks was Cholamandalam, the financial services arm of the Chennai-based conglomerate the Murugappa Group. Cholamandalam, which has revenues of $3.1 billion, rose 410 ranks to No. 1539, up from No. 1949 last year.
Eight companies fell off the list including Varun Beverages, which is one of PepsiCo's biggest bottlers outside the U.S. The Gurgaon-based company is fending off rising competition in the domestic market, specifically from the revival of homegrown beverage brand Campa Cola now owned by Reliance Industries.
Steel makers Steel Authority of India and Jindal Steel and Power, part of the O.P Jindal group chaired by India's richest woman, Savitri Jindal, also dropped out, hammered by cheap Chinese imports and lower capacity utilization. But JSW Steel, run by Jindal's son Sajjan Jindal, managed to retain its place in the ranks but fell by 254 places to No. 899–down from No. 645 last year.
Forbes