Serum Institute, NSE Most Valuable Unlisted Companies, Says Report

Serum Institute of India Pvt., National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., and Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd. are the most valuable companies in the unlisted space, while Reliance Industries Ltd. topped the listed space, according to the latest report by Burgundy Private and Hurun India.

With a value of Rs 1.92 lakh crore, Covid-19 vaccine producer Serum Institute of India was the country's most valuable unlisted company, although it saw its value fall by 13%, the report said.

Megha Engineering, Zetwerk, and Bennett Coleman & Co. led the value growth among unlisted companies in 2023, according to the report.

Incred Finance and Bengaluru-based gaming company Gameskraft were among the new entrants on the list.

India’s most valuable companies in 2023 will have a cumulative value of Rs 231 lakh crore, while the total value of the top 10 companies on a year-on-year basis remained at Rs 73.3 lakh crore, equivalent to 28% of India’s GDP.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and HDFC Bank Ltd. followed RIL to become the second and third most valued companies in 2023, respectively.

The merger with HDFC Ltd. facilitated HDFC Bank becoming the third Indian company to surpass Rs 10 lakh crore in market capitalisation, the report said.

Among the biggest gainers in percentage terms, Suzlon Energy Ltd. remained at the top, with Jindal Stainless Ltd. and JSW Infrastructure Ltd. following suit.

From last year's list, about 61 companies failed to make it to the current year. This included the crisis-hit Byju's, PharmEasy, and Shriram City Union Finance, apart from Housing Development Finance Corp.

With the exception of Nykaa (FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd.), all six former unicorns experienced a prosperous year after going public on the stock exchanges. This included Zomato Ltd., Paytm (One97 Communications Ltd.), Policy Bazaar (PB Fintech Ltd.), Delhivery Ltd., and Honasa Consumer Ltd.

According to the report, the top 500 private sector companies are valued at $2.8 trillion, or Rs 231 lakh crore, which is more than the combined GDP of Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Singapore, and also equivalent to 71% of the nation's GDP.

The top 500 companies come from 44 cities, led by Mumbai (156), Bengaluru (59) and New Delhi (39). These top three cities contributed 254 entrants, up from 264 in the 2022 list.

As much as 44% of the companies in the list provide services and the remaining 56% sell physical products. Around 66% of them are consumer-facing, while 34% are B2B.