Mission Accomplished!

Ship to investor base...Braving multi-fold challenges... Fortune India 500 companies see 9.53% and 11.8% growth in revenue and profit in FY19... More detials in a bit...

- RAJIV BHUVA

SAYING THAT THERE IS A LOT of churn in the 10th edition of the annual Fortune India 500 list (based on FY19 data), the barometer of corporate India’s performance, is an understatement. Fifty-seven companies are out, 33 companies from the Fortune India Next 500 list are in, and there is a new No. 1—mind, the previous numero uno had been topping the list since its inception in 2010. Enough said.

The new No. 1 is Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). And the new No. 2? Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the government-owned refining giant. RIL made ₹5,80,553 crore in revenue in FY19, ₹44,760 crore more than IOC.

Last year, just 12 companies from the Fortune India Next 500 list were promoted to become members of the 500 list. One of the major reasons for this year’s heavy churn, besides the data availability of 24 new companies, is consolidation. Take public sector banking. Bank of Baroda (No. 31; No. 32 in 2018) subsumed Vijaya Bank (No. 108 in 2018) and Dena Bank (No. 149 in 2018).

Also, the government’s 52.63% stake in REC (No. 69 in 2018) was acquired by Power Finance Corporation (PFC, No. 32; No. 57 in 2018) for ₹14,500 crore towards the end of March this year. Earlier last year, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC, No. 3 on the list) had acquired 51.11% stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (No. 7 in 2018) for ₹36,915 crore.