The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance group ended 2007 by overtaking the Tata group in market capitalisation stakes and this despite the latter's acquisition of Corus steel.
The market value of the group's three listed companies aggregates Rs 5.23 trillion (one trillion = Rs 1 lakh crore).
Last year's number one, the Tata group, is now a distant number two with a market capitalisation of Rs 3.20 trillion.
If one adds the market cap of steel company Corus (which it acquired earlier this year and is now an unlisted entity) the Tata group's market capitalisation increases by Rs 72,941 crore to Rs 3.20 trillion.
The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is today the third largest group with a market capitalisation of Rs 3.03 trillion.
The ADAG group, which has five listed companies, could, however, move up to the number two position in the near future, after the listing of its company Reliance Power, which is likely to add market cap worth Rs 1,20,000 crore.
Reliance Power is expected to raise Rs 12,000 crore through an Initial Public Offering next month, assuming an issue price of Rs 450-500 per share of Rs 10 paid-up.
While the top 10 houses have market cap of over $20 billion each, there are ten business groups in the list with a market cap of over $10 billion.
These include the Delhi-based Jaiprakash group with interests in cement and construction (Rs 57,553 crore), Subhash Chandra's Zee Entertainment (Rs 51,882 crore), GM Rao promoted Hyderabad-based GMR Infrastructure (Rs 45,053 crore), Vijay Mallya's UB group (Rs 45,047 crore), Kotak Mahindra group (Rs 44,601 crore), Mahindra & Mahindra group headed by Keshub Mahindra (Rs 42,153 crore) and Indiabulls promoted by Rajiv Rattan, Sameer Gehlaut and Saurabh Mittal (Rs 40,390 crore).
The Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance group and Anil Ambani-led ADAG have outperformed the market in the past year (December 29, 2006-December 28, 2007) with annual returns of 144 per cent posted by the former and 134 per cent by ADAG.
The two brothers with a combined market cap of Rs 8.26 trillion account for 15.65 per cent (11.7 per cent in 2006) of the total market cap of the country's private sector.
