Top 10 Biggest Business Groups in India

It is true that business groups or conglomerates are somewhat of a key factor in the growth of a country’s economy. And that’s precisely what we have witnessed with India. Over the last few decades or so, the companies that have several other sub-companies under their umbrella, aka business groups have helped India’s economy rise to new heights. And today, we are here to take a good look at the top 10 biggest business groups in India as of 2024. So, let’s get going now, shall we?

1. Tata Group

With a combined market cap of ₹31.6 trillion, the Tata Group deserves the very first spot on this list. With a history dating back to 1868, it is one of the oldest and most respected business groups in India. The group prides itself on its founder, Jamsetji Tata, who would say that his vision was neither about the business nor limited to the borders of India. When Jamsetji’s early ventures were that of top-notch hotels, Tata Steel, hydroelectric plants, and educational institutions, a strong base had already been laid while Tata Chemicals also Manufacturers Soda Ash and other chemical products as well.

2. Reliance Industries Ltd.

Reliance Industries Ltd. began as a small trading company in 1958, founded by Dhirubhai Ambani. Today, it’s a massive conglomerate with interests spanning petrochemicals, refining, oil, gas, retail, and telecommunications, and with a huge market capitalization of ₹20.05 trillion, this business group has to be at the top of our list today. Fast forward to the 21st century, and Reliance revolutionized everything about retail through Reliance Fresh and Jio, providing the country with the cheapest internet India has ever seen.

3. Adani Group

Established by Gautam Adani in 1988, the Adani Group quickly grew to be one of India’s top business groups, and now stands at a market cap of ₹15.28 lakh crore (₹15.28 trillion). Just a year ago, Adani Group was on the path to becoming the most successful and biggest ever business group, but due to some controversies and conspiracies, they lost a huge chunk of market cap. Anyway, the company began with commodity trading and then delved into ports, power, renewable energy, mining, airports, and natural gas. These include the founding of Adani Wilmar, and major breakthroughs in the coal trade, expanding to Indonesia and Australia too.

4. Aditya Birla Group

Coming in at number four is Aditya Birla Group with just a little over ₹6.3 trillion market cap.  Started in 1857 by Shiv Narayan Birla, the Aditya Birla Group is now a multinational giant in more than 36 countries and has interests in textiles, cement, chemicals, telecom, and financial services. Since Aditya Birla Group is involved in so many sectors and industries within India’s borders, they surely deserve to be on this list.

5. Bharti Enterprises

Established in the year 1976, Bharti Enterprises is one such inspiring story that grew from bicycle parts into a multinational business empire under the leadership of Sunil Bharti Mittal and now stands with a huge market cap of ₹5.47 trillion. Bharti Airtel, with the flagship brand, is a telecom giant across Asia, Africa, and Europe that has changed the way people communicate and connect with others. That is the prime reason why Bharti Enterprises became one of the biggest business groups in the country.

6. Mahindra Group

Established in 1945 by J.C. Mahindra and K.C. Mahindra, the company has gone from being a small steel trading company in Ludhiana to becoming one of the world’s largest conglomerates. How large? Well, to put things into perspective, the revenue alone for the Mahindra Group in 2023 was ₹121,269 crore. Post-partition, they morphed into Mahindra & Mahindra, and the first big thing they did was to make Willys Jeeps, the first step into the automotive sector. By 1956, it was quoted on the Bombay Stock Exchange, and in 1969, they started exporting products.

7. Bajaj Group

The Bajaj Group, founded in 1926 by Jamnalal Bajaj, started as a manufacturer of scooters and three-wheelers and has grown into a massive multinational conglomerate. In a few decades, the Bajaj Group has grown into a humongous multinational conglomerate steered by Kamalnayan Bajaj. The board further diversified the company into the segments of cement, electrical, and home appliances, and that is precisely how they got so big in India. Though, after the demise of Kamalnayan in 1972, his brother Ramkrishna, and later, the affairs of the company were run by his grandson Rahul Bajaj, who studied at Harvard.

8. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Group

On the eighth spot of this list, we have L&T Group, with an insanely high market cap value of ₹4.91 trillion. Although established in 1938 by Danish engineers Henning Holck-Larsen and Søren Kristian Toubro, L&T began as a company manufacturing dairy equipment but soon diversified into many others. Today, L&T is a giant multinational conglomerate with interests in construction, engineering, IT, and financial services operating in more than 30 countries.

9. JSW Group

JSW Group was incorporated in 1982 by Sajjan Jindal, who started it with a re-rolling mill in Tarapur and began to diversify rapidly into steelmaking. By 1994 though, the first steel plant started in Vasind. And you’d be surprised to know that JSW Steel is alone standing at a market cap of ₹2.23 trillion. Over the last three decades, JSW grew like crazy and that can be seen in their profits and revenue, but this is one group that helped the general public a lot in the Covid-19 pandemic by setting up a 1,000-bed hospital.

10. Vedanta Group

Founded in 1976 by Anil Agarwal, the Vedanta Group started in a small unit of Mumbai as just a scrap metal company. Today, it is one of the largest natural resource companies in the world, with interests in zinc, lead, silver, copper, iron ore, steel, aluminum, Alloy Wheel,  and power sectors. And the prime company of this group, Vedanta Ltd stands proud with a huge market cap of about ₹1.75 trillion. Some of its landmark feats include getting into a listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2003, a first for any Indian company, and acquiring companies like Cairn India, along with the merger of Sterlite Industries with Sesa Goa Iron Ore.

Conclusion

That’s pretty much it. See, there are actually many business groups functional in India, but these are by far the biggest ones in the country, managing huge assets, and companies and having insanely high market capitalization.