India’s TOP 500 Companies 2021

INDIA’S TOP 500 COMPANIES 2021 5 Dun & Bradstreet, in association with CtrlS and Cloud4C, is pleased to bring to you the publication ‘India’s Top 500 Companies 2021’. The publication, now in its 21st edition, is a tribute to India’s Top 500 Companies, who epitomize the frontrunners among Indian corporates. The publication lists and profiles leading 500 Indian companies among listed large corporates and ranks them on the basis of their key financial indicators recorded in FY20. It also provides useful insights on the collective performance of the universe of Top 500 Companies, spread across nearly 60 sectors. The publication captures several valuable insights on the collective performance of the universe of Top 500 Companies during FY20. Some of the key highlights that have been captured in this edition are as follows: - • In FY20, the aggregate total income of India’s Top 500 Companies remained flat as compared to the preceding year. Overall growth was largely pegged back by a 5.4% decline in aggregate total income of manufacturing companies, which accounted for two-thirds of the universe of Top 500 Companies in the current edition. • At the bottom-line level, however, depressed revenues led to a sharp 12.4% decline in aggregate net profit during FY20. Key sectors such as Automobiles, Mining – Metals & Minerals, Engineering Projects/Capital Goods, Retail, Iron & Steel and Oil – Refining & Marketing witnessed sharp decline in net profits during the year. • The Indian stock markets saw a bad year in FY20, with the BSE shedding 24.9% of market capitalization as on 31 March 2020 as compared to the corresponding date a year ago. Likewise, the aggregate market capitalisation of Top 500 Companies declined by a sharp 23.2%. This year’s edition of the publication also provides two new special listings, as under: - • In line with the theme of this year’s publication, i.e. “Laying the Foundations for an ESG-Ready Corporate India”, we have included a special listing titled ‘India’s Leading 100 ESGPerformers’. The Top 500 Companies were assessed using Dun & Bradstreet’s ESG Assessment Framework, which consists of ESG themes and parameters against which a company’s ESG initiatives are assessed based on information available in the public domain. The Top 100 ranked companies on the basis of this framework have been featured in this listing. • This year’s edition of the publication also provides a special listing titled ‘India’s Premier 150 Unlisted Companies’ as a tribute to the performance of large corporates that are not listed on the bourses. For the purpose of this listing, Dun & Bradstreet identified India’s leading 150 unlisted companies on the basis of their standalone total income for FY20. The Indian economy is still grappling with the impact of the pandemic, and it will take a well-planned, disciplined and concerted effort on the part of the Government, enterprises and citizens to emerge out of its shadow. Sustainable and responsible growth strategies, combined with the scale and reach of large corporates, especially India’s Top 500 Companies, can help influence a quick revival in the face of the ongoing pandemic. Wehopeyouenjoy reading ‘India’s Top500Companies 2021’ and welcome your feedback and suggestions. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Preeta Misra Senior Director - Credibility & Business Insights Group (CBIG) & Learning & Economic Insights Group (LEIG) Dun & Bradstreet India Dun & Bradstreet