Indian startups shed ₹4 lakh crore in value led by Byju's, PharmEasy & more

• RIL, TCS, HDFC Bank retain top spots as India’s most valuable companies.
• India’s 500 most valuable companies have a cumulative value of ₹231 lakh crore, as per a Burgundy Hurun report.
• Suzlon Energy, Jindal Stainless and JSW Infrastructure saw triple digit growth in value in the last one year.

Reliance Industries, TCS and HDFC Bank retained their ranks as India’s most valuable companies respectively in the 2023 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500, released on Monday. The combined value of the top 10 companies remained unchanged in the last one year, at ₹73.3 lakh crore. However, the picture wasn't as rosy for the startup ecosystem.

The top 10 had a mixed year, five of them seeing a robust double double digit growth in value, two of them saw single-digit growth, and three of them shed around 10% of their value. L&T’s value went up by 41%, HDFC Bank’s value swelled by 35% due the merger with its parent, and ITC too saw its value swell by 24%.

Notable exits & big comebacks

Startups, however, had a bad year with Swiggy shedding 26% of its value, Dream11’s value went down by 9.8%, and Razorpay by 8.5%. Meanwhile, in the listed space, while most new-age companies like Policybazaar, Delhivery, Zomato Paytm, saw their valuations go up, Nykaa remained an outlier as it shed 26.8% of its value.

Byju’s and Pharmeasy exited the list which has a new cut off rate of ₹6,700 crore. “Startup funding and valuation continued their downward trajectory. Startups in the list cumulatively lost ₹4 lakh crore led by Byjus, Dealshare, and Pharmeasy; which failed to make it to the list this year,” Hurun said.

The unlisted universe had yet another disappointment. India’s most valuable unlisted company and Covid-19 vaccine maker Serum Institute of India saw its value decrease by 13% to ₹1.9 lakh crore.

There have been many comeback stories as well amongst the top 500 companies. Suzlon Energy registered one of the highest value growth this year, as its value swelled by a remarkable 436%. Jindal Stainless’ value went up by 395% and JSW Infrastructure by 310%.

“It indicates a rise in renewable energy and infrastructure development. For instance, INOX Wind, which was on the path to insolvency in 2017, registered a 450% growth in value and stormed into 2023 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher, of Hurun India.

But, 61 new companies made their debut to the list, led by industrial products with 16 new entrants, followed by financial services with 10 new entrants. Apart from Inox Wind, freshly listed R R Kabel and Welspun Corp were the notable unlisted entrants including unicorn Incred Finance, and Bengaluru-based gaming startup Gameskraft.

Jio Financial Services which recently demerged from RIL is the 28th most valuable company.

Top 10 of 2023 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500


500 companies’ combined value remained flat since 2021

India’s 500 most valuable companies, which includes listed as well as unlisted companies, have a cumulative value of ₹231 lakh crore ($2.8 trillion). They went up from ₹212 lakh crore from June last year, but remained flat since 2021, the report says.

“The 2023 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 list is a strong confirmation of the Indian economy's solid performance in all sectors. The increase in new entrants from industrial goods shows India's rising manufacturing growth,” said Junaid.

The combined value of the listed and unlisted companies which made it to the 2023 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500, is more than the combined GDP of Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Singapore, the report said.

“The 2023 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 companies represent India’s economically strongest businesses. The reason is self-explanatory as these companies have a total value of $2.8 trillion, which is almost 90% of India’s current GDP, i.e. they are the backbone of India’s economy. Together, these 500 companies had combined sales of ₹79 lakh crore and employed 7 million staff, which is more than the working population of Switzerland,” Junaid said.

The cut off for companies to enter the list went up by 13% to ₹6,700 crore.