The market capitalisation of Reliance Industries (RIL) is now greater than the combined m-cap of the country’s top two private banks — HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. The change shows a distinct shift in the market’s leadership position in a post-Covid world. The combined m-cap of the two banking giants on January 31 stood at Rs 10.11 lakh crore, while that of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate was at Rs 8.95 lakh crore. At Thursday’s market close, the m-cap of RIL was Rs 10.01 lakh crore, while the combined m-cap of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank was at Rs 7.75 lakh crore.
The banking sector has been beaten down on asset quality concerns as the lockdown has hit both retail and corporate borrowers hard. Following the January highs, the markets saw a broad-based sell-off due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic uncertainties that came with it.
