Not Reliance, But TCS Is Most Valuable Brand In India; HDFC Bank, Infosys, Airtel, SBI In Top 5

Although billionaire Mukesh Ambani-backed Reliance Industries (RIL) is the largest company in India in terms of market capitalisation, it is Tata Group-backed flagship behemoth Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) that holds the title of the most valuable brand in the country for 2023. TCS retains its crown as India's most valuable brand for the second time in a row. Biggies like HDFC Bank and Infosys are in the top 3 most valued brands, while Bharti Airtel and SBI are in the top 5. Reliance holds the eighth spot with its telecom brand Jio. However, the overall combined market value of the top 75 Indian brands has declined by 4% in 2023 compared to the previous year, as per researcher Kantar's data.

According to Kantar's report, India's Top 75 brands have a combined brand value of $379 billion, a decline of 4% from 2022 - a modest decrease given the ongoing economic volatility across most of the world. This is a testament to Indian brands' resilience, stability and consistency.

Explaining the reason behind the single-digit decline, Kantar said that it "has been driven by brands in the Business Technology and Services Platforms category, which have a major presence in international markets, and therefore have been impacted by global pressures, recession threats and geopolitical instability."

Among the top 10 most valuable brands in India, TCS tops the chart with a brand value of $42.869 billion.

Deepender Rana, Executive Managing Director, Insights Division, South Asia at Kantar said, "TCS continues to successfully capitalise on global demand for digital transformation, despite a tough year for the business technology category in general."

TCS was followed by the largest private sector lender HDFC Bank with a brand value of $33.612 billion, followed by Infosys at the third rank with a brand value of $24.170 billion. Bharti Airtel and State Bank of India (SBI) were at the fourth and fifth spots with brand values of $22.517 billion and $14.483 billion.

Notably, the largest public sector lender, SBI jumped one place to enter the Top 5 in 2023.

Other most valuable brands in the top 10 list in chronological order are --- ICICI Bank with a brand value of $12.976 billion, Asian Paints with a $12.839 billion value, Jio with $11.773 billion value, Kotak Mahindra Bank with $10.332 billion value and lastly HCL Tech at tenth position with a brand value of $9.361 billion.

In terms of sectors, Kantar's report highlighted that the automotive category produced the Top 75's two fastest risers: TVS (No.51; $1.90 billion) and Mahindra (No.47; $2.01 billion) and achieved the second highest category growth at 19%. India's automotive brands have quickly responded to changing consumer needs, notably the shift in preference from hatchbacks to SUVs, and the demand for electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, the ranking's 16 Financial Services brands contribute the biggest chunk of its total value. They grew 6%, thanks to the boom in digital banking, led by Axis Bank (No.17; +28%) and ICICI Bank (No.6; +18%).

Also, telecom services providers witnessed strong performance, a 17% rise in total brand value. Airtel (No.4; +29%) took full advantage of the end of the price wars to focus on what makes it special and relevant to Indian consumers' lives.

Apart from this, in 2023, there are four newcomers to the Indian brand ranking, plus two re-entrants.

These are -- PhonePe - the highest entry at No.21 - has quickly become India's leading digital payment app by investing heavily in the strength of its infrastructure, building connections with partner banks, and developing a huge network of merchant acceptance points. Also making their debut are fintech brand Cred (No.48; $2 billion), photo and video sharing app ShareChat (No.67; $1.33 billion) and entertainment platform Star (No.71; $1.30 billion).

The companies behind India's most valuable brands have consistently outperformed the key market indices - the SENSEX and the NIFTY50 - with share price growth over 10 years of 99.6% compared with 83.2% and 81.7% respectively, Kantar's note said.

Looking ahead, Rana added, "We expect this trend to accelerate in the next decade as Indian brands don't just thrive in India, but also explore growth overseas in their quest to become true multinational giants. Our IT services brands have already done that, with TCS and Infosys already featuring in the Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand list."

He further said, "The strongest Indian brands have forged powerful connections by consistently adding value to people's lives, and consumers see them as different to their rivals in ways that matter. Brands must keep investing in building equity to create future demand, even as they capture existing demand which requires a better balance between short- and long-term strategy."