The aggregate net sales income of India's top 10 private sector companies crossed the Rs 1,00,000 crore mark for the financial year 2000-01, at Rs 1,02,058 crore.
Net sales income registered a hefty rise of Rs 38,992 crore, largely due to Reliance Petroleum which commenced commercial production during the year. With net sales of Rs 29,441 crore, Reliance Petroleum jousted Reliance Industries from the number one position among the private sector companies. Reliance Industries slipped to second place with net sales income of Rs 25,422 crore, followed by Hindustan Lever with Rs 10,604 crore.
The top corporates have done well in terms of rise in net sales in percentage terms, though the slowdown in the economy seems to have taken a toll on net profits.
More From This Section
Net sales of the nine companies (excluding Reliance Petroleum from the top ten league) increased by 15.14 per cent while net profits declined 1.94 per cent. Three auto majors in the top 10 list -- Tata Engineering, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Auto -- reported a drop in net sales. While Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra reported a over 50 per cent decline in net profits, Tata Engineering recorded a net loss of Rs 500 crore, against a profit of Rs 71.20 crore at the end of last year. The top three private sector companies, ranked in terms of sales, accounted for Rs 65,467 crore or 64.15 per cent of the total net sales, with two Reliance group companies taking the bulk of the share - Rs 54,863 crore or 53.76 per cent of the net sales.
The other private sector companies that have found a place in the top 10 by sales are Larsen & Toubro in the fourth place (net sales of Rs 7,379 crore), followed by Tata Steel (Rs 6,839 crore), Tata Engineering (Rs 6,804 crore), Grasim (Rs 4,822 crore), ITC (Rs 4,204 crore), Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs 3,521 crore) and Bajaj Auto (Rs 3,023 crore).
Compared to the rankings at the end of 1999-2000, L&T displaced Tata Engineering in the number 4 position, with the latter having slipped to the number 6 slot. Tata Steel moved up one notch to number 5, while Grasim, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Bajaj Auto retained their relative ranks.
Four firms - Reliance Industries, Reliance Petroleum, Hindustan Lever, and ITC - achieved net profits of over Rs 1,000 crore, accounting for 85.05 per cent of the net profits of the top 10 companies. Two Reliance group companies took the bulk with a share of 54.39 per cent.