CIL is India's third most valued firm

State-run Coal India has become the third most powerful Indian company with a total market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 2,09,671.57 crore and is only lagging behind RIL and ONGC.

The coal behemoth added another feather to its cap last week when it replaced IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become the country's third most coveted firm.

CIL added Rs 7,611.21 crore to its valuation, which on Friday stood at Rs 2,09,671.57 crore.

According to market analysts, investors are optimistic about the stock and looking at the cash balance of the company it is likely that it may go for acquisitions either in the domestic space or overseas.

Meanwhile, the cumulative market valuation of the eight of the top-10 firms reduced by Rs 57,044.09 crore in the past week.

RIL, the country's most valuable firm, witnessed a wealth erosion of Rs 21,270.47 crore. Yet with a market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 3,26,207 crore this weekend, it still maintained its top rank in the top-10 companies as per their valuations.

Similarly, another energy major, ONGC, suffered a loss of Rs 8,865.61 crore from its market valuation. The m-cap of ONGC was Rs 2,70,641.92 crore.

Besides, two of the top IT firms-- TCS and Infosys Technologies-- together witnessed a loss of Rs 9,555.12 crore from their combined valuations. TCS's m-cap was at Rs 1,99,272.32 crore, while that of Infosys was at Rs 1,70,286 crore.

Similarly, the country's top two lenders-- SBI and ICICI Bank-- together shed Rs 8,611.26 crore from their cumulative market valuations. The m-cap of SBI and ICICI stood at Rs 1,89,976.31 crore and Rs 1,31,912.11 crore, respectively.

The valuation of power major NTPC also declined by Rs 6,472.7 crore to Rs 1,51,963.83 crore, while that of FMCG giant ITC diminished by Rs 2,268.9 crore to Rs 1,31,407.57 crore.

Top private telco Bharti Airtel earned a place for itself in the exclusive top-ten club by kicking out engineering major Larsen & Toubro. Airtel added Rs 8,658 crore to its m-cap, which was at Rs 1,24,881.45 crore on Friday.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex plunged by 571.45 points or 2.83 per cent during the past week to close at 19,585.44 at the end of Friday's trade.