At a time when the Indian equity market rallied to record highs, Tata Sons emerged as the largest promoter of listed companies in India. It overtook the center in terms of the promoter of listed companies by the end of 2020. In particular, the central government has become the largest promoter of listed entities after 20 years.
The media said that this growth was due to the increased shareholding of Tata Sons’ listed companies and the declining market capitalization of the market. Tata Sons’ stake in the listed companies of the group has grown by 34 percent to Rs 9.28 lakh crore in the last one year, which is more than Rs 9.24 lakh crore by the Government of India in public sector undertakings.
The Centre’s stake in PSUs declined by nearly 20 per cent in the last year. At the end of 2020, Tata group companies had a total market valuation of Rs 15.6 lakh crore, as opposed to Rs 11.6 lakh crore in 2019. Whereas, by the end of 2020, listed state-run companies were valued at Rs 15.3 lakh crore. Falling from Rs 18.6 lakh crore a year ago.
Shares of both major energy ONGC and Indian Oil Corp lost 27 percent in 2020. PSU declined due to stake sale by the government, severe impact on earnings of oil and gas PSUs in 2020, and tensions in shares of public sector banks. Among banks, Punjab National Bank shares have fallen by almost 50 percent, State Bank of India shares have fallen by about 19 percent.
In contrast, the share price of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the second-largest company in terms of market capitalization, rose by about 34 percent during the same period. The market capitalization of TCS is now around Rs 11 lakh crore. Tata Sons have a 72 percent stake in TCS. Tata Consumer Products’ share price rose 85 percent in 2020.