Reliance, Tata Group & Serum Institute Enter TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies List

Reliance Industries and the Tata Group have made it to TIME magazine's list of 100 World's Most Influential Companies of 2024. For Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate, this is not the first time as TIME had featured its digital arm, Jio Platforms back in 2021 as well.

India's Serum Institute has also made it to the list, alongside Reliance Industries and the Tata Group. TIME has placed both the conglomerates in the "Titans" category. Meanwhile, Serum Institute was included in the "Pioneers" category.

"Reliance Industries was founded as a textile and polyester company 58 years ago by Dhirubhai Ambani. Today the sprawling conglomerate -- which has aligned its growth with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for a 'self-reliant' India -- is the country's most valuable company, with a market capitalisation of more than USD 200 billion," TIME said.

Now led by Dhirubhai's son Mukesh, the Mumbai-based company has ventures in energy, retail, and telecommunications, among others, and has made its chairman Asia's richest man, it said.

In February, Reliance secured its lead in India's growing streaming market by sealing an $8.5 billion merger deal with Disney's India business, beating out tough competition.

Reliance Retail is among the top 100 retailers globally. In FY24, it had over 1.06 billion visits to its 18,800+ stores, with 67 per cent present in small towns and villages.

TIME, further, described Serum as the world's biggest vaccine maker, churning out billions of vaccines. The company makes 3.5 billion doses every year, including for measles, polio, and most recently, HPV.

Tata Group, it said, was founded in 1868 and has a vast portfolio extending from steel, software, watches, subsea cables, and chemicals, to salt, grains, air-conditioners, fashion, and hotels.

The publication also talked about the group's investment in tech manufacturing, AI, and semiconductor chips.

In 2023, it became the first Indian company to assemble iPhones, and is building another plant, it said, adding that in September, Tata announced a partnership with Nvidia to develop an AI cloud in India.

(With inputs from PTI)