Business
Airtel leads as India’s stock market creates Rs 148 lakh crore wealth in 5 years: Motilal Oswal study
Airtel and ICICI Bank emerge as the biggest winners
Bharti Airtel has topped the list as the biggest wealth creator, adding Rs 7.9 lakh crore in market value over the five-year period. ICICI Bank followed closely with Rs 7.4 lakh crore, driven by strong balance-sheet strength, sustained earnings growth, and steady market-share gains across retail and corporate banking.
Consumer-facing, financial services, defence, and PSU stocks form a large part of the top-100 list, reflecting a broadening rally beyond traditional leaders.
BSE becomes the fastest wealth creator
The BSE itself emerged as the fastest wealth creator, delivering a staggering 124% CAGR in total returns during 2020–25. To illustrate the scale. Rs 1 crore invested equally in the top 10 fastest wealth creators in 2020 would now be worth Rs 24 crore. That translates into an 88% CAGR, compared with just 24% for the Nifty Total Return Index.
BSE’s strong operating leverage, increasing cash volumes, and the rapid shift of SME listings to its platform helped lift valuations sharply.
HAL tops consistency and overall performance
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has emerged as the star of the study in two categories. In the most consistent wealth creator, HAL outperformed the Nifty TRI in each of the past five years. Meanwhile, in the best all-round wealth creator, the ranking combines performance across the biggest, fastest and most consistent categories. HAL’s total return CAGR of 75% sealed its position as India’s top all-round performer.
The defence PSU has seen a re-rating cycle on the back of a record order book, rising exports, government push for indigenisation, and steady margin expansion.
The study notes that 2020–25 has been unique. A period of extreme volatility followed by a powerful structural rally led by domestic investors, strong corporate earnings, and global supply-chain shifts favouring India.
Motilal Oswal said continued domestic flows, financialisation of household savings, and the rise of new-age sectors suggest that wealth creation could remain broad-based. But they also flagged that valuations in many segments now look stretched.
Also read: Nifty struggling to hold its peak. 5 reasons why this is a worrying sign for investors
Going forward, Motilal Oswal expects India’s GDP to quadruple again to $16 trillion in the next 17 years after it quadrupled from $1 trillion to $4 trillion in the last 17 years.
This is a multi-trillion dollar (MTD) opportunity, as the report puts it, for many businesses to explode, especially financials (including Capital Market) and consumer discretionaries such as autos, consumer durables, healthcare, etc.
