THE $2-TRILLION CLUB

THE INDIAN corporate sector is in the midst of rapid transformation—a fact acknowledged not just in India but also increasingly across the world. Nowhere is this metamorphosis more evident than in the Fortune 500 India list, the definitive compendium of corporate performance. This year, the Fortune 500 India cohort has hit peak revenues and peak profits, a sign that this up-move could well be a constant.

- By SOURAV MAJUMDAR

The reasons are not far to seek: As V. Keshavdev, who helmed the Fortune 500 India project, writes in his opening essay, the period between 2020 and 2025 forced a churn within India Inc., which led to a cleanup of balance sheets, inefficient capacity shutting down, and technology becoming core to businesses. The Reserve Bank of India, too, notes this in its October bulletin. Explaining how the corporate sector, post-pandemic, has emerged as one of the important economic growth drivers, RBI points to its resilience during- and after Covid. Explaining how corporates remained resilient during the pandemic, RBI says: “[The] corporate sector rebounded strongly thereafter, supported by fiscal and monetary policies, pandemic-led pent-up demand, and effective cost management... Balance sheet analysis indicates that corporates continued to deleverage their balance sheet, which will help to undertake fresh investment activitie