SYNOPSIS: Motilal Oswal’s Wealth Creation Study shows India’s top 100 stocks added a record Rs. 148 trillion during 2020-25, led by financials, PSUs, and consistent compounders outperforming benchmarks.
The 30th edition of Motilal Oswal’s Wealth Creation Study reviews India’s most impactful wealth generators between 2020 and 2025, ranking the top 100 listed companies based on the value they created to the shareholders. Wealth creation is assessed through net gains in market cap, with adjustments made for corporate actions including restructurings, capital raising, share buybacks, and dividend distributions.
The five-year period turned out to be a historic phase for India’s equity markets. Following the steep market correction triggered by the Covid-led lockdowns in March 2020, the top 100 companies went on to collectively add Rs. 148 trillion in market capitalisation. This represents the highest wealth creation recorded across any five-year period in the study’s three-decade history. Over this timeframe, investor wealth expanded at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38 percent, significantly outperforming the BSE Sensex, which delivered a 21 percent CAGR.
Who Created the Most Wealth?
Bharti Airtel emerged as India’s largest wealth creator during the 2020-2025 period, adding Rs. 7.9 trillion in investor wealth, driven by strong operating performance and sustained valuation re-rating. ICICI Bank and State Bank of India followed closely, creating Rs. 7.42 trillion and Rs. 5.59 trillion in wealth, respectively, underscoring the banking sector’s dominant contribution to market value creation.
Top 10 Biggest Wealth Creators (2020-25)RankCompanyWealth Created (Rs. Bn)1Bharti Airtel7,9442ICICI Bank7,4173SBI5,5934Bajaj Finance4,2065Larsen & Toubro3,9746ITC3,7657HCL Technologies3,7088Sun Pharma3,4599Mahindra And Mahindra3,05510NTPC2,997Total of Top 1046,117Total of Top 1001,47,988
BSE stood out as the fastest wealth creator, delivering a remarkable total return CAGR of 124 percent over the five-year period. An equal investment in the top 10 fastest wealth creators would have grown Rs. 1 crore into Rs. 24 crore, translating into an 88 percent CAGR – substantially outperforming the Nifty Total Return Index’s (TRI) 24 percent return.
Top 10 Fastest Wealth Creators (2020-25)RankCompanyTotal Return – CAGR (%)1BSE1242Rail Vikas Nigam953Jinal Stainless904GE Vernova T&D855Persistent Systems836FACT827Dixon Technologies798Adani Power799Adani Enterprises7610Hitachi Energy76
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was recognised as the most consistent wealth creator, outperforming the Nifty TRI in each of the five years. The company delivered a total return CAGR of 75 percent and also earned the distinction of the best all-round wealth creator, reflecting its strength across scale, consistency, and speed of value creation.
Top 10 Most Consistent Wealth Creators (2020-25)RankCompanyTotal Return – CAGR (%)1Hindustan Aeronautics752Welspun Corp703Bharat Dynamics704Indian Bank695Bharat Electronics666Jindal Steel627Patanjali Foods618Cholamandalam Investment589Minda Corporation5710Radico Khaitan56
Sectors Driving India’s Wealth Creation Momentum
Financials, including capital market companies, emerged as the single largest contributors to India’s wealth creation over the past five years, reinforcing their role as Prime movers of the economy. Strong profitability, sustained credit growth, and healthier balance sheets enabled banks and financial institutions to dominate the wealth creation rankings, reflecting their central influence on overall market performance.
The study also points to a notable resurgence in public sector enterprises (PSUs), particularly across defence, energy, and utilities. Companies such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), and NTPC featured prominently, signalling renewed investor confidence in government-backed businesses driven by improved efficiency, policy support, and stronger financial execution. Alongside PSUs, sectors such as industrials, capital markets, technology, and utilities also played a meaningful role in shaping wealth creation trends.
Overall, the findings underscore the importance of long-term investing anchored in consistent execution and robust fundamentals. The study highlights how investors benefited from both re-rating opportunities in companies like Bharti Airtel and steady outperformance from consistent performers such as HAL. It also draws attention to sector rotations and the revival of PSUs as key themes influencing market opportunities.
For investors, this wealth creation study serves as a practical framework for building balanced portfolios by combining high-growth companies, consistent compounders, and businesses with all-round strength. By tracking sectoral trends and focusing on data-backed performance rather than short-term market noise, investors can better identify long-term wealth creators and adopt a more disciplined investment approach.
Written by Shivani Singh
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