TIME named Reliance Group, Tata, Serum Institute as world’s most influential companies

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
NEW YORK, 1st June. TIME prestigious list of 100 World’s Most Influential Companies of 2024 under the ‘Titans’ category named Reliance Industries, announced in a press release issued on Friday.

This was the second time Reliance Group’s revolutionary work was recognised by TIME, it said.

Jio Platforms was included in the inaugural TIME 100 Most Influential Companies List of 2021. This gives Reliance the unique distinction of being the only Indian company to win the recognition twice.

TIME called Reliance Industries ‘India’s Juggernaut’ in its latest listing.

It mentioned: “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 $200 billion.”

Reliance Industries Ltd has revolutionised several economic sectors in the world’s most populous country India by making world-class products and services available at affordable prices with multiple innovations.

Under the visionary leadership of Chairman Mukesh Ambani, RIL has spearheaded many transformative and inclusive initiatives, such as:

Jio revolutionised India’s digital landscape and drove digital inclusion on an unprecedented scale with the most affordable mobile data tariffs in the world.

Reliance set up the world’s largest single-location refining complex.

Reliance Retail is among the top 100 retailers globally and in FY2024. it registered 1.06bn footfalls across its 18,800+ stores (67% of which are in small towns & villages).

Reliance is investing $10bn in building the most comprehensive ecosystem for New Energy and New Materials in India to secure the promise of a sustainable future.

Reliance has set an ambitious goal to reach net zero carbon by 2035 and is taking various steps to achieve it.

Nita M Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation touched the lives of more than 76 million people across India in more than 55,550 villages and urban locations.

This was the fourth edition of the annual TIME100 Most Influential Companies list, highlighting companies making an extraordinary impact around the world.

Tata Group was included in the list under the ‘Titans’ category and Pune-based Serum Institute SII was part of the ‘Pioneers’ section.

Tata Group and the Adar Poonawalla-run Serum Institute of India have been recognised among the top 100 ‘World’s Most Influential Companies of 2024’ by Time magazine.

According to the company’s description by the magazine in its list it was “Founded in 1868, the Tata Group long cemented its place in India’s economy, its vast portfolio extending from steel, software, watches, subsea cables, and chemicals, to salt, grains, air-conditioners, fashion, and hotels”.

As rivals have aggressively courted new businesses, it struggled to keep up with stiff competition.

In 2017, after over a century of family management, the “high-tech pivot” N. Chandrasekaran took over as Chairman of Tata Group despite having no personal ties to the family highly unusual when India’s business landscape is ruled by family succession plans.

As chair, he has transformed the group by investing in tech manufacturing, AI, and semiconductor chips.

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

In February, Tata’s combined market capitalisation reached $365 billion, “more than the entire economy of India’s neighbour and rival, Pakistan”.

Serum as the world’s biggest vaccine maker is no stranger to churn out billions of vaccines it makes 3.5 billion doses every year, including for measles, polio, and most recently, HPV.

Serum’s CEO Poonawalla told Time magazine that the company’s success can largely be chalked up to its private ownership.

“We’ve always looked at growth not in terms of pricing, but in providing access,” he was quoted as saying.

The company provided 90 per cent of the vaccines for India, and after that, began exporting the vaccine to other countries as well.

SII stopped manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines at the end of 2021, and in 2022, it destroyed 210 million doses of vaccines sitting in stockpiles