New Brand Finance data shows India's top 100 brands reach a record combined value of $252.8 billion
MUMBAI, 14 July 2026 – Tata Group (brand value up 7% to USD33.6 billion) continues to retain its position as India’s most valuable brand accelerating into the future with strategic moves into electronics, data infrastructures and digital platforms, according to the India 100 2026 report from Brand Finance, the world's leading brand valuation consultancy.
The group’s sustained leadership reflects the enduring strength of India’s leading brands, supported by strategic investments across electric mobility, semiconductors, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing, while maintaining its leadership positions in IT services, steel, commercial vehicles, jewellery, and fashion.
The continued success of Tata Group reflects the broader resilience of India’s branded economy. The Brand Finance India 100 2026 ranking shows that the collective brand value of India’s top 100 brands reached USD252.8 billion, increasing by 7% year on year. Despite a challenging global environment, nine of the top 10 brands recorded brand value growth, driven by continued investments in digital transformation, infrastructure, manufacturing, financial inclusion, and innovation across key sectors.
Infosys (brand value stable at USD16.4 billion) retains its position as India’s second most valuable brand for the fifth consecutive year. The brand continues to benefit from strong demand for AI, cloud, and digital transformation services, alongside several major deal wins.
LIC Group (brand value up 12% to USD15.3 billion) continues to strengthen its position, benefiting from its nationwide reach, particularly in rural markets, supported by one of the world’s largest agent networks. LIC is also the only brand to feature among the top five rank of the country’s most valuable and strongest brands this year.
Ranked fourth, HDFC Group (brand value down 2% to USD13.9 billion) continues to hold a leading position in financial services, supported by its diversified presence across banking, housing finance, insurance, and asset management.
In fifth place, Reliance Group (brand value up 11% to USD10.8 billion) recorded strong growth driven by continued expansion across retail, telecommunications, digital services, and energy.
Ranked sixth, SBI Group (brand value up 2% to USD9.8 billion) maintained its leadership in banking, supported by its extensive branch network, growing digital capabilities, and financial inclusion initiatives. SBI is also recognised as India's strongest banking brand this year.
In seventh place, HCLTech (brand value at USD9 billion) benefits from continued demand for digital transformation and AI led services.
Making its debut in the top 10 at eighth place, Adani Group (brand value up 31% to USD8.5 billion) recorded one of the strongest performances this year, reflecting continued expansion across infrastructure, energy, logistics, airports, and renewable energy.
Ranked ninth, Larsen & Toubro Group (brand value up 12% to USD8.3 billion) strengthened its position through sustained growth across infrastructure, engineering, defence, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing.
Rounding off the top 10, Airtel (brand value up 6% to USD8.1 billion) continued to grow through investments in 5G, digital services, and enterprise solutions.
Meanwhile, Suzlon Energy (brand value up 114% to USD418 million) is the fastest-growing Indian brand in 2026, more than doubling its brand value over the past year. This exceptional growth reflects the company's strong operational turnaround, expanding order book, and increasing contribution to India's accelerating renewable energy transition.
Taj Hotel (brand value up 32% to USD878 million) has retained its position as India’s strongest brand for the fifth consecutive year, achieving a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 93.5/100 and an AAA+ brand strength rating. Brand Finance’s market research highlights the brand’s exceptional familiarity, understanding and unique hospitality service identified as ‘Tajness’ among consumers, with a significant proportion of respondents referring to Taj as their preferred hotel brand.
Zomato (brand value up 37% to USD1.4 billion) ranks second among India’s strongest brands this year, climbing up 14 positions (BSI score: 93.2/100, AAA+ brand strength rating). The brand performs particularly well on familiarity and understanding among consumers of food-tech and quick-commerce market, reflecting its strong market presence and widespread recognition.
Amul (brand value up 22% to USD5 billion) retains third position with a BSI score of 93/100 and an AAA+ brand strength rating. The brand continues to enjoy high levels of consideration and preference in dairy and food products segment, supported by strong price acceptance and deep consumer trust, according to Brand Finance’s market research.
Ajimon Francis, Managing Director India, Brand Finance, remarked:
"The continued growth of India's most valuable brands reflects the country's evolution into one of the world's most dynamic business environments powered by a massive domestic demand and brand resilience. Brand value today is increasingly shaped by innovation, sustainability, digital capability, and the ability to build lasting trust with stakeholders. Tata Group's consecutive top rank demonstrates the enduring value of long-term brand investment, while strong performances across sectors from financial services and technology to renewable energy to hi-tech manufacturing and mobility to hospitality illustrate the breadth of India's corporate strength. As Indian companies continue to expand globally, strong brands will remain a critical driver of growth, competitiveness, and international influence."
India’s sustainability leadership also gains recognition. Tata Group holds the highest Sustainability Perceptions Value (SPV) among Indian brands ranked, standing at USD2.9 billion while HCLTech has the highest positive sustainability gap value (USD76 million), suggesting that the brand outperforms public perception and could unlock further brand value through improved sustainability communications.
The detailed India 100 2026 report showcases 10 sub-sector rankings covering banking to IT Services to hospitality and tyres, among others. This section showcases leading brands and their remarkable achievements in individual industry categories.
TCS (brand value at USD21.2 billion) continues to maintain its leadership position as India’s most valuable IT services brand since 2014 and is the world’s second most valuable IT Services brand for the fifth year in a row. TCS crossed approximately USD30 billion in annual revenue in FY2025, reinforcing its position as one of the world's largest IT services companies.
Other notable performance from Indian brands this year include:
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance operates in over 25 countries. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 6,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on 6,000 brands, surveying more than 175,000 respondents across 41 countries and 31 industry sectors. By combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database — the largest brand value database in the world — Brand Finance equips ambitious brand leaders with the data, analytics, and the strategic guidance they need to enhance brand and business value.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics, compliant with ISO 20671.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm and a committed leader in the standardisation of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
