The combined market valuation of four of the top-10 most valued firms eroded by ₹87,960.29 crore last week, with Bharti Airtel taking the biggest hit, in-tandem with a bearish trend in equities.

Last week, the BSE benchmark Sensex declined 468.42 points, or 0.60%, and the NSE Nifty dipped 114 points, or 0.46%.

“Indian equity markets ended the week on a cautious note, extending their recent corrective phase as elevated crude oil prices, rising global bond yields and persistent geopolitical uncertainty weighed on investor sentiment,” Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

The valuation of Bharti Airtel dropped ₹28,052.96 crore to ₹12,14,963.15 crore, the most among the top-10 firms.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) faced an erosion of ₹22,070.34 crore from its valuation, which stood at ₹8,31,436.51 crore.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of the State Bank of India declined ₹20,861.2 crore to ₹9,64,968.76 crore and that of Hindustan Unilever fell ₹16,975.79 crore to ₹4,73,912.56 crore.

However, the valuation of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) jumped Rs 12,650 crore to Rs 5,35,980.31 crore.

The mcap of Reliance Industries surged ₹8,119.53 crore to ₹17,78,175.59 crore, and that of Larsen & Toubro climbed ₹3,487.83 crore to ₹5,62,460.94 crore.

The market valuation of Bajaj Finance edged higher by ₹3,424.28 crore to ₹6,80,621.62 crore.

ICICI Bank added ₹752.47 crore taking its mcap to ₹10,18,330.45 crore.

The mcap of HDFC Bank went up ₹356.95 crore to ₹11,21,159.05 crore.

Reliance Industries remained the most valued firm, followed by Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, LIC and Hindustan Unilever.

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) and Rolls-Royce have announced their strategic intent to collaborate on the design, development, manufacture, and delivery of a sovereign, indigenous combat engine for India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme

Besides this RIL and Rolls-Royce said they will explore the formation of a dedicated Aerospace Gas Turbine Complex that will be a centre of excellence for power and propulsion technology in India.

“The partnership will offer a compelling proposition for joint development of the AMCA engine in India, bringing together world-leading technology and industrial execution capabilities,” the companies said in a joint statement.

Anant Ambani, Executive Director, RIL said, “India’s strategic autonomy requires sovereign capability in critical technologies. Our intent with Rolls-Royce is to combine their world-leading expertise in advanced propulsion with Reliance’s technology, manufacturing, scale and execution capabilities to build an indigenous aero-engine ecosystem in India.”

“Together, we aim to build an enduring national capability that can make India self-reliant and, over time, globally competitive in advanced propulsion technologies,” he added.

Tufan Erginbilgiç, CEO, Rolls-Royce said “I welcome the opportunity to join forces with RIL, bringing together our century-long heritage in advanced engineering and proven engine expertise with their homegrown leadership in Indian industry.”

“Together, with our existing partnerships and capabilities in India, this marks a major milestone towards building a robust, self-reliant aerospace ecosystem in the country,” he added.

By combining Rolls-Royce’s global leadership in engines with the industrial strengths of RIL, the Aero Gas Turbine Complex will build sovereign, end-to-end Indian capability across design, development, manufacturing, testing, production and through-life support, the companies said in the statement. 

This will also unlock opportunities to explore wider collaborations across defence, civil aerospace, and new power and propulsion systems, the statement added. 

Indian industrial groups Reliance, Vedanta and Adani ​have shown interest in developing facilities to process Andhra ⁠Pradesh State’s significant reserves of increasingly important rare-earth minerals, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

With New Delhi seeking to cut India’s dependence on China for ‌rare earths, the three companies are among about 10 who have expressed interest in setting up rare earth facilities ‌in the southern State, one of the sources said.

The sources declined ‌to ⁠be identified as they were not authorised to speak to ⁠the media.

Andhra Pradesh holds 211 million metric tons of beach sand mineral resources, including rare earths, across 16 identified coastal deposits, according to a draft document. India has ​482.6 million tons of rare earth ‌ore resources, according to the Geological Survey of India.

Rare earth ambitions

The interest comes as New Delhi steps up efforts to build domestic rare earth mining, processing and magnet manufacturing capacity, while Andhra Pradesh aims ‌to attract ₹500 billion ($5.2 billion) in rare earth and titanium ​investments over the next decade.

The plans were set out in a draft government document.

The Andhra Pradesh government, Reliance ⁠Industries Ltd , Vedanta Ltd and Adani Enterprises Ltd did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comment.

Andhra Pradesh was among four states identified in February’s federal ‌budget for the development of rare earth “corridors” covering mining, processing and magnet production.

The initiative followed New Delhi’s approval in November of a ₹73 billion programme to support rare earth magnet manufacturing.

Rare earth elements are essential for permanent magnets used in applications such as electric vehicle motors. While India holds substantial rare earth reserves, it lacks industrial-scale facilities ‌capable of processing the minerals to high purity levels.

Capital incentives and other measures

Andhra Pradesh ​plans to issue tenders for rare earth facilities after securing Cabinet approval for its rare earth corridor policy, which is ⁠expected within a month, the sources said.

The State also plans to offer capital-linked ⁠incentives and additional benefits for projects with investments of ₹10 billion or more, the sources said.

Andhra Pradesh has been courting ‌large-scale investments, attracting companies including Google and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, and aims to secure $1 trillion in investment commitments by 2029, a State minister ​told Reuters last November.

The combined market valuation of nine of the top 10 valued firms eroded by ₹3.12 lakh crore last week, with Reliance Industries taking the biggest hit.

Last week, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged by 2,090.2 points, or 2.7%, while the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 532.65 points, or 2.2%.

“Markets ended the week lower, breaking out of their three-week consolidation phase amid lingering geopolitical tensions in West Asia, persistent weakness in the rupee, and rising inflationary concerns,” Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

The sharp rise in crude oil prices above the $105-per-barrel mark intensified worries over imported inflation, fiscal stress, and pressure on corporate margins, he said.

From the top-10 pack, Bharti Airtel emerged as the only winner.

The market valuation of Reliance Industries tumbled ₹1,34,445.77 crore to ₹18,08,420.81 crore.

State Bank of India’s valuation eroded by ₹52,245.3 crore to ₹8,88,862.32 crore.

The valuation of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) tanked ₹47,415.04 crore to ₹8,19,062.65 crore and that of Bajaj Finance dived ₹27,892.28 crore to ₹5,66,717.74 crore.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of HDFC Bank dropped by ₹20,630.01 crore to ₹11,82,069.25 crore.

ICICI Bank’s market capitalisation diminished by ₹14,290 crore to ₹8,92,385.39 crore.

Larsen & Toubro’s valuation edged lower by ₹9,078.87 crore to ₹5,37,542.34 crore, and that of Hindustan Unilever fell by ₹3,970.8 crore to ₹5,33,592.18 crore.

The mcap of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) dipped by ₹2,182.12 crore to ₹5,05,367.32 crore.

However, the market valuation of Bharti Airtel jumped ₹42,470.13 crore to ₹11,60,525.16 crore.

Reliance Industries remained the most valued firm followed by HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever and LIC.

Reliance Industries ‌Ltd, operator of the world’s largest refining complex, ​is set to receive sanctions-compliant Russian oil in February and March after a one-month pause, four sources familiar with the matter said.

Reliance last received Russian crude in December after securing a one-month U.S. concession that allowed it to winddown dealings with the sanctioned Russian oil producer Rosneft beyond a November ​21 deadline.

Like other Indian refiners, Reliance will buy ⁠Russian oil from non-sanctioned sellers, the sources said, without elaborating on the number of February and March cargoes that the refiner has booked.

It is not clear if ​the private refinery will ⁠continue to buy Russian oil beyond March.

Reliance did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Refiners boost Middle East crude imports

Despite Reliance’s return, India’s overall Russian oil imports are ‌expected to stay subdued through February and March, the ‌sources added.

Reliance had been importing Russian crude under a long-term agreement with Rosneft for 500,000 barrels per ‍day (bpd) for its 1.4 million bpd Jamnagar refinery complex in Gujarat.

The European Union has said from January 21 it will ‍not take fuel produced at refineries that received or processed Russian oil 60 days prior to the bill-of-lading date.

Reliance has said it will process the cargoes that arrived after November 20 at its India-focused 660,000 barrels per day plant, allowing it to continue selling fuels to the EU from its 704,000 bpd export-oriented refinery.

Refiners in India, which became the top buyer of discounted Russian ⁠seaborne crude following the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine, are recalibrating their crude import strategies, raising Middle ​Eastern purchases as they shift away from Russia.

“We have faced ⁠instances where sanctions were imposed suddenly and we had to cut back,” Srinivas T, chief operating officer, refinery and marketing, at Reliance, said last week.

Reliance had ramped up purchases from national oil companies elsewhere ahead of time ⁠to avoid spot market disruptions, he
said.

Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar refinery, the largest in the world, is not expected to receive any oil from Russia in January 2026, and did not receive any Russian oil in the last three weeks, the company said in a statement.

This statement comes after the November 20, 2025, announcement by the company that it had halted the import of Russian oil for its export-oriented Special Economic Zone unit at Jamnagar. 

The company was responding to a news report that had alleged that shipments of Russian oil were approaching the Jamnagar refinery.

“Reliance Industries’s Jamnagar refinery has not received any cargo of Russian oil at its refinery in the past three weeks approx. and is not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries in January.

India’s two private sector refiners — Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy — used to be the largest importers of Russian oil in India. However, Nayara, which has significant ownership by Russia’s Rosneft, was sanctioned by the European Union and United Kingdom, following which it drastically cut down on Russian oil imports. 

The issue of Russian oil imports by India is a sensitive one because of the 25% ‘penalty’ tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump levied in August 2025 on imports from India due to its imports of Russian oil. 

The latest official data from the government shows that India actually increased its Russian oil imports in November 2025 to 7.7 million tonnes, which is the highest in six months. This increased Russia’s share in India’s oil import basket to 35.1%. 

The statement by Reliance comes two days after U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday (January 4, 2026) said that India had cut its oil imports from Russia in recent months in an effort to “make him happy”, and to secure a trade deal with the U.S.. He simultaneously threatened that more tariffs could “come quickly” if India continues its purchases.

Reliance Industries has completed the merger of Star Television Productions Ltd (STPL), a subsidiary of the company, with Jiostar.

STPL owns the ‘STAR’ brand and licenses it to group companies.

On November 14, 2024, Reliance had intimated about the scheme of arrangement for the merger of STPL with Star India, now known as Jiostar India, another subsidiary of the company.

“Jiostar has, on November 30, 2025 at 6:09 p.m. (IST), informed the company that the said scheme has become effective from November 30, 2025, and STPL stands merged with Jiostar,” Reliance Industries Ltd informed in a regulatory filing on Monday (December 1, 2025).

JioStar is the joint venture created after the merger of the media business of Reliance and the India business of global media giant Walt Disney in November 2024. The combined company was valued at $8.5 billion.

It is the country’s leading media and entertainment platform and had reported revenues of ₹7,232 crore in the September quarter along with a profit after tax of ₹1,322 crore.

It had launched JioHotstar after the merger of two leading OTT platforms — JioCinema and Disney + Hotstar — in February 2025.