RIL overtakes ONGC to become India's most profitable firm

ONGC has slipped to third position, behind RIL and TCS, in profitmaking for the fiscal year 2014-15. Tata Motors also features at number 5 position, after SBI at fourth position.

Reliance Industries has overtaken state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) to become the nation's most profitable company, posting a consolidated net profit of Rs 23,566 crore in the 2014-15 fiscal.

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ONGC, which posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 18,334 crore in 2014-15, slipped to number three, behind RIL and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India's largest IT firm, according to earning data of listed firms available on the BSE.

The state-owned firm had for long held the pole position as India's most profitable firm. In 2013-14, ONGC posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 26,506.53 crore while RIL had a net profit of Rs 22,493 crore.

TCS posted a net profit of Rs 19,852 crore in the fiscal ending March 31, 2015 to become the second most profitable firm in the country. Another Tata Group firm- Tata Motors too figured on the list of top 10 profit-making firms. State Bank of India, the nation's largest lender, with a net profit of Rs 16,994 crore was fourth on the list, followed by Tata Motors with Rs 13,986 crore net profit in 2014-15.

RIL, which has presence from oil to yarn to retail, has seen profits grow by a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.75% over the past one decade. In contrast ONGC's profit has seen 1.96 per cent CAGR growth in the same period.

In 2005-06, RIL's consolidated net profit was Rs 9,398 crore. In the same year, ONGC had reported a net profit of Rs 15,397.63 crore. Even on quarterly profit basis, RIL topped the list with a net profit of Rs 6,381 crore in January-March period.

ONGC came a distance fourth with Rs 3,935 crore fourth quarter net profit. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) had the second biggest quarterly net profit of Rs 6,285 crore, followed by Coal India at Rs 4,239 crore.