HDFC Bank tops India's most valued brands for 2025, overtaking TCS
New Delhi, Nov 19, 2025
Zomato emerges fastest-rising brand for second year in a row
Financial services giant HDFC Bank, carrying a brand value of $44.9 billion, has surged past IT consulting behemoth Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to reclaim its crown as the country’s most valued brand, according to the 2025 Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Indian Brands report.
As the country’s largest private bank, HDFC Bank has seen its brand value rise 377 per cent since the first BrandZ India Report was released in 2014. Kantar BrandZ calculates brand value by a combination of financial matrices: The share of the parent company’s worth attributed to the brand; and brand contribution, which captures how much the brand drives demand and supports premium pricing.
HDFC Bank had held the lead from 2014 until TCS moved past it in 2022.
“In the years since its merger with HDFC Ltd, HDFC Bank has doubled down on brand-forward innovation, introducing a suite of signature, ownable brand assets like its Vigil Aunty safety persona and its 30-minute digital auto loan,” the report said.
Soumya Mohanty, managing director and chief solutions officer, South Asia, Kantar, said: “Brands can outperform market conditions, even in the face of headwinds, when they are built on a foundation of deep consumer understanding. These resilient brands don’t just survive, they grow by staying closely aligned with evolving consumer needs and expectations.”
But like-for-like brand growth has slowed to 6 per cent this year, from 19 per cent last year. “Investment behind brands needs to pick up. Consumer perception of brands, where they see brands as meaningful and different, is eroding. Only when a brand is seen as meaningful and different can it last in the ranking. There is also an added need to add value,” she added.
According to the report, India’s top 100 most valuable brands together are now worth $523.5 billion, or around 13 per cent of the country’s GDP. This year’s list expands to 100 brands, with total brand value up 6 per cent year-on-year and 34 brands increasing their value.
Eighteen newcomers entered the list. UltraTech Cement, in the materials category, debuted in seventh place with a brand valuation of $14.5 billion, emerging as “the preferred choice for individual home builders, not just large-scale projects, through emotional storytelling, expert guidance and one-stop retail solutions that empower consumers in their home-building journey,” according to the report.
Retail chain Westside, valued at $3.3 billion, and affordable fashion label Zudio, at $2.5 billion, both from the Tata group, also made their first appearance at numbers 38 and 52.
Zomato remained the fastest-rising brand for the second year in a row, climbing 10 places to 21 and nearly doubling its brand value to $6 billion as it expands beyond food delivery into neighbouring lifestyle categories.
Travel brands were among this year’s notable climbers. Luxury hotel chain Taj reached a valuation of $2.9 billion; IndiGo, India’s largest airline, was valued at $5.1 billion; online travel platform MakeMyTrip at $2.4 billion; and automotive manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra at $5.5 billion -- signalling a growing “experience economy” across the country.
[The Business Standard]
