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Today's prices ask more of Reliance Industries than of BPCL.
At current prices, buyers of BPCL are assuming about 0% growth against 3% in its own record; for Reliance Industries it is 6% against 7%. That shows which share needs more to go right — not which is cheaper. How far each trades from its estimated fair value is in the full valuations.
- Valuation method: BPCL on estimate withheld; Reliance Industries on estimate withheld.
- Size: Reliance Industries is worth about 14.1 times BPCL on the stock market.
- Record: On revenue the two have grown at much the same pace: BPCL compounded at about 8% a year (FY2018–FY2026) and Reliance Industries at about 9% (FY2019–FY2026).
- What to watch: refining margins at BPCL; jio's revenue per user at Reliance Industries.
| BPCL | Reliance Industries | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ₹302 | ₹1,340 |
| Market cap | ₹1.29L Cr | ₹18.13L Cr |
| P/E | 8.2 | 22.1 |
| P/B | 1.29 | 2.01 |
| Fair value 🔒 sign in | ₹0,000 | ₹0,000 |
| Upside 🔒 sign in | +00% | +00% |
| Valued on | Estimate withheld | Estimate withheld |
01Two businesses
A state refiner and fuel retailer
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), majority-owned by the Government of India, runs refineries at Mumbai, Kochi and Bina and one of the country's largest networks of petrol pumps. It also sells LPG under the Bharatgas brand and has interests in upstream oil and gas.
Three businesses under one share price
Reliance Industries started out in textiles and petrochemicals and is now India's most valuable listed company. Its oldest engine, oil-to-chemicals (O2C), runs the Jamnagar refining complex and turns crude oil into fuels, polymers and polyester. Profits there rise and fall with global refining margins, which is why the segment is valued as a capital-heavy commodity business.
02The records side by side
On revenue the two have grown at much the same pace: BPCL compounded at about 8% a year (FY2018–FY2026) and Reliance Industries at about 9% (FY2019–FY2026). By revenue, Reliance Industries is about 2.1 times the size of BPCL. BPCL kept 4.9% of revenue as net profit in FY2026; Reliance Industries kept 8.9% of revenue as net profit in FY2026.
Full ten-year tables and charts are on each company's page: BPCL · Reliance Industries.
03What each price assumes
Work backwards from each share price and you can see what buyers are taking for granted — the rate each company must sustain to justify what it costs, against what its own record supports.
04What decides each one's value
- Refining marginsProduct prices minus crude costs drive refining profit.
- Marketing marginsRetail fuel pricing decides marketing profit.
- Jio's revenue per userThe network is already built, so each tariff increase drops almost straight to profit. How far revenue per user can rise without losing subscribers is the biggest single swing factor in the group's value.
- Retail's store economicsRetail is worth what each store earns once it matures, not how many stores open. Slower same-store growth would shrink this part of the valuation faster than any other.
05What could go wrong
- Government pricingRetail prices can be held down when crude rises.
- Crude volatilityInventory gains and losses swing reported profit.
- The holding-company discountMarkets often value conglomerates below the sum of their parts, and that discount can last for years.
- New energy is still a betThe solar, battery and hydrogen projects are early, capital-hungry and not yet proven at scale.
06Which is better value?
Sign in free to see which trades further below its worth
- ✓Both fair values per share — each on the method that fits the business
- ✓Every step of both workings — growth, margins and cost of capital, with sources
- ✓Bull, base and bear cases — for each company
- ✓Downloadable reports — the full write-up for each, yours to keep
08Questions people ask
Is BPCL or Reliance Industries better value?
That turns on how far each share trades from its estimated fair value. Both figures, with every step of the working, are in the full valuations, free to view once you sign in. On the public numbers, BPCL trades at 8.2 times earnings and 1.29 times book value, and Reliance Industries at 22.1 times earnings and 2.01 times book value — but multiples alone mislead when two businesses work differently, which is why each is valued on the method that fits it.
What is the difference between BPCL and Reliance Industries?
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), majority-owned by the Government of India, runs refineries at Mumbai, Kochi and Bina and one of the country's largest networks of petrol pumps. Reliance Industries started out in textiles and petrochemicals and is now India's most valuable listed company.
Are BPCL and Reliance Industries valued the same way?
No. BPCL is valued on estimate withheld and Reliance Industries on estimate withheld, because forcing one model onto both would misstate at least one of them.
What does today's price assume for BPCL and Reliance Industries?
Worked backwards from the share price, BPCL needs about 0% growth and Reliance Industries about 6% growth, against 3% and 7% in their own records.