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Today's prices ask more of Reliance Industries than of Bharti Airtel.
At current prices, buyers of Bharti Airtel are assuming about 9% growth against 16% 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: Bharti Airtel on discounted cash flow; Reliance Industries on estimate withheld.
- Size: Reliance Industries is worth about 1.4 times Bharti Airtel on the stock market.
- Record: Bharti Airtel has grown revenue faster: Bharti Airtel compounded at about 15% a year (FY2019–FY2026) and Reliance Industries at about 9% (FY2019–FY2026).
- What to watch: average revenue per user at Bharti Airtel; jio's revenue per user at Reliance Industries.
| Bharti Airtel | Reliance Industries | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ₹2,106 | ₹1,340 |
| Market cap | ₹13.14L Cr | ₹18.13L Cr |
| P/E | 42.4 | 22.1 |
| P/B | 8.82 | 2.01 |
| Fair value 🔒 sign in | ₹0,000 | ₹0,000 |
| Upside 🔒 sign in | +00% | +00% |
| Valued on | Discounted cash flow | Estimate withheld |
01Two businesses
What Airtel does — and why its profits jumped
Bharti Airtel is India's second-largest mobile operator. It also runs home broadband, a DTH television service, and Airtel Business, which sells connectivity and cloud services to companies. It consolidates Indus Towers, the tower company, and controls Airtel Africa, which operates in more than a dozen African countries and is listed in London.
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
Bharti Airtel has grown revenue faster: Bharti Airtel compounded at about 15% a year (FY2019–FY2026) and Reliance Industries at about 9% (FY2019–FY2026). By revenue, Reliance Industries is about 5.1 times the size of Bharti Airtel. Bharti Airtel kept 16.0% of revenue as net profit in FY2026; Reliance Industries kept 8.9% of revenue as net profit in FY2026. Bharti Airtel reported a net loss in FY2020 and FY2021; Reliance Industries was profitable in every year shown.
Full ten-year tables and charts are on each company's page: Bharti Airtel · 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
- Average revenue per userARPU is the number the whole valuation turns on. Airtel has led the industry on it, and further tariff increases flow almost directly into cash flow.
- Capex after 5GWith 5G largely rolled out, capex as a share of revenue should fall. How fast it falls decides how much free cash flow shareholders actually see.
- 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 leviesThe AGR ruling showed how quickly regulatory dues can swing reported profit. Licence fees and spectrum charges remain a live risk.
- Renewed price competitionA price war would reverse the tariff gains the current valuation leans on.
- 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 Bharti Airtel 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, Bharti Airtel trades at 42.4 times earnings and 8.82 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 Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries?
Bharti Airtel is India's second-largest mobile operator. Reliance Industries started out in textiles and petrochemicals and is now India's most valuable listed company.
Are Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries valued the same way?
No. Bharti Airtel is valued on discounted cash flow 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 Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries?
Worked backwards from the share price, Bharti Airtel needs about 9% growth and Reliance Industries about 6% growth, against 16% and 7% in their own records.