Though the Nifty index comprises 50 stocks, the top 10 enjoys a lion’s share. In 2005, the top 10 constituted nearly 60% of the index (in terms of market capitalization) while in 2015 it comprised 48%. Obviously the performance of Nifty itself will be impacted by who is in this coveted top 10 list and funds flow from institutions (both domestic and foreign) that track this index will also be skewed towards these top 10 companies.

Hence, the curiosity to study this in greater detail and try and figure out how this top 10 list will look like say in 2025! Also, a look from 1996 to 2015 for Nifty 50 shows that more than 115 companies have been part of Nifty 50 with  an average age of 8 years.

In other words, if a company has been in the Nifty 50 index for more than 8 years, its probability to continue in the Nifty 50 reduces. In this context, the race to top 10 gets even more interesting.

Back in 2005, ONGC was the top company in Nifty followed by Reliance and TCS. Fast forward to 2015, the coveted top slot has been taken up by TCS with ONGC pushed to 7^th spot though Reliance managed to keep the same 2^nd spot. However, the attrition rate of top 10 between 2005 and 2015 has been 50% in that only 5 of the top 10 in 2005 made it to 2015. Wipro, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Satyam computers and State Bank of India dropped out in the 2015 Top 10 list. HDFC Bank, Coal India, HDFC, Sun Pharma and Hindustan Unilever replaced them in 2015.

The rise of  TCS from the 3^rd position in 2005 to 1^st position in 2015 is impressive as its market cap compounded at an astonishing rate of nearly 20% between 2005 and 2015. While it had a market cap of just $18 billion in 2005, it jumped to $72 billion by 2015 making it as the most valuable company in Nifty 50. The saga of HDFC Bank was even more impressive. Back in 2005, it was at 18^th position with a market cap of just $5 billion. It then moved 15 places up to become the 3^rd most valuable company in 2015 where its market cap compounded at an astonishing rate of 22.5%. The rise of Sun pharma is also credible whose market cap grew nearly 10 fold between 2005 and 2015 moving it from 31^st position in 2005 to 9^th position in 2015.