How rising market power is driving India Inc's post-pandemic profit boom

Market concentration in sectors like cement, steel, telecom and cars is now near all-time highs, fuelling corporate India's most profitable decade in recent history

Corporate India has exhibited strong pricing power in recent years, resulting in a steady rise in profit margins across many sectors despite fluctuations in raw material and energy prices, and a persistent slowdown in revenue growth. The margin expansion has been most pronounced in the post-pandemic period. 

This improvement in corporate margins has coincided with a steady rise in market concentration in key domestic sectors, as larger players have captured greater market share, either through mergers and acquisitions or through organic growth. 

Market concentration, as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), was higher in six of eight sectors in FY25