The wealth of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in leading Indian companies now stands at more than double the level a year ago?owing to the market rally in recent months. This amply vindicated India?s image of being a safe and lucrative investment destination amid the global economic crisis.

The market capitalisation of FII stake in 25 major industrial houses rose 156.8% to Rs 2.26 lakh crore as on December 1, from Rs 88,203 crore on December 1 2008. The second quarter sales and net profit growth rates of 25 industrial houses were 1.8% and 6%, respectively. The aggregate net profit to sales ratio of 25 houses increased from 11.05% during July-September 2008 to 11.51% during the same period this year.

Harish Menon, executive director, H-Zone Capital said, ?Globally, market liquidity has been very comfortable over the last couple of quarters as a result of benign interest rates and fiscal stimuli provided by various governments. Such surfeit of money has been deployed amongst various financial asset classes since demand for money from the real economy has been subdued in most part of the world. Gold and equities have been the most-favoured investments. FII holdings in India have also increased due to the relatively superior show of the economy and companies.?

Among the twenty five industrial houses, FIIs saw their invested wealth, as measured by the growth in market cap, climb more than 300%. The industrial houses include OP Jindal Group, Sterlite, Jaiprakash , Bajaj and the Hinduja Group.

The M-cap of FII holdings in Jaiprakash Gaur group increased 492.7% to Rs 8,590 crore on December 1 2009, from Rs 1,449 crore exactly a year ago. The FIIs share in total group market capital also rose from 18.19% to 23.95% during the period. This has happened probably due to the significant increase in sales and net profit of the group during the second quarter. The net profit of the group increased 245.1% to Rs 932 crore during July-September 2009, from Rs 270 crore during the same period last year. The sales of the group also went up by 48.7% during the above period.

On the other hand, less than 100% increase in M-cap of FIIs was seen in the case of Anil Ambani-lead ADAG, Vijay Mallya-led UB Group, Excel, Pantaloon and the Analjit Singh Group.

The M-cap of FIIs holding in ADAG stood at Rs 14,181 crore on December 1 this year — up 49% from a year ago. But this was the lowest increase in FII market cap among the top 25 industrial houses. However, FIIs share in total ADAG market capital increased from 10.03% to 10.91% during the period. The net profit of ADAG dipped 61.8% to Rs 382 crore during Q2, from Rs 1,001 crore during the same quarter last year. The sales of the group also declined 2.6% to Rs 6,335 crore during July-September 2009. The profit margin of the group also decreased from 15.39% to 6.04% during the above period.

The top five houses in terms of FIIs market capitalization as on December 1 this year are Reliance Industries, Tata, Om Prakash Jindal, ADAG and AB Mgmt Corporation. Among these, highest increase in FIIs M-Cap was seen in the case of Om Prakash Jindal. The FIIs share in Om Prakash Jindal group market cap increased from 22.12% a year ago to 23.05% on December 1 ?09.