From its humble beginnings in the 1800s, when five stockbrokers gathered under the sprawling canopy of a banyan tree outside Mumbai’s Town Hall, the Indian stock market has evolved into one of the world's most dynamic financial ecosystems.
What started as informal street trading eventually found a permanent home on Dalal Street as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in 1875—Asia’s oldest stock exchange. Today, that shade under a tree has transformed into fully automated, lightning-fast digital exchange.
The Indian stock market has shown remarkable growth since its inception, with Sensex rallying to 86,000 last year. As India celebrates its 80th Independence Day, here are four stocks that have been part of Sensex since inception.
Reliance Industries went public through its initial public offering (IPO) in October 1977, when it issued 2.8 million equity shares of Rs 10 each. The company is currently India’s most valuable company, with a market capitalisation of around Rs 17.73 lakh crore. The shares of the company dropped 17% in 2026 so far. In the longer term, the stock gained 2% in three years and 22% in five years.
In 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbour noticed crates full of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with the words "Made in England by Lever Brothers". Soon after followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, LUX and Vim. Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the Dalda brand came to the market in 1937. In 1956, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) merged its key Indian entities and launched its IPO, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. HUL shares have fallen around 11% in 2026 so far. In the longer term, the stock dropped 18% in three years and 14% in five years.
ITC was established in 1910 under the name Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited. As the Company's ownership progressively Indianised, the name of the Company was changed to India Tobacco Company Limited in 1970 and then to ITC Limited in 1974. The stock has overall fallen 23% in 2026 so far.
Two young and ambitious Danish engineers, Henning Holck-Larsen and Søren Kristian Toubro, founded Larsen & Toubro in 1938. They first started by importing machinery from Europe for onward sales in India. Today, it is an Indian multinational engaged in EPC projects, hi-tech manufacturing and services. The stock has fallen over 2% in 2026, but gained 52% in three years and 143% in five years.
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