Cigarette, hospitality and farm products giant ITC was on Wednesday crowned the new leader of the fast moving consumer goods sector in terms of market capitalisation.

ITC replaced personal care products giant Hindustan Lever from the top slot, with a market capitalisation of Rs 31,000 core against Hindustan Lever's Rs 29,254 crore (Rs 292.54 billion) on Wednesday.

The ITC scrip surged 5.2 per cent today to close at Rs 1,254.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Hindustan Lever gained 2.1 per cent to close at Rs 134.35. In the last week, ITC's capitalisation increased by Rs 3,089 crore (Rs 30.89 billion), while Hindustan Lever lost Rs 319 crore (Rs 3.19 billion).

Nestle retained the third position with a market capitalisation of Rs 5,272 crore (Rs 52.72 billion). Nirma stood at  the fourth position with a market cap of Rs 2,520 crore (Rs 25.20 billion), followed by Tata Tea (Rs 2,475 crore (Rs 24.75 billion)), Dabur India (Rs 2,392 crore) and Colgate-Palmolive (Rs 2,313 crore).

Gillette India was at the eight position with a capitalisation of Rs 2,106 crore (Rs 21.06 billion), Britannia Industries ninth with Rs 1,813 crore (Rs 18.13 billion) and Procter and Gamble tenth with a capitalisation of Rs 1,639 crore 16.39 (Rs billion).

The ITC scrip attracted renewed investor interest after the company proposed to merge its hotels business. Foreign institutional investors also stepped in and started buying the scrip in a big way.

Financially, ITC performed well in the quarter ended September 2004 with its hotel and paper business growing at a healthy pace.