You don’t get to drive past Reliance Industries everyday. But that’s exactly what Tata Motors has done in the 2010 edition of India’s Most Valuable Brands survey. The Tata Motors-Jaguar-Land Rover combine, with a valuation of $8.45 billion, has over taken Reliance to top the list of the 50 most valuable corporate brands in India.

BrandFinance, a London-based global brand valuation firm, did the study in exclusive partnership with The Economic Times.

The brand valuation of Tata Motors-JLR grew 172% over its 2009 value of $3.1 billion when it was at No. 5 in the pecking order. Reliance, the petrochemicals-to-retail major, saw a10% erosion in its brand value at $7.04 billion, down from $7.8 billion in 2009.

BrandFinance used the relief-from-royalty method to value the top corporate brands in India. This methodology assumes that a company does not own its brand and needs to license it from a third party. The net present value of the future revenue flow from such licensing is treated as the brand valuation.

The practice of putting a financial value to a brand, which is essentially an intangible asset, is gaining traction in India Inc. Large business houses like the Tatas, Godrej and Infosys have also started using this.

It serves many purposes. First, it takes the brand from the exclusive purview of the marketing chief of a company and brings it to the attention of its CEO, CFO and the board. This comes in handy particularly at the time of making or managing acquisitions.