The Forbes annual list of the 2000 most powerful public enterprises in the world for 2015 consists of 56 Indian companies. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries features topmost among these 56 Indian companies on the Forbes ‘Global 2000’ list for this year.
The list features the leading companies of the world and proves the leading roles of the USA and China in the present global business scenario. Continuing from last year’s trend, this year the top 10 slots in the list are shared by companies from both these countries.
The Top 5
USA retains its top position in the list with a total of 579 companies. With four of its leading banks making it to the top four of the list for the first time, China holds the second position with a contribution of 232 companies to the list. While Japan, with 218 of its companies making it to the list, slid to the third position.With a total of 95 of its companies featuring in the list, UK continues to hold its fourth position. On the other hand, France has lost its spot in the top 5, losing out to South Korea. Argentina and Cyprus make their first appearance on the list this year.
With respect to the continental ranks, Asia is in the leading position with 691 companies, followed closely by North America at 645 companies. Owing to a loss of 20 of its spots, Europe finishes third with 486 companies.
Reliance in the Lead in India
This year India has added two more companies to its last year’s count. Reliance Industries, leads the set with an overall rank of 142 on account of its $49.9 billion market value as well as sales worth $71.7 billion.
The State Bank of India follows with a 152 ranking and a market value of $33 billion. Among the other Indian companies to feature in the ‘Global 2000’ list are Oil and Natural Gas at rank 183, Tata Motors ranked 263, ICICI Bank at 283, Indian Oil at 349, HDFC Bank ranked 376, NPTC at 431, Tata Consultancy Services at 485, Axis Bank ranked 558, Infosys at 672, Bharat Petroleum at 757, Wipro at 811, Tata Steel with a ranking of 903, while Adani Enterprises with an overall rank of 944.
Improving Market Prospects
The companies featuring in this year’s Global 2000 list belong to 61 countries across the world. When combined, their revenues amount to US$ 39 trillion with profits of US$ 3 trillion. Their pooled assets are worth US$ 162 trillion, while they bear a collective market value of US$ 48 trillion. This market value, according to Forbes, shows a growth of 9% year-over-year on account of a bull market situation.The most noteworthy progress has been that of enterprises like Facebook, which leaped by more than 200 spots in this year’s list. This can be attributed to the significant rise in its revenue as well as profits.
This year’s list of Global 2000 by Forbes includes a total of 200 new entrants, some of the familiar names being travel venture Expedia and the jewellery retail company Tiffany.
With a tally of 121 positions, construction has emerged with a third place on the list with respect to industrial rankings, partly due to the increasingly optimistic economic outlook towards the industry.