By IANS,
London : Thirteen Indian companies, along with a growing number from Russia and China, are crowding out traditional occupants in a prestigious list of the world’s most valuable companies.
The FT 500 for 2008 show that Americans still dominate the list but the number of Chinese companies have increased the most from eight to 25.
Topping the list of 13 Indian companies is Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which fell 15 places to rank 80th with a market cap of $82 billion.
Other Indian companies on the list include ONGC, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, DLF, State Bank of India, and Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications.
The only Indian firm to improve its position was ITC, which climbed six spots to place 484, with a market value of $19.38 billion.
The 12th edition of the FT’s annual snapshot of the world’s largest companies shows that Exxon Mobil of US maintains its ranking as the world’s most valuable company. PetroChina comes in at number two, pushing General Electric into third place.
The FT said the list shows oil almost overtaking banking as the most valuable sector in the rankings, with a net fall of 11 banks and five oil companies joining.
The companies are ranked by market capitalisation – the greater the stock market value of a company, the higher its ranking. Market cap is the share price, as recorded on March 31 2008, multiplied by the number of shares issued.