INDIAN STOCK MARKET

With India emerging as a hot spot for wealth creation, 48 Indian firms, led by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, have made it to this year's list of 2,000 biggest global companies, compiled by Forbes magazine.

The state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) ranks second among Indian firms on the list with 198th position overall, just behind the 193rd rank for Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector conglomerate.

Two out of the three firms that rank among the top five companies from India are state-run enterprises - State Bank of India (219th) and Indian Oil (303rd), while private financial sector power house ICICI Bank follows next at 374th.

The companies on the list include as many as three from the stable of Mukesh Ambani's younger brother, Anil - Reliance Communications (846), Reliance Power (1,597) and Reliance Capital (1,919).

"In total, the global 2,000 companies now account for $30 trillion in revenues, $2.4 trillion in profits, $119 trillion in assets and $39 trillion in market value," said the magazine, which had HSBC on the top of the charts.

"Around the world, 72 million people work for these companies," the magazine added. "This year, 60 countries have global 2,000 entries versus 51 in our inaugural list in 2004."

The magazine said the US still dominated the list of global giants but with 61 fewer entries than last year and 153 fewer than in 2004, as many US companies failed to keep pace with global competitors.

"In contrast, China, India and Brazil are rapidly adding companies to the list. India, for example, has 48 companies this year versus 27 in 2004," it added.