By: Kumud Kumar Das

Mumbai, Aug 19 (UNI) The corporate success in the country has been primarily because of the joint participation of public and private sector companies, the recently-released book titled 'India's Top 500 Companies' has claimed.

To add to this, the total income of top 500 companies in the current year so far is aggregated to be around US dollar 330 billion, which implies a growth of 34 per cent over the previous year, the book further states.

The 490-page 'India's Top...', published by Dun&Bradstreet (D&B) in association with American Express and edited by Yashika Singh, was released recently by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman M V Damodaran.

The book has tried to convey a message to the ruling class of the country, which believes that the privatisation is the only key to success.

Not only do 76 public sector undertakings (PSUs) find a mention in the book, but, it also states that a majority of PSEs (public sector enterprises) in the selected group of seven sectors, if put together, comprise 205 out of total 500 top companies in the country and contribute to 60 per cent of the total income generated by them.

While petroleum sector has managed to get tag of leadership in the book, despite the soaring oil prices in the seven sectors, banking and financial services sectors have been featured as runners-up in the race, followed by other sectors like pharma, chemical, fertiliser, textile and steel.

If ONGC shares the success in the petroleum sector together with Reliance Industries, then the PSUs like MMTC, NTPC, GAIL, SCI, SAIL and a host of others have been placed well in the top 500 companies. Similarly, 64 foreign MNCs having their bases in the country find critical mention in the book.

However, the book mentions that there are twists and turns, too, in the ever changing industrial scenario of the country. It is evident by the addition of 110 such companies that are the first timers in the list brought out by D&B for the past one decade in a row.

Another significant change is that the information technology (IT) sector has taken a back seat, with merely one IT firm, Infosys, getting space in the 'top 20' bracket of the India's top 500 companies. This could ring a bell for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which has already become a dollar four billion company, and Wipro.

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