20 Indian companies in Forbes ‘Best Under A Billion’ list

As many as 20 Indian companies made it to the list of Forbes Asia’s ‘Best Under A Billion’ list whicn names 200 firms picked from over 12,000 publicly listed companies. HT Correspondent reports.

As many as 20 Indian companies made it to the list of Forbes Asia’s ‘Best Under A Billion’ list whicn names 200 firms picked from over 12,000 publicly listed companies. Companies from China and Hong Kong led the list with 78 entries, followed by Japan and Korea while India was placed fourth.

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The companies have been vetted for consistent growth of sales and profits over the last three years, modest indebtedness and future prospects. All these companies have sales of less than a $1 billion (Rs 4,850 crore).

In the top 20 biggest shareholders of this list — the only ranking that was published — Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar Shaw from India was the sole representative with a holding of $398 million (Rs 1,900 crore) and is placed at 16. This list is also dominated by 16 firms from China and Hong Kong.

“All have either increased sales and profits over the past 12 months or are forecast to do so in coming quarters,” Forbes said. “Consumerism is once again a key driving force behind most of the companies in the list.”

All of 102 firms on the list are consumer related, up from 78 in 2008.