India's 10 best brands, Tata is No 1

The Tata group has touched the lives of millions of Indians since the last 100 years.

Tatas exemplify the true entrepreneurial spirit of India with over 100 companies in seven business sectors ranging from communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals.

A study conducted by The Economic Times in association with Interbrand, has stamped its class and credibility once again, by ranking it as the number one brand in India. 

Tata has pipped many corporate heavyweights to be ranked as India’s best brand.  

The first edition of the ‘Best Indian Brands’ study ranks India’s best brands on the basis of financial performance of products or services, purchase decision based on the brand, and the product’s competitive strength. 

Click NEXT to read interesting results on India’s best brands…

Tata Group

Rank: 1
Brand Value: $10.9 billion

One of the iconic faces of India Inc, the Tata group was founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868.

From cheapest products like Nano to the most sophisticated global brands like Jagaur, the Tata brand has won the hearts of millions of people with diverse and unique products and services.

“Tata stands for one thing when it's on a car; something different when it is on a watch and quite another when it's telecom. It also means diverse things to different stakeholders - customers want quality and reliability, shareholders want good returns and business partners want profits,” according to R Gopalakrishnan, executive director, Tata Sons.

Integrity, understanding, excellence, unity and responsibility make the Tatas a winner all the way, says the study.

Tata’s early years were ‘inspired by the spirit of nationalism’ with several industries of national importance - steel, power, hospitality and airlines.

After JRD Tata took  over as the group’s chairman, the assets of the Group grew from $100 million to over $5 billion. From 14 companies, the group grew into a conglomerate of 95 companies, when he left the company in 1988, after 50 years.

He chose Ratan Tata to take over company. Ratan Tata led the transformation of the Tata group from a conventional corporate house into a $100 billion global conglomerate with several high-profile acquisitions. 

The group has operations in more than 80 countries across six continents. The Tata won respect and recognition in India for more than 140 years with its strong values and business ethics.

The Tata group also figures in Brand Finance’s list of top-50 global brands.

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Reliance Industries

Rank: 2
Brand value: $6.24 billion

One of corporate India’s biggest success stories, Reliance Industries is ranked as India’s second best brand.

Founded by Dhirubhai H Ambani with an initial capital of just $300, Reliance is today one of India’s largest private sector enterprises with revenues of over $66 billion. 

Also one of India’s largest publicly traded companies in India by market capitalisation, the company has established a global leadership, being the largest polyester yarn and fibre producer in the world and is among the top ten producers of petrochemical products.

It was ranked 99th on Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest corporations in 2012.

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Bharti Airtel

Rank: 3
Brand value: $6.22 billion

From a humble beginning as a company assembling push-button phones in India, Bharti Airtel has grown to become the world’s fourth largest mobile operator.

Established in July 1995 as a public limited company, it has made rapid strides with presence now across 20 countries in Asia and Africa. 

It has bagged the loyalty of 269 million customers with 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national and international long distance services to carriers.

The company reported revenues to the tune of Rs 20,448 crore (Rs 204.48 billion) in the year ended March 31, 2013.

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State Bank of India

Rank: 4
Brand value: $3.84 billion

State Bank of India is India’s largest commercial bank in terms of profits,  assets, deposits, branches and employees.

The oldest commercial bank in the Indian subcontinent, State Bank of India was established in 1806 as the Bank of Calcutta.

A series of mergers saw the bank transform into a banking giant. The Bank of Madras was merged with the Bank of Calcutta and Bank of Bombay to form the Imperial Bank of India. 

In 1955, the government nationalised the Imperial Bank of India. The bank was then renamed as the State Bank of India.

The largest Indian bank by market capitalisation, its revenues stood at Rs 30,784.19 crore (Rs 307.84 billion) in Q4 2012-13.

SBI, with network of over 13,000 branches, has won several laurels.

Besides being listed as 29th most reputed company by Forbes in 2009, it was the only bank to be featured among the ‘Top 10 brands of India’ in a survey conducted by Brand Finance and The Economic Times in 2010.

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Infosys

Rank: 5
Brand value: $3.78 billion

Infosys has an inspiring and endearing success story. What started as a modest initiative by seven engineers - Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, N S Raghavan, S Gopalakrishnan, S D Shibulal, K Dinesh and Ashok Arora -  in 1981 is today a company with revenues of $7.39 billion.

Over the last three decades, Infosys has grown with ‘ideas and enterprise solutions’ and ‘a culture of unwavering ethics and mutual respect,’ says the company.

Infosys has a growing global presence with more than 155,000 employees worldwide, across 67 offices and 69 development centres in the United States, India, China, Australia, Japan, Middle East, and Europe.

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HDFC Bank

Rank: 6
Brand value: $3.28 billion

With a mission of becoming a world class bank, the company says its business philosophy is based on four core values - customer focus, operational excellence, product leadership and people.

Incorporated in August 1994, HDFC Bank offers wide range of  financial products and services to its 28.7 million customers.

Over the last 2 decades, the bank has successfully gained market share with the efficient use of technology and good service. 

While the total income for the year ended March 31, 2013, was Rs 41,917.5 crore, (Rs 419.175 billion), the bank continued to outpace the banking industry growth rate in both advances and deposits. 

The total deposits as of June 30, 2013 were Rs 303,315 crore (Rs 3.03 trillion),  an increase of 17.8% over June 30, 2012. 

The Bank with 3,119 branches,  11,088 ATMs in 1,891 cities/towns, was recently voted as the Best Bank in Asia based on a survey conducted by global magazine ‘Institutional Investor’.

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Mahindra & Mahindra

Rank: 7
Brand value: $2.58 billion

A $16.2 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, the company was founded in 1945 in Ludhiana as Mahindra & Mohammed by brothers K.C. Mahindra and J.C. Mahindra and Malik Ghulam Mohammed.

The company changed its name to Mahindra & Mahindra after Mohammed left for Pakistan in 1948. 

With more than 155,000 people in over 100 countries, it is ranked 21st in the list of top companies in Fortune India 500 (2011).

“The Mahindra Group focuses on enabling people to rise through solutions that power mobility, drive rural prosperity, enhance urban lifestyles and increase business efficiency,” says the company.

Mahindra operates in the key industries  - tractors, utility vehicles, information technology, vacation ownership, agribusiness, aerospace, components, consulting services, defence, energy, financial services, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, steel, commercial vehicles and two wheeler industries.

In 2012, Mahindra was featured on the Forbes Global 2000 list. In 2013, the Mahindra Group received the Financial Times ‘Boldness in Business’ Award in the ‘Emerging Markets’ category.

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ICICI Bank

Rank: 8
Brand value: $2.57 billion

ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochchar dreams big. She wants ICICI Bank to be among the top 20 banks globally. The dream does not look far fetched considering the bank’s remarkable growth over the last 5 decades.

One of India's fastest growing financial services conglomerates, ICICI Bank was originally promoted in 1994 by ICICI Limited as its wholly-owned subsidiary.

Over the years, ICICI Bank grew to become India’s second largest bank with consolidated total assets of $124 billion and net profit  at Rs. 83.25 billion ($ 1,533 million) for the year ended March 31, 2013. 

Today, the Bank’s presence spans 19 countries, including India, offering a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers.

ICICI Bank’s former CEO K V Kamath credits the bank’s success to India's growing knowledge economy and rising consumer aspirations.

ICICI Bank ranks 10th in Fortune India's list of 50 most admired companies in India.

Chanda Kochhar has been ranked as the most powerful business woman in India in the Forbes' list of 'The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2013'.

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Godrej

Rank: 9
Brand value: $2.45 billion

Established more than 100 years ago, Godrej Group is one of the largest and the oldest conglomerates based in Mumbai.

Founded by Ardeshir Godrej and Pirojsha Godrej in 1897, it operates in diverse sectors such as real estate, consumer products, industrial engineering, appliances, furniture, security and agricultural products.

The group is known for several pioneering initiatives. In 1897, Godrej Introduced the first lock with lever technology in India.

It also made the first ‘Indian safe’. In 1920, Godrej made soap using vegetable oil, which was a huge success.

In 1955, Godrej launched India's first indigenous typewriter.

Godrej’s companies have won appreciation across various categories. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd is the highest ranked Indian FMCG in ‘Asia's Hot Growth Companies' list by Business Week.

GCPL ranks 6th in ET-Hewitt Best Employers of India survey. The company’s flagship brands Goodnight, Cinthol and Ezee have been selected Superbrands by the Superbrands Council.

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Larsen &Toubro

Rank: 10
Brand value: $2.32 billion

A small venture started by two Danish friends, Henning Holck-Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro in 1938, has turned into a remarkable $14 billion technology, engineering, construction and  manufacturing company with global operations.

The duo left Europe to start a venture in a challenging environment in India. Starting off with the import of machinery from Europe, L&T then carried forward with more engineering and construction projects to become the ‘bellwether of India's engineering sector’.

It made rapid progress in setting engineering benchmarks in terms of scale and complexity in key sectors including infrastructure, construction, hydrocarbon, defence and power.

“A strong, customer-focused approach, conformance to global HSE standards and the constant quest for top-class quality have enabled the company sustain leadership in its major lines of business for over 75 years,” says the company.

L&T is ranked 4th by Newsweek in the global list of green companies in the industrial sector. Forbes has ranked L&T as the 9th ‘Most Innovative Company’ in the world.