Wednesday, July 13 2005 12:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: India Inc improved its perception on the global arena marginally with five companies including four Public Sector Units: Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and ONGC along with private petrochemical major Reliance Industries figuring among the Fortune 500 companies this year.

Indian Oil was on top of the list among Indian corporate with a rank of 170.

The other four companies were far behind with Reliance ranking 417 followed by Bharat Petroleum (429), Hindustan Petroleum (436) and ONGC (454).

Last year, four Indian companies figured in the prestigious list of Fortune 500, a statement from the Fortune magazine published from Hong Kong said Monday (July 11, 2005).

Though India improved its position with five companies qualifying for the Fortune 500 list this year from four companies in 2004, it is still far behind its neighbour China which has 15 companies in the prestigious list.

Overall, it was companies based in the US and other developed nations that dominated the Fortune 500 list.

The top 10 companies of the world are US-based retail chain giant Wal-Mart, BP (UK), Exxon Mobil (US), Royal/Dutch Shell (UK/Netherlands), General Motors (US), DaimlerChrysler (Germany), Toyota (Japan), Ford Motors (US), General Electric (US) and Total (France).

The Fortune 500 companies increased their revenue by 13 per cent and profits by 27 per cent last year.