Wipro Infotech is India's number one `Green Brand' and among the top five brands in the world, environmental group Greenpeace said in an update of its 'Guide to Greener Electronics' ranking released early this month.

Wipro has not only reasserted its top position among Indian IT brands, but has also marked a place in the league of top-five global green brands, the company said in a statement.

Nokia has retained its top spot and managed to increase its score from 6.9 to 7.5 in a scale of 10 due mainly to the large-scale take-back programme it runs across 84 countries. Samsung takes the second place for shipping PVC-free LCD panels, mobiles with partially BFR-free material, halogen-free memory chips, and plans to phase out phthalates and beryllium use by 2010, the Green Peace release said.

Apple won praise from Greenpeace for following through on its promise to make all of its products PVC and BFR-free. The feat caused the company to jump an impressive four spots since last quarter's rankings.

Dell, HP and Lenovo have come down in their rankings due mainly to penalty points for failure to remove PVC and BFR from the products they manufacturer by the end of this year.

Lenovo has set a new target of the end of 2010, but Dell and HP are yet to restate the timelines for their removal.

Wipro's ranking has moved up largely due to its continued commitment to energy efficiency and structured programme for effective e-waste management for customers, the company said.

''It (the Green Peace ranking) reasserts Wipro's position as a responsible corporate in the IT industry, for green leadership and our product quality standards. Our aim is to help organisations reduce their total cost of ownership and be proactive about our social responsibility by using eco friendly technologies," said Ashok Tripathy, general manager and head, systems and technology division of Wipro.

The theme of this quarter's Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics is toxic chemical bans, and some companies have risen up to the challenge significantly better than others, the report said.

Greenpeace's quarterly ranking scores IT and consumer electronics companies based on chemical contents, recycling policies, environmental efforts, and energy consumption of products.