Aditya Birla Group most respected; Tata Motors, LIC follow

The Aditya Birla Group, Tata Motors and state-owned Life Insurance Corp are, in terms of reputation, the top three Indian companies for the just-ending fiscal year, according to a study by US-based information and measurement company Nielsen Holdings NV.

Bangalore-based ITC, the tobacco-based but now diversified group, is fourth, according to Nielsen's Corporate Image Monitor 2012-13; while IT majors Infosys and Wipro are tied at the fifth spot in the survey of 140 leading Indian companies, designed to track their reputation and provide actionable insight to help companies build their corporate brand.

The Aditya Birla Group has emerged 'best in its class' across all the six parameters of corporate image, Nielsen said in a statement today.

The six 'pillars' of corporate image comprise product and service quality, vision and leadership, workplace management, financial performance, operating style, and social responsibility.

The Birla group has this year replaced Tata Motors, which had ranked first in the 2011-12 fiscal.

Tata Motors also shares the spot with ABG as the 'best in its class' for product and service quality, vision and leadership, Nielsen said.

In the top ten, Infosys has moved up eight places to number five from last year, while ITC has moved up four places and is at number four this year.

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd was at 7th position, with Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Tata Steel in eighth and ninth place respectively. LIC (3rd) and State Bank of India (10th) are new entrants on the list.

"The movement we see in this year's list comes largely from the new entrants State Bank of India and Life Insurance Corporation of India - two public sector units that have been included in the survey for the first time," Nielsen India executive director Dinesh Kapoor said.