Five Indian companies among top 15 Asian energy companies

Mumbai: Platts, a leading global energy and metals information provider and a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), today announced the 2009 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings™.  India has raced past China in this year's energy rankings with five Indian corporations featured in the top 15 Asian companies whereas China had three. The top 250 global energy rankings include 55 Asian companies, down from 59 in 2008. The prominent names in the list include namely Reliance Industries Ltd, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, NTPC Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. In total nine Indian companies featured in the Top 250.

''2009 was the year for India. While the developed world tightened its purse strings and almost ground to a halt, India's petroleum sector came out to play ignoring the recession and preparing for the years ahead. This is also where India's path diverged from that of its formidable Asian competitor China. While Beijing went on a major shopping spree for energy assets around the world, India invested in itself,'' said Ms. Vandana Hari, Platts Asia News Director in Singapore. ''India's ability to manage international perceptions through the transition phase is a key in its aspiration to bring larger areas of its sedimentary basins under exploration,'' she further added.

Power Grid Corporation of India was one of the Asian newcomers and also featured in the fastest growing global energy companies for 2009. Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. was ninth globally, based on a compound growth rate (CGR) of 46 percent, also making the list for the first time this year. 

The Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings™ measures financial performance by examining each company's assets, revenue, profits, and return on invested capital. The underlying data comes from Capital IQ, a database compiled and maintained by Standard & Poor's, which, like Platts, is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies.  To be ranked, companies must have assets greater than US$2 billion and must be publicly listed.  The Energy companies are grouped according to their Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) code. 

The number of Asian companies on the Top 250 list has remained fairly consistent over the past five years. The Asian companies on the list represent all sectors except storage and transportation, with nearly half (27) coming from the utilities sector and 14 from refining and marketing.  Asian companies made up more than 20% of the 50 fastest growing companies list, and also took three of the top 10 places in the R&M category.