Rajesh Exports replaces ONGC in Fortune 500 list; 7 Indian firms make the cut

Seven Indian companies have made it to the latest Fortune 500 list of the world's biggest corporations in terms of revenue, with the retail giant Walmart topping the global rankings.

State-run Indian Oil Corp, the highest ranked Indian company in the list, was placed 161st among the 500 world's top companies in terms of revenue while another state-run firm ONGC lost its  423rd position to private sector gems and jewellery exporter Rajesh Exports.

Among the seven Indian companies, four are from the public sector while Reliance Industries is the top-ranked among private sector firms, followed by Tata Motors and Rajesh Exports.

Among state-run majors, Indian Oil is followed by banking behemoth SBI, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum.

Indian Oil with revenue of $54.7 billion is ranked 161st (down from 119th last year), while RIL is now at 215th (down from 158th). Bharat Petroleum slipped from 280th to 358th this year and Hindustan Petroleum is at 367th, down from 327th.

However, Tata Motors and SBI have improved their rankings.

While Tata Motors has taken the 226th position, up from 254th last year, SBI is ranked 232nd, up from 260th last year.

US retail giant Walmart with revenue of $482,130 million topped the list and was followed by State Grid (revenue of $329,601 million) and China National Petroleum (revenue of $299,271 million) at the second and third place, respectively.

Walmart that also owns Asda in the UK retained the top spot for the third year in a row, despite its total sales falling in 2015.

Californian tech giant Apple, with a cash pile of around $215bn (£163bn), has joined the top 10 of the Fortune 500 list of the world's biggest companies for the first time.

New additions to the Fortune  500 club include Californian tech giant Apple, with a cash pile of around $215 bn.

Apple's elevation, despite a fall in its iPhone sales in the last year, comes as a number of companies in the top 10 have endured a tough year.

Other entrants in the list – which is typically dominated by oil companies – have been hit by the low price of oil over the last 18 months, while German car maker Volkswagen has been rocked by an emissions cheating scandal in its diesel vehicles.

Others in the global top 10 list include Sinopec Group (4th - $294,344 million), Royal Dutch Shell (5th - $272,156 million), Exxon Mobil (6th - $246,204 million), Volkswagen (7th - $236,600 million), Toyota Motor (8th - $236,592 million), Apple (9th - $233,715 million) and BP (10th - $225,982 million).

The world's 500 largest companies generated $27.6 trillion in revenues and $1.5 trillion in profits in 2015, Fortune said.

Together, this year's Fortune Global 500 companies employ 67 million people worldwide and are represented by 33 countries, Fortune added.