23 Indian cos in Forbes Asia list of `best under a billion'

There are 23 Indian companies figuring in the Forbes Asia 2006 list of 200 leading publicly quoted companies in the region with sales of less than $1 billion.

The companies are Asian Paints, Bajaj Hindustan, Balakrishna Industries, Balrampur Chini mills, Bharat Forge, Cadila Healthcare, Carborundum Universal, Cipla, Dabur India, Essel Propack, FDC, GE Shipping, Grindwell Norton, I_Flex Solutions, JB Chemicals. Kirloskar Oil Engines, Maharashtra Seamless, Mastek, Pantaloon Retail, Punjab Tractors, Rolta India, Sesa goa, Thermax.

The criteria for entry into the list included not just sales of less than $1 billion but also "solid top and bottomline gains and potential for more success" says a press release from Forbes.

Taiwan had the highest entries at 31 while 29 small and midsize enterprises from China, 27 from Australia and 19 each from Singapore and Japan made it to the list.

The list has a strong representation from the manufacturing sector and businesses providing basic material that go into manufactured goods and into factories, housing and office towers.

`Weird and wonderful'
There are also some "weird and wonderful" companies on the list, says the press release. There is a Taiwanese company that makes slot machines that speak Chinese, Singapore snack maker Want Want Holdings, which sells rice crackers and gummy sweets, and Tong Ren Tang's Chinese medicine shops that have been concocting remedies out of cicada skins and jujubes since 1669.

The 2006 Best Under a Billion list appears in the October 30 issue of Forbes Asia.

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