For the first time ever, State Bank of India – the country's largest commercial bank – has found a place in the list of 500 largest global companies published by Fortune magazine. The addition of SBI has increased Indian representation on the prestigious list to a total of 6.

All the Indian companies have improved their rankings this year. Reliance Industries was the best performer among Indian companies, climbing 75 places this year to No.342 on the list. All Indian companies owe it to high oil prices for their improved performance.

The top 10 in the global list is dominated by oil and auto companies with one retailer thrown in. Oil giant Exxon-Mobil heads the global list with 2006 revenues of $340 billion. Retail behemoth Wal-Mart is second with revenues of $316 billion followed by Royal Dutch Shell with revenues of $307 billion.

Rest of the top 10 comprises of oil companies BP, Chevron and Conoco Phillips and auto giants GM, Daimler Chrysler, Toyota and Ford Motor.

The very small size of Indian companies when compared to their global peers is evident from the list as the largest Indian company, Indian Oil, is only one-tenth the size of the largest global corporation, Exxon Mobil, in revenue terms. In fact Exxon Mobil reported a 2006 net profit of over $36 billion - equal to the total revenues of Indian Oil!

Toyota heads the list of largest Asian companies with 2006 revenues of $186 billion. The second ranked company, Chinese oil major Sinopec, with revenues of $99 billion is only about half the size of Toyota.

Japanese companies NTT, Honda Motor, Hitachi, Nissan and Matsushita come in the Asian top 10. Two more Chinese companies, power utility State Grid and oil company CNPC, find a place in the Asian top 10 while South Korea is represented by electronics major Samsung at No.9.