Who are India’s 17 new Global Growth Companies?

The World Economic Forum today announced its selection of Global Growth Companies (GGCs) in South Asia, consisting of 17 of the region’s most dynamic and high-growth companies.

GGCs are fast-growing companies with the potential to become global economic leaders.

The nominated GGCs represent a broad cross-section of industry sectors but share a track record of exceeding industry standards in growth, innovative business practices and leadership in corporate citizenship.

The selected companies are:

1. 4G Identity Solutions is a pioneer in providing large-scale identity management solutions using smart cards and biometric technologies. It has executed many of the world’s first large-scale identity management projects for federal governments, multilateral agencies and the private sector.
2. ANI Technologies’ Olacabs is India’s first and largest taxi aggregator. It brings cab drivers and customers together on a single platform, making transportation hassle-free for everyone. It is changing the way people move about in cities, is one of India’s fastest-growing start-ups, and is the country’s largest cab network.
3. Avesthagen is India’s leading fully integrated biotechnology and bioinformatics firm, focusing on the convergence between food, pharma and clinical genomics, leading to a personalized preventative medicine and providing innovative solutions to global health problems in the areas of metabolic disorders and infectious diseases.
4. Bandhan Financial Services is a pro-poor development organization set up in 2001 to meet the twin objectives of empowering women and alleviating poverty. Over the years it has grown to be the largest microfinance institution in the country. It is one of the two firms selected for a banking licence last year by the Reserve Bank of India.
5. Centrum Electronics. Since 1994, Centum has rapidly grown into an electronics company operating across various industry sectors, and offering a broad range of products and services. It has continuously invested in strengthening its design and product-development capabilities, and has established world-class manufacturing facilities in Bangalore.
6. Finolex is the largest manufacturer of a wide variety of cables, including telephone, power and automobile cables, as well as of rigid PVC pipes and fittings. It is currently also diversifying into telephone networking and power generation.
7. Flipkart went live in 2007 with the objective of making books easily available to anyone with an internet connection. Today, it is active in various sectors, including movies, music, games, mobile phones, computers, healthcare, home appliances and apparel. It is one of India’s most popular online shopping destinations.
8. Forbes Marshall. For over half a century, Forbes Marshall has been building steam-engineering and control-instrumentation equipment for use in the processing industry. It is now a leader in process efficiency and energy conservation.
9. InterGlobe Enterprises is a leader in aviation, hospitality and travel-related services, growing through innovation and service leadership. It operates hotels and an airline, as well as business process outsourcing and IT services to travel and hospitality industries.
10. Justdial is a provider of mobile search services in India, accessible through call, app, web or SMS. It is the market leader in the country, and the first to experiment with local search-engine technologies. In 2014, Justdial addressed more than 1,125 million searches, and it has a database of approximately 11.8 million listings.
11. MakeMyTrip is India’s leading online travel company. It offers a range of best-value products and services along with cutting-edge technology and dedicated round-the-clock customer support. The company allows travellers to research, plan, book and purchase a range of travel services and products through its websites.
12. Nash Industries’ knowledge of component manufacturing stems from years of providing high-quality engineering solutions to global clients. Established in the year 1971 with its first site in Bangalore, Nash is admired for its performance and spirit to innovate.
13. Persistent Systems is a global company specializing in software product development and technology services. For more than 20 years, they have partnered with pioneering start-ups, leading enterprises and the world’s largest technology brands, helping them accelerate innovation, time to market and enterprise transformation.
14. Radikal Foods. One of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of premium basmati rice, Radikal offers pure and fit grains to customers across the world. Sourced from the foothills of the Himalayas and other rice-growing states of India, each grain of Radikal rice is hand-picked, tested for quality and carefully processed.
15. RBL Bank is one of India’s fastest-growing scheduled commercial banks. Over the past four years, it has extended its financial services to more than 4,000 rural villages, empowering over 300,000 households with various financial offerings, such as microcredit, savings and micro insurance.
16. Sobha. With more than 35 years of experience, Sobha is one of the largest integrated real estate players in the country. It constructs and develops residential and commercial projects in India and abroad, focusing primarily on luxury and high-end projects.
17. Transasia Bio-Medicals is India’s largest in-vitro diagnostic company, and it offers a large number of services in multiple fields. It is recognized as India’s top manufacturer and exporter of diagnostic instruments and reagents in over 90 countries, and it is the first Indian company to manufacture and export sophisticated, state-of-the-art blood analysers and reagents.

Author: Rodolfo Lara Torres is director and head of the Global Growth Companies Community at the World Economic Forum.

Image: A general view shows workers at a cafeteria inside a building at the Infosys campus at the Electronic City area in Bangalore September 4, 2012. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash