This year, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) ranked number 5 last year has topped the Fortune India’s 2013 the list, becoming India’s most admired company.

While Airtel is on 19th place, IBM and Wipro got 17th and 13th ranging respectively. The top five companies include TCS, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Infosys Tech and State Bank of India in that order.

The previous year’s winner, Tata Steel, slips to No. 7. Hindustan Unilever retains its No. 2 position followed by ITC (previously at No. 7). Infosys shares the No. 3 position with ITC. This year, ICICI Bank makes its debut in the top 10.

An interesting fact is that this year, two public sector companies—State Bank of India and ONGC—are in the top 10. Last year, there were no PSUs in the top 10 list.

The Fortune India ranking of India's Most Admired Companies was done in partnership with Hay Group India. Companies are rated on the parameters of corporate governance, endurance, performance, quality, financial soundness, innovativeness, leadership, talent management, social responsibility, and global business. Apart from the overall rankings, there are sector specific rankings, covering 16 key industries.

This year, companies were also ranked based on unprompted endorsements by peers. This ranking threw up some surprises and, in many cases, differed from the overall rankings. According to its peers, Hindustan Lever is ranked No. 1, followed by TCS. Infosys stayed on at No. 3 in peer endorsements as well.

The sector rankings, where respondents from the same industry rank companies, throw up some interesting observations. Companies that have been ranked on top score the highest on two parameters—product quality and financial soundness. Of the 16 companies that have topped their respective categories, 12 have topped the ‘product/service quality’ attribute and ‘financial soundness’ attribute. Then comes ‘innovation’ with 11 of the 16 topping, followed by endurance, leadership, talent management, corporate social responsibility, and global business footprint with 10. Then comes corporate governance at nine, and performance at eight.

D.N. Mukerjea, Editor, Fortune India, said “In my interactions with many new entrepreneurs and CEOs, I have come to the conclusion that nobody today starts or runs a business just to get rich. They do it because they feel they can make a difference, and the ultimate prize they seek is the admiration of their peers. Our ranking of India’s Most Admired Companies, done in partnership with the Hay Group, rests on that central idea. Admiration is a composite of traits and, therefore, hard to earn.”

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