India Inc is second on the list of global challengers, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group and the Confederation of Indian Industries.
Forty-four Chinese and 21 Indian companies dominate a list of 100 companies, which are the emerging global challengers, chosen from 12 rapidly developing economies.
"These companies are leading the third wave of globalisation. A few of them like the Indian Infosys and Wipro or the Chinese Haier have started assuming leadership positions and have captured media attention," said Arindam Bhattacharya, director, BCG.
These companies are ready to challenge, or, as in some cases, are already challenging the dominance of multinationals from developed countries.
The Tata group dominates the list with five of its companies - Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd - making the grade. Other Indian companies include Hindalco, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Forge, TVS Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Ranbaxy and Cipla.
Only one public sector player, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, managed to make the grade.
"On the other hand, almost 90 per cent of the Chinese companies are state-run," said Vikram Bhalla, director, BCG. Both the countries showed a similar appetite for acquisitions, with more than 70 per cent of their acquired firms coming from the mature markets.
The 21 Indian companies in the list acquired 21 overseas firms between them in 2005. Overall, India Inc bought out 192 companies in the year.
"Better still, now the ticket size of these mergers and acquisitions is getting larger," added Bhalla.
The report, titled "India's Emerging Global Challengers", notes that Indian companies have been able to leverage their engineering and research strengths to market innovative technology-based solutions, like what Dr Reddy's has done.
The automobile, pharmaceuticals and the information technology sectors dominate the list of Indian companies.
A second report called "Advantage, the India manufacturing opportunity", prepared by CII and BCG, adds that the country's manufacturing base is one of the largest among the developing economies.
India's labour cost advantage and effective capital use coupled with abundant raw material and a young demography has attracted MNCs like Philips and Siemens to set up shop here.
But the studies caution that Indian companies, unlike their Chinese counterparts, are still to come up with a global brand. "Plus, they also need to have better access to global customers and a more effective supply chain," said Bhattacharya.
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