India's top 20 brands: Amul is No. 1

Amul has been ranked as the best brand from India.

Owned and marketed by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), Amul has beaten all other Indian brands to notch the 89th position in a 'Top 1000 Brands of Asia' survey, conducted by Campaign magazine.

The July issue of Campaign, published from Hong Kong and Singapore, ranked Amul the number one among Indian brands.

Amul is the only Indian brand which has ranked in the Top 100 list.

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It is the third year in a row where Amul has featured in the top 100 of the 1,000 Asian brands covered under the survey.

However, Amul's overall rank has slipped from 73rd last year. Campaign magazine, which releases Asia's top 1000 brand list every year, has ranked Sony as the number 1 brand in Asia.

Amul is number one dairy brand, ahead of leading companies in the region like Dutch Lady, Dumex or Magnolia.

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It had improved its rank in 2010 over 2009 when it had ranked No. 83 in the survey.

Nonetheless, it has retained its number one rank among all Indian brands in the list.

From a sales turnover of Rs 1,114 crore (Rs 11.14 billion) in 1994-95, Amul's sales have risen substantially to Rs 9,774.2 crore (Rs 97.74 billion)in 2010-11.

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Amul has entered overseas markets such as Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, Bangladesh, Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and a few South African countries.

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The GCMMF has 3.03 million members across 15,712 village societies. Its total milk handling capacity 13.67 million litres per day.

Amul's success has been credited to Verghese Kurien, former chairman of the GCMMF. In 2006, Parthi Bhatol, chairman of the Banaskantha Union, was elected chairman of GCMMF.

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Amul triggered a white revolution in India, making India the largest producer of milk and milk products in the world.

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2. Kingfisher Airlines (Rank 116)

Owned by Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines was established in 2003. The airline started commercial operations in May 2005.

It started its international operations in September 2008 by connecting Bengaluru with London.

Kingfisher Airlines, through its parent company United Breweries Group, has a 50 per cent stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red.

Kingfisher Airlines is one of the seven airlines to be ranked as a 5-star airline by the independent research consultancy firm Skytrax.

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3. Big Bazaar (Rank 184)

Launched in 2001, Big Bazaar started off with four stores in Calcutta, Indore, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

In a span of ten years, there are 148 Big Bazaar stores in 80 cities and towns across India.

Big Bazaar offers a wide range of merchandise including fashion and apparels, food products, general merchandise, furniture, electronics and books.

Big Bazaar is part of Future Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail India Limited.

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4. ICICI Bank (Rank 215)

ICICI Bank headed by Chanda Kochchar is India's second-largest bank with total assets of Rs 4,062.34 billion ($ 91 billion) as of March 31, 2011.

Founded in 1994, the Bank has a network of 2,533 branches and 6,301 ATMs in India, and has a presence in 19 countries.

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5. State Bank of India (Rank 216)

The State Bank of India is the largest Indian banking and financial services company (by turnover and total assets) with its headquarters in Mumbai.

The bank traces its ancestry to British India, through the Imperial Bank of India, to the founding in 1806 of the Bank of Calcutta, making it the oldest commercial bank in the Indian Subcontinent.

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6. Airtel ( Rank 221)

Bharti Airtel operates in 19 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services.

Airtel is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world with over 207.8 million subscribers across 19 countries at the end of 2010.

It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with over 164.61 million subscribers at the end of 2011 April.

Founded in July 1995, Airtel also offers fixed line services and broadband services.

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7. LIC Insurance (Rank 252)

Life Insurance Corporation came into existence on 1 September, 1956 to offer adequate financial cover to the masses at a reasonable cost.

LIC had 5 zonal offices, 33 divisional offices and 212 branch offices, apart from its corporate office in 1956.

Considered a jewel among the PSUs, today LIC has 2048 fully computerised branch offices, 109 divisional offices, 8 zonal offices, 992 satellite offices.

LIC continues to be the dominant life insurer in the liberalised Indian insurance sector.

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8. Cafe Coffee Day (Rank 264)

Cafe Coffee Day, a division of India's largest coffee conglomerate, Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company, grows coffee in its own estates of 10,000 acres.

It is the largest producer of Arabica beans in Asia. ABCTCL is one of India's leading coffee exporters with clients across USA, Europe and Japan.

The first CCD outlet was set up in July 1996 at Bengaluru. Today there are 1000 outlets across India. Their tagline 'A lot can happen over coffee' became popular among youngsters.

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9. Titan (Rank 270)

Founded in 1987, Titan Industries is the world's fifth largest wrist watch manufacturer. Titan, Fastrack, Sonata, Nebula, Raga, Regalia, Octane and Xylys are the popular brands of Titan watches.

Titan is a joint venture between the Tata Group, and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO).

Its product portfolio includes watches, accessories and jewellery, in both contemporary and traditional designs. It manufactures precious jewellery under the Tanishq brand.

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10. Lakme Cosmetics (Rank 288)

Lakme started as a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills (Tomco), part of the Tata Group.

Lakme started making cosmetics for Indian women in 1952. In 1996 Tata sold off their stakes in Lakme to Unilever for Rs 200 Crore (Rs 2 billion).

Lakme has also set up Lakme Beauty Salons all over India.

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11. HDFC Bank (Rank 290)

Founded in August 1994, HDFC Bank has 1,725 branches and over 5,000 ATMs, in 780 cities in India.

For the fiscal year 2010-11, the bank has reported net profit of Rs 3,926.30 crore (Rs 39.26 billion), up 33.1 per cent from the previous fiscal.

The total annual earnings of the bank increased by 20.37 per cent to  Rs 24,263.4 crore (Rs 242.63 billion) in 2010-11.

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12. Apollo Pharmacy (Rank 304)

Apollo pharmacy is a division of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd.

It is one of the largest branded network with over 950 plus outlets. The store assures genuine medicines with a range of products in pharmacy, surgical, disposables, anti-cancer, life saving and general healthcare products.

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13. Taj Mahal Hotel (Rank 336)

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces is a worldwide chain of hotels and resorts.

Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata, founder of the Tata Group, opened the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Mumbai on 16 December, 1903.

He decided on building a hotel after he was refused entry in Watson's Hotel in Mumbai since he was an Indian.

Taj Hotels Resort and Palaces owns 76 hotels across 52 destinations in 12 countries.

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14. Kissan (Rank 358)

Kissan, a household name has completed 62 years in India. It was acquired by HUL in 1994 from the UB Group.

The Kissan brand offers ketchup, other sauces, jams, squashes and ready-to-drink products.

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15. Kelvinator (Rank 360)

Electrolux Kelvinator is a global leader in home appliances. Its products include refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, washing machines and cookers.

In 2005, Videocon acquired 91.85 per cent stake in its loss-making Indian subsidiary Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd.

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16. Barista Coffee Shop (Rank 372)

Barista Lavazza is a chain of expresso bars in India. Founded in 1997 by Amit Judge, he sold part of the equity to first Tata Coffee.

Later, Sterling Sivasankaran bought over the firm. In 2007, Sterling sold it off to Lavazza, Italy's largest coffee company.

Barista has over 200 stores in India. Barista was one of the fastest brands to make it to the list of super brands.

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17. Kwality Ice Cream (Rank 394)

Kwality Ice Cream is one of the pioneers in the Indian ice-cream manufacturing industry.

In 1995, Kwality Group joined hands with Hindustan Lever. Kwality Walls is a collaboration between global brand Walls and Kwality.

Though the two giants eventually parted ways, the collaboration made Kwality a household name and a strong brand in the consumer market.

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18. Mother Dairy (Rank 396)

Mother Dairy was set up in 1974 under the Operation Flood Programme. It is now a wholly owned company of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

Mother Dairy markets and sells dairy products under the Mother Dairy brand.

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19. Bajaj (Rank 411)

Bajaj Auto manufactures and exports motorcycles, auto rickshaws and commercial vehicles.

Bajaj Auto came into existence on 29 November 1945 as M/s Bachraj Trading Corporation Private Limited.

It started off by selling imported two and three-wheelers in India. In 1959, it obtained license from the government to manufacture two- and three-wheelers and it went public in 1960. Bajaj now has operations in 50 countries.

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20. Maruti Suzuki (Rank 428)

Founded in 1981, Maruti is one of the most popular brands in India. Maruti Suzuki, a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan, is India's largest passenger car company, accounting for over 45 per cent of the domestic car market.

Credited for bringing an automobile revolution in India, the company offers a complete range of cars. It was the first company in India to mass-produce and sell more than a million cars.