20-08-2014 : Hindustan Unilever is on No 3 of Fortune India's list of India's most admired companies. In the list compiled with the help of global management consultancy Hay Group, ITC was at the top spot and Larsen and Toubro followed at No 2.

"This year, two criteria in particular, corporate governance and social impact, separated the Top 10 from the rest of the winners," Hay Group India Country Head Sridhar Ganesan said.

L&T has been rated highest on leadership while HUL has been rated highest on investment, talent development, product quality, leadership, innovativeness and global footprint.

Maruti Suzuki, State Bank of India, TCS, Coca Cola, Samsung, Tata Motors and ONGC are among the top 10 firms.

Peer ranking methodology

"Peer admiration, especially on qualitative parameters is always difficult. And that's really what the survey boils down to; are you good enough for your equals to respect you," Fortune India Editor D N Mukerjea said.

The research is based on peer ranking methodology, which in its first phase covered 523 companies across the economy's 15 key sectors.

Around 443 respondents participated to rank their peers across a scale of ten parameters like corporate governance, endurance, impact on society, investment value, product /service quality, innovation, quality of leadership, talent development, employee empowerment and business footprint.

In the second phase, 84 respondents evaluated the top 45 companies on the basis of the same parameters.

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