Indias Most Admired

IT's been nine years now since CW began its annual exercise - or labour of love - on the lines of FORTUNE's Top 50 list of Most Admired Companies, a survey of India's very own MACs.This period has seen phenomenal change. There has been a yo-yo swing in the country's construction and infrastructure sector fortunes - which has oscillated between boom, which first saw India Inc being counted in the same breath as China as the next big economy to watch, to global bust, despite which Indian companies, many of whom have been a constant in our list over the years, managing admirably.While some of them have trundled back to recovery mode, others have found remarkable ways to beat the slowdown, even stay on top of the situation with a rosy financial bottomline and a healthy order book position. Over the years many of them like say, L&T, Afcons, HCC or Gammon have been constants - regardless of business conditions, these leaders have continued to make the cut year after year, shine on top of our list - while some others have ascended and staked their own claim to the MAC status by sheer innovation or perseverance. What is also noticed is that while there is sometimes a David-Goliath gap between them - in terms of finances or sheer company size - they all occupy the Most Admired Company pedestal owing to remarkable attributes. In a sense these firms are the visible symbols of neo resurgence at a time of economic slowdown; companies that have made, or will make, the essential difference.They are the 'differentiators'.Ergo, being on CW's list of Most Admired Companies is more than just peer recognition. It is our tribute - though not a ranking - to the companies' manifold positive virtues. This could include a company culture that supports strategy, management structures and processes that sustain performance over time, best practices, quality of products and services, financial soundness, smart use of corporate assets, an emphasis on people through whom success is achieved, the placing of a high value on leadership and talent, innovation, human resource management, social responsibility to the community and so on. Which companies get to figure in CW's list of Most Admired Companies are based on those and other variables and determined by a perception survey. Our voters, comprising industry professionals, were asked to make their choice on several criteria including performance, scale of projects, corporate governance, ethics, best business practices, eco and customer-friendly policies and so on. They were also given a choice of including three companies of their preference that were not in the original list of 85. As a result of the survey which saw 1,053 votes being cast, we are delighted to present the list of India's 10 Most Admired Companies for 2013. The winning companies, will as usual, be felicitated at the CW Annual Awards to be held concurrently with the 2nd India Construction Festival 2013, in October. For the profiles of CW's MACs 2013, read on..... Winners Then and Now! 2010 Afcons Infrastructure Gammon India HCC IVRCL Infrastructure & Projects Jaiprakash Associates Larsen & Toubro Nagarjuna Construction Punj Lloyd Simplex Infrastructure Tata Projects 2011 Afcons Infrastructure Essar Projects Gammon India HCC Lanco Infratech Larsen & Toubro Nagarjuna Construction Punj Lloyd Reliance Infrastructure Tata Projects 2012 Afcons Infrastructure Engineers India Essar Projects Gammon India HCC Larsen & Toubro NCC Punj Lloyd Reliance Infrastructure Tata Projects 2013Afcons InfrastructureEngineers IndiaGammon IndiaHCCJaiprakash AssociatesLarsen & ToubroPunj LloydReliance InfrastructureSadbhav EngineeringTata Projects