Here is the list of top brands of the second most populous and one of the largest economy in the world. India has many world renowned brands and has a strong presence in western countries too but this list rates the brands on its novelty, importance and obviously quality and respect among the Indian customers.
1. Amul
Amul is more than just a milk brand to the Indians. Its advertising campaign has always represented the common man's point of view on the serious national issues with a sense of beautiful humour. 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.
The mascot of the brand is a cute little girl often referred to as "amul baby".
2. Kingfisher Airlines
Owned by the flamboyant Indian billionaire, Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher is the leading Indian Airlines having presence in both low cost and premium services.
Kingfisher started its operation in May 2005 and has been ranked 5 star Airline by the independent consultancy research firm.
3. Big Bazaar
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.
4. ICICI Bank
India's largest private sector bank having total assets of nearly $91 billlion is one of the most respected companies of India.
Even during the economic recession, ICICI bank was among the only few banks in the entire world which got least affected and barely lost their any client.
5. State Bank of India
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.
6. Airtel
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.
7. Cafe Coffee Day
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.
8. Titan
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.
9. Lakme
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.
10. HDFC Bank
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.
