India secures second place in Forbes Asia’s ‘Best Under A Billion’ list, with the rising prominence of tech-focused firms signalling a shift in regional economic growth and competition with China.
India has secured the second spot in Forbes Asia’s latest “Best Under A Billion” ranking, with 27 companies making the cut in a list that spotlights the region’s strongest small and midsized listed businesses. China led the field with 28 companies, underlining how closely the two economies are now matched in this part of Asia’s corporate growth story. Forbes said the list was compiled from more than 19,000 publicly listed companies across Asia-Pacific.
The latest ranking comes at a time when companies across the region are navigating trade tensions, supply chain uncertainty and a more volatile energy backdrop. Forbes said the businesses that made the list have shown resilience, with many continuing to grow earnings and maintain profitability even as the broader economic outlook has remained uneven.
The composition of the list also points to where Asia’s growth capital is flowing. Artificial intelligence, software, semiconductors and electronic components accounted for about a quarter of the selected companies, while firms linked to data centres, electric vehicles, renewable energy, industrial technology and advanced manufacturing also featured prominently. That mix suggests the region’s next wave of expansion is increasingly being driven by technology-heavy sectors rather than traditional industries alone.
For India, the result is more than a ranking exercise. It points to the growing strength of mid-cap and small-cap companies that are competing beyond their home market in areas such as digital transformation, engineering, manufacturing, healthcare, speciality chemicals and higher-value industrial activity. The country’s near-equal standing with China also suggests its corporate base is becoming a more important engine of Asia’s growth narrative.
Forbes said the qualifying companies were drawn from those with annual sales between $10 million and $1 billion, and were assessed using a composite score that included debt, sales growth, earnings per share growth and returns on equity over one-year and multi-year periods. The publication said 60 of this year’s 200 companies had appeared on the list in the previous year, indicating a degree of continuity among the region’s best performers.
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