Infosys, TCS, ITC and Mahindra and Mahindra are among the 16 Indian companies named

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in Forbes' magazine's 2010 compilation of the Asia-Pacific's 50 biggest listed companies.

India and China together account for 32 of the 50 companies in Forbes' sixth annual 'Asia's Fabulous 50 listed companies'.

The other Indian companies making it to the list are Adani Enterprises, Axis Bank, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Hindalco Industries, Jindal Steel and Power, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen and Toubro and Sterlite Industries.

When the list was first compiled in 2005, only five Chinese and three Indian outfits made the cut.

"Economies around Asia bounced back last year and so did many of our Fabulous 50 companies. Earnings, revenues and stock prices soared almost across the board after a rocky time the previous year," Forbes said.

Among the Indian firms, Forbes specifically talks about Axis Bank and ITC.

"The two are leaders in their industry -- Axis Bank, India's third-largest non-state-owned bank, and ITC, led by Y C Deveshwar, who is determined to give ITC a life beyond tobacco.

"Axis, with USD 41 billion in assets and nearly 22,000 employees, is one of the fastest-growing companies in the country," Forbes said.

Its revenues rose 29 per cent to hit USD 3.4 billion dollars in the year ended March 31, while net profit jumped 57 per cent to USD 553 million.

"It's this performance that puts Axis on the Fab 50 for the second straight year. The bank is looking to add 200 branches this year to the 1,055 it already has," it noted.

Crediting Axis Bank Chief Executive Shikha Sharma for the bank's performance, Forbes said, "In the 15 months since she took charge, Sharma has teased out the bank's strengths -- infrastructure finance, retail banking, processing payments and lending to small and medium-size enterprises."

"She's also put more emphasis on risk management," it said, quoting Sharma as saying, "It's not about being the biggest. We want to grow our book sensibly. We want to do something that we are confident of executing well."

In its profile of ITC and Chairman Y C Deveshwar, Forbes says, "In Deveshwar's era, ITC has clearly achieved more than a measure of progress. Today about half of its net revenues of USD 4.3 billion comes from cigarettes and the other half from hotels, paperboard, infotech, agribusiness and now increasingly, foods and personal care.