Nearly a century-and-a-half after constructing the London-Calcutta telegraph line, the German engineering giant is still going strong in India. The company's progress in India has been in sporadic bursts. It founded its India unit in 1922, but it was only after independence that it started expanding.
The global lubricants manufacturer stayed put in the country despite unfriendly business environment which scared many others. Castrol has a 25 per cent share of the Indian lubricant industry, and is well ahead of MNC rivals such as Mobil and Shell.
Our special package, "The Oldest Multinationals in India", celebrates the journeys of some of the top global companies in India. The Indian arm of StanChart, which opened its first Indian branch in Kolkata in 1858, is today the third-largest contributor to its global profits, after Singapore and Hong Kong. Full coverage
From setting up the country's first hydropower plant to pioneering the BPO industry, GE has spread its wings to several sectors in India. The company employs more than 14,500 people in the country. It supplies equipment to run nuclear power plants. It sells jet engines and locomotives.
India's largest consumer goods company has been closely linked with the ups and downs of the country's history.
Remembered for its iconic baby foods, GlaxoSmithKline now owns high profile brands in two distinct businesses - pharmaceuticals and consumer health-care.
Swedish company SKF has survived high tariff barriers and labour problems to hold its own in the bearings market.
Trying hard to adjust to a changing environment, Philips got some things right and some things wrong.





