LONDON: Indian companies faced major market value losses in the first three months of 2008. Fourteen firms appeared on the financial list of the world's 500 most valued companies but collectively lost about $150 billion. This drop pushed many firms down the rankings, with four big names — Reliance Petroleum, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Unitech, and HDFC — completely out of the list. The latest FT Global 500, published by the UK’s Financial Times, ranks firms based on their market capitalization as on March 31, 2008, compared to December 2007. Reliance Industries, led by Mukesh Ambani, ranks highest among Indian firms at 80th position, down from 65th earlier. The global top spot went to US energy giant ExxonMobil. Other Indian companies also slipped. ONGC fell from 115th to 148th, NTPC from 163rd to 206th, Bharti Airtel from 193rd to 218th, DLF sharply dropped from 195th to 329th, and Reliance Communications slipped from 252nd to 350th. ITC was the only Indian firm to improve its rank, rising six spots to 484th despite a fall in its market cap from $20.8 billion to $19.38 billion. In total, the 14 Indian firms now have a combined market value of about $440 billion, down from $590 billion when 17 firms were listed in December. India ranks 15th by total market capitalization of listed companies on the FT Global 500. The US leads with 169 companies worth $9.6 trillion, followed by the UK, China, France, and Japan. The biggest value drops among Indian firms were seen in DLF ($40.66 billion), ICICI Bank ($38.51 billion), and Steel Authority of India ($35.46 billion). Reliance Industries also saw its market cap fall by $21 billion, from $105 billion to $82 billion. Globally, ExxonMobil has taken the top position from China’s PetroChina. US industrial giant GE remains third. Others in the global top 10 include Gazprom, China Mobile, Microsoft, AT&T, Royal Dutch Shell, and Procter & Gamble.