Three Indian chief executive officers - Mr. Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, Mr. Nandan Mohan Nilekani of Infosys and Mr. Ratan Tata of Tatas - have figured in this year’s list of World’s 50 most respected business leaders.

Mr. Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, is ranked joint 33rd in the list along with Mr. Gianni Agnelli of Fiat. He is followed by Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation at 35th place.

Mr. Nandan Mohan Nilekani of Infosys Technologies is jointly ranked 45th with Mr. Jorge Geradu Johannpeter of Geradu.

Mr. Ratan Tata of the Tata group is ranked 50th in the list, headed by Bill Gates as number one and Mr. Jack Welch, number two. Two Indian companies figure among world’s 90 most respected companies - Infosys at 85th and Reliance at 87th place. The list was published by Financial Times, based on a global survey and research by Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

This is the fifth year of global survey of CEOs and this year’s list is based on opinions and interviews from across more than 20 countries. The survey identifies those firms and business leaders that are most respected by their peers and the reasons for them. Reliance is ranked at 36th position with Volkswagen of Germany. Infosys is jointly ranked 43rd with Samsung.

According to the survey, Reliance is the only Indian company that will make the most impact on economic/social; issues in emerging markets over the next five to ten years.

Among 60 such firms, Reliance is ranked 53rd, Microsoft and McDonald’s take the top two slots. Reliance also features in the maximum number of lists in the survey. It figures in five lists - world’s most respected firms, India’s most respected company, most respected companies in energy and chemical sector, companies that create most value for shareholders and companies that will make the most impact on economic/social issues in emerging markets over the next five to ten years.