NPCI and Meesho Secure Spots on Times’ List of Top-100 Influential Companies

There is a mix of positive and negative news in the recent rankings of influential companies. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) launched the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2008, and both NPCI and a relatively young company called Meesho, founded in 2015, have earned a place on the prestigious list published by the Times. Unfortunately, the not-so-good news is that these are the only two Indian companies featured on the list.

All About the NPCI and Meesho in the list of Top Influential Companies

The NPCI serves as a non-profit umbrella organization that oversees the operation of retail payment and settlement systems in India. It is responsible for the management of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and also operates the RuPay payment system, which functions similarly to international card networks like Visa and MasterCard. Recognizing the potential of its products on a global scale, the NPCI recently established a separate subsidiary to expand its reach beyond India. Reports suggest that the NPCI is currently engaged in discussions with Gulf nations, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, to extend its UPI services internationally.

In addition to the NPCI, Meesho, an e-commerce platform specializing in retail distribution, has secured a coveted spot on the list of influential companies. Notably, just a few weeks ago, Meesho achieved a significant milestone by becoming the fastest shopping app to accumulate over 500 million downloads, according to a report from mobile data analytics provider data.a.

The list of influential companies is organized into five distinct categories: leaders, disruptors, innovators, titans, and pioneers. Both the NPCI and Meesho have been acknowledged as ‘Pioneers’ within their respective fields. The ‘Titans’ category includes major industry powerhouses like IBM, JPMorgan Chase, and Lockheed Martin, with the intriguing inclusion of TikTok.

Within the ‘Innovators’ section, notable mentions include the footwear brand Crocs and Polygon Labs, which was founded by individuals of Indian origin, namely Sandeep Nailwal and Jaynti Kanani. In the ‘Leaders’ category, prominent names such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the language learning app Duolingo, and gaming chipmaker Nvidia stand out as recognizable entities.