Eight Indian domestic firms made it to Rating agency Standard & Poors' annual 'Global Challengers List' of 300 firms. The list identifies mid-size publicly traded firms that manifest the best growth characteristics.

Explaining the rationale behind this listing S&P index strategist Srikant Dash said, "In the Darwinian sense, mid-caps are truly positioned in an evolutionary sweet spot, having survived beyond their start-up phases and offering stability as well as rapid growth opportunities in the future."

The eight Indian companies that have made it to the year 2007 list are cement maker ACC, Hotel Leela Venture, Jain Irrigation, Lakshmi Machine Works, Marico, Siemens India, besides Tata Group's Titan Industries and Indian Hotels.

Among the other 37 countries, that made it to the list Japan topped with 62 firms, followed by the United States with 58 and UK 19. While Indian may seem way behind with just eight firms it did come ahead of China which had just 4 companies in the list.