India has to emerge as an economic superpower and produce a large number of global companies, Reliance Vice-Chairman Anil Ambani said on Sunday.

"The ultimate goal for India as a country is to emerge as an economic superpower. Unless India is strong, you are not going to have strong companies like Reliance around," he told BBC in an interview to be telecast on Monday.

Even after contributing close to 3 per cent of India's GDP and 5 per cent of exports, the Ambani scion did not appear to be satisfied with the ranking of Reliance in the global scenario.

"We are pygmies compared to the size of the global market and the opportunity that we have," he said, adding that even after 50 years of Independence, there are hardly five companies from India that rank amongst top 500 companies in the world.

In future, Ambani foresees a more professional India Inc, which is driven by the best managers rather than the owners.

"There is going to be a growing divorce between ownership and management. You have to be the best person to produce results. You may be the larger owner of equity in a company, but if you are not the best manager, you got to move along and let somebody else come and manage," he said.

Sharing his vision for the country, Ambani said, "Only when India finds its rightful place in the comity of nations, will the country produce a bagful, may be truckful, of globally competitive companies."

The Reliance vice-chairman agreed with the 'India Shining' campaign of the NDA government and said: "We have always made steady progress. But what we have seen recently is somewhat of an acceleration of that steady progress."

He, however, said the wide disparity between states and that between different strata of people is 'a matter of concern.'

He hastened to add that India is moving ahead and the future of India is "very, very bright."

"Over a period of time, a wider section of the population in India will enjoy the fruits and benefits of what is happening currently. It cannot be isolated to 15-20 million people," he added.

Ambani dismissed the notion that 'Reliance can swing anything and get anything done' but said the group was 'connected very intrinsically with the development of India.'

He admitted that Reliance was actually pretty close to most of the political parties. "If Reliance is one company that accounts for more than three per cent India's GDP, we need all the support that we can get and we do not distinguish or discriminate between individuals from various parts of the country or from various political parties."