BS Annual Awards 2022: Power-packed jury picks the best of India Inc

Top decision-makers select the winners in 7 categories

A high-profile seven-member jury to select the winners of Business Standard Annual Awards for Corporate Excellence 2022 met virtually last week and picked the best of India Inc.

The jury, chaired by Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla group, included Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Managing Partner Cyril Shroff; EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani; Multiples Alternate Asset Management Founder and Managing Director Renuka Ramnath; McKinsey & Company Senior Partner Noshir Kaka; Sorin Investments Founder and Chairman Sanjay Nayar; and Bain Capital Private Equity India Chairman Amit Chandra.

“The jury had very interesting and very incisive discussions, and lots of different points of view from different perspectives were discussed. I think the nominees represented a very diverse and promising set of operations and professionals that really showcases the dynamism in getting the winners,” Birla said.

“My heartiest congratulations to all the winners.”

The jury selected Hindustan Unilever’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) Sanjiv Mehta as “CEO of the Year” and Titan Company as “Company of the Year” for their outstanding performance for the period under review.

Samsung India was declared “Star MNC of the Year”, while defence aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics was adjudged “Star PSU of the Year”. 

While Fine Organic Industries was awarded “Star SME of the Year”, Zoho Corporation, a fast-growing SaaS company, is the “New-Age Company of the Year”. 

The category’s name was changed from “Start-up of the Year” to “New Age Company of the Year” to include the new technology companies that are making a mark not only in India but across the world.

The jury was unanimous in their choice of Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys, as the winner of the “Lifetime Achievement” award. 

“The Lifetime Achievement award is really for someone whose body of work has a fair impact, which is truly outstanding. I think our choice of the winner is for someone who has created an impact far beyond his own company and even beyond his own sector,” Birla said about Nilekani, who was also the founding Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) with the rank of Cabinet Minister from 2009 to 2014.

Born in Bengaluru, Nilekani, 67, received his Bachelor’s degree from IIT Bombay. In 2005, he received the prestigious Joseph Schumpeter prize for innovative services in economy, economic sciences and politics. 

In 2006, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian honours. In January 2023, he was appointed co-chair of the “G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure for Economic Transformation, Financial Inclusion and Development”.

In his capacity as jury chairman, Birla initiated the deliberations by requesting each jury member to shortlist two candidates in the award category.

The candidates were identified based on their financial performance for the year ended March 2022, compiled by the Business Standard Research Bureau.

Birla emphasised that, in addition to financial metrics, strong ethical principles and a long-term business vision should also be considered, particularly in the light of the exceptional challenges that emerged due to the pandemic. 

The jury discussions were focused on key themes such as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance, crisis management, and new foreign direct investments (FDI) into the country by the multinationals. 

The jury recognised how Mehta steered Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company in the country, in one of its toughest times during Covid-19 lockdowns. 

In the year that witnessed the second wave of Covid-19, HUL’s consolidated revenue from operations grew 11.5 per cent to Rs 52,446 crore as it took price hikes in order to pass on the surge in raw material costs. Its profit after tax during the year grew 11.2 per cent to Rs 8,892 crore.

The two years of the pandemic made HUL even more responsive and resilient as a business. Despite weak rural demand, HUL managed to outperform the market both in volume and value terms -- thus tilting the scales in Mehta’s favour.

Ramnath said the choice of Mehta as “CEO of the Year” was due to the company’s consistent performance despite difficult macroeconomic challenges. “Mehta has navigated (HUL) during challenging times, steered a large ship and held the company together to consistently deliver high-quality performance -- in terms of the financial performance of the company, and the all-round impact on the economy,” Ramnath said.

The jury was impressed by the consistent performance of Tata group-owned Titan Company, which started operations in 1984 as a watch company. Titan later went on to introduce jewellery and is now the country’s leading lifestyle retailer with offers across eyewear, accessories, perfumes, and ethnic wear. The company is the world’s fifth-largest integrated watch manufacturer. 

C K Venkataraman is managing director of Titan, which is known for transforming India’s watch and jewellery industry and for shaping the domestic retail market. Its jewellery brand Tanishq leads the organised segment, while Titan Eye+ is also India’s largest retailer of prescription eyewear. The company has also been very successful in creating new brands, across its verticals.

“It was a fairly difficult choice amongst a group of very strong contenders. But in the end, the combination of business success, market capitalisation, and breakout performance prevailed. So, we’re very proud of the choice of Titan,” Shroff said about the “Company of the Year” winner.

On the choice of Samsung, the jury debated and discussed several global names which invested heavily in India -- especially as part of their China-plus-one supply-chain strategy, apart from the shortlisted names. Samsung’s consistent financial performance, in spite of the Korean firm not being listed in India, played in its favour.

JongBum Park, who is President and CEO of Samsung Southwest Asia, heads the India operations. This was the first time the jury selected an unlisted company in the MNC (multinational company) category to recognise the vast investments made in the country by Samsung and also the contribution of foreign direct investment in the Indian economy by a foreign company.

“We broke away from tradition (of listed entities) and looked for multinationals that contributed to India. Samsung was an obvious choice for achieving scale in the country, the manufacturing they have built, and setting up the dealer network and sales and services network, which is quite outstanding,” Nayar said.

“For a big Korean company to put so much confidence in the country and build the supply chain is commendable. But very importantly, they made products here like mobile, TV, home appliances, which are attuned to the Indian market — both in terms of price point, as well as its spread of distribution. So it’s a great message for inviting FDI into our country,” Nayar added.

On “Star PSU of the Year”, the jury felt the candidate should not only show outstanding financial metrics but also face competition from its peers. After a discussion on several companies, the jury zeroed in on Hindustan Aeronautics as it has been a consistent performer for several years.

“It is not only sales growth and generating profit, but the company has been rewarded externally by the market. It exited the last financial year with an order book which is almost three and a half times its base (annual revenue) and that’s important in an array that supports the nation’s defence mobility building,” Chandra said. 

C B Ananthakrishnan is chairman and managing director of Hindustan Aeronautics, which clocked revenue of Rs 24,620 crore and net profit of Rs 5,080 crore in 2021-22, compared to Rs 22,882 crore and Rs 3,246 crore in 2020-21.

On selecting Zoho as “New Age Company of the Year”, Kaka recalled how 2022 was a very difficult year for start-ups and how after seven boom years, the industry faced a funding crunch and a “bit of a winter”.

“The jury selected Zoho as it has been the pioneer for (developing) the SaaS software from India for the world and has been a torchbearer for many years. It’s not just the financial results of the company and the profitability that have grown by leaps and bounds but it has pushed into tier-two and tier-three towns in training people on how to develop great software, and combined with its global reach and network. It has also provided affordable software for several next-generation companies,” Kaka said.

Sridhar Vembu is the founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021.

The jury had a good conversation on the “Star SME of the Year” and discussed several names from the emerging companies.

“The jury finally converged on Fine Organic Industries due to its outstanding financial performance and also its focus on green chemicals. From a proprietary technology that they have developed, the company is now able to have a great impact by exporting to 75 countries,” Memani said.

Mukesh M Shah is chairman and managing director of the Mumbai-based firm, which clocked revenue of Rs 1,876 crore and net profit of Rs 260 crore for 2021-22, an increase of 66 per cent and 116 per cent, respectively, over the previous year.