Business Standard Annual Awards: Celebrating excellence

From start to finish, the Business Standard Annual Awards for Corporate Excellence, held on Saturday evening, toasted the indomitable spirit of Indian entrepreneurship that was ready to fight all odds. And the Crystal Room at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, filled to capacity by familiar faces and famous names, clapped in unison when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Chief Guest at the function, said categorically that the goods and services tax would roll out from July 1, after a prolonged but “truly exemplary exercise in deliberative democracy”. 

The proceedings for the evening kicked off well before the scheduled hour, as the czars of the corporate world trooped in early to catch up with their competitors. The camaraderie was visible, as they took time to exchange notes and share insights in a relaxed set-up. Many had cancelled their weekend plans to make it to the event.

The minister, who stood out in his kurta-pyjama amid a sea of black suits, also had some good news for bankers, several of whom were in the audience.

 

“Bankers will soon operate without any fear of future harassment, should a commercial decision taken with honest intentions go wrong,” Jaitley said, adding the applicability of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which was last amended in 1988, would be upgraded to meet the needs of a modern economic system. 

“Some people are exploiting the banking system’s inability to deal with consistent defaulters. And, I think, that needs to be cracked,” he said.

The minister’s speech evoked an enthusiastic response from corporate leaders. “It was good to see the finance minister reassuring India Inc of better times ahead,” said Zia Mody, founder, AZB & Partners.

The tone of the evening was set by Maruti Suzuki Chairman R C Bhargava, who was also the chairman of the distinguished jury to select the best in India Inc. “While past performance is important, we were also looking at potential outstanding performers of the future,” he said. 
 

The best example of that spirit was Eicher Motors Managing Director (MD) Siddhartha Lal, who won the CEO of the Year award. In his acceptance speech, Lal, who flew down from London just to receive the award, said the award was unexpected, considering he was a “misfit” in the corporate world.  

IN PHOTOS: BS Annual Awards: An evening lit up by the stars of India Inc  
 

“We never expected to receive something like this. Chaps like me aren’t supposed to be as successful. I wanted to enjoy myself, ride bikes and go into the sunset. But here I am accepting the CEO of the Year award. We are honoured and delighted,” he said.

When Lal took over Eicher Motors in 2000, the company was struggling with falling sales. Four years later, he decided to divest 13 of the 15 businesses that Eicher was in and decided to put all the money and focus behind Royal Enfield and trucks, two businesses where he believed the group had a genuine shot at leadership. Lal’s bet paid off big time, with Eicher becoming a grand success in bikes. Today, the company has a market capitalisation of Rs 66,300 crore.

(From left) Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia interacts with Eicher CEO Siddhartha Lal and Marico chief Harsh Mariwala

The response of the other winners was typical of the evening: The leading lights of the business world walked away with glittering trophies and, to the last person, each thanked his company, colleagues, customers and families for helping him to the top of the podium. Aditya Ghosh, president and whole-time director of InterGlobe Aviation (operator of IndiGo Airlines), which won the Company of the Year award, attributed the success to the hard work put in by his 14,000 colleagues, who made sure that “one IndiGo flight takes off every 10 seconds with clockwork precision”.

In a written speech, read out by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sanjiv Puri, ITC’s non-executive chairman Y C Deveshwar spoke in detail about how ITC had been his life and passion for the past 40 years and credited his “fantastic team members” for all their hard work.

Other award winners did themselves proud with the quality of their acceptance speeches. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) received the Innovative Organisation of the Year award for achieving significant milestones in 2016 in the domains of vehicle, satellite, applications and space exploration. “Innovation and Isro are like twins. Isro is innovating, not to create records but to bring technology in a cost-effective way,” said K Sivan, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Isro.

This year’s awards also honoured institutions and people who contributed to society and made a huge impact. Madhav Chavan, co-founder, Pratham Foundation, winner of the Social Enterprise of the Year award, said such awards were nice, but the real reward would come when half the Indian children, who were unable to read at present, would be able to do so. 

Sanjit ‘Bunker’ Roy of Barefoot College, who won the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award, said women were the real change agents and role models. “If you want to spread a message, then tell a woman,” he said.

While Corporate India was represented by Asian Paints Vice-Chairman Ashwin Dani, Bisleri International Chairman Prakash Chauhan, Essar Group Director Anshuman Ruia and Novartis Vice-Chairman and MD Ranjit Shahani, there were several marquee names from the world of management and strategic consultancy — McKinsey Global Co-Leader of Analytics Practice Noshir Kaka, EY India Chairman And Chairman of EY’s Global Emerging Markets Committee Rajiv Memani and Boston Consulting Group Asia-Pacific Chairman Janmejaya Sinha. JMP Advisors Founder Chairman Jairaj Purandare and PwC Senior Partner Ketan Dalal also attended the function. 

The financial world was present in full force: LIC Chairman Vijay Kumar Sharma, GIC Chairman Alice Vaidyan, IDFC Bank MD Rajiv Lall, Standard Chartered India CEO Zarin Daruwala and State Bank of India MD Rajnish Kumar. The investment banking, broking and fund management industry was represented by Enam Group Chairman Vallabh Bhanshali, Anand Rathi Financial Services Chairman Anand Rathi, HDFC Mutual Fund Chief Investment Officer Prashant Jain, IndAsia Chairman Pradip Shah and Kae Capital Founder Sasha Mirchandani. Besides Zia Mody, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Managing Partner Cyril Shroff was also present. 

Among other guests were KKR India CEO Sanjay Nayar, BSE CEO and MD Ashish Chauhan, and Multi Commodity Exchange President P K Singhal.