The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2009 celebrate the resilience of India Inc, which came out of the financial meltdown as more cautious, yet more resilient; risk-averse, yet willing to address opportunities.
The mood at the 11th Ernst and Young (E&Y) Entrepreneur of The Year Awards on February 16 at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai was a far cry from the last edition held in late 2008. At that time, the world had slipped into the worst slowdown of recent times, and the cloud of uncertainty hung over the corporate world. Worse, on the night of the awards, 26 November, sea-borne terrorists had attacked Mumbai.
This year’s award celebrated the recovery of Mumbai from the attacks as well as the resilience of Indian entrepreneurs who came out of the financial meltdown and economic slowdown with flying colours.
Rajiv Memani, the CEO and country managing partner of Ernst & Young, said: “When we turn back to the past 18 months, we realise the change that we are seeing in our world. We are more cautious, yet more resilient; we are risk-averse, yet willing to address opportunities. As a nation, we are beginning to realise our true potential. And the world would vouch for that.”
The sense of achievement was apparent on the face of every corporate chieftain who attended the ceremony. The evening gave an insight to the beginnings of the winners and how they have transformed themselves to take on bigger responsibilities.
Take the example of the Entrepreneur of The Year Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director of Mahindra Group. He wanted to be a filmmaker until he decided to take up the family business and drive it to the new heights.
OP Bhatt, the chairman of State Bank of India, who won the Manager Entrepreneur of The Year award, narrated his first lesson in integrity from his father. Bhatt’s father was working for the Survey of India. One day when the father was leaving to catch a train, the young Bhatt insisted that he wanted to see him off. The father agreed but asked him to follow his government vehicle on his cycle as the car was meant for official work only.
The evening also brought out the perseverance of many entrepreneurs. One of the candidates, Tapaas Chakravarti of DQ Entertainment, disclosed that he failed in almost all the ventures he tried before DQ Entertainment. However, while starting this company, he went all out. He sold his flat to arrange capital for the company.
Just like the candidates, the chief guest, Digvijaya Singh, who has served as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for two terms, got candid. “When we frame policies, we think that everyone is dishonest except us... but the government needs to be more of a facilitator than a regulator,” he said.
During his speech, Singh recounted the tale of a woman entrepreneur, Kalpana Saroj of Kamani Enterprises, who he called a real-life slumdog billionaire. A Dalit, Saroj was married at the age of 12 to a man who was 10 or 12 years older to her. Few years later, her husband left her. When she tried to return to her parents, she was declared an outcast. Consequently, she came to Mumbai and remarried. Unfortunately, her second husband also passed away, but left her a small unit that made steel almirahs. Saroj has not only successfully managed this factory, but also turned it into a Rs 3,000-crore enterprise.
It was not only the insights and speeches of the leaders that mesmerised the audience at the award function. While the guests were assembling, a band of four played classical Indian instrumental music which set the ambience just right.
The evening also had some stellar performances from Usha Uthup, who paid a tribute to the Mumbai terror attack victims with a song, Spirit of India. She had penned the song a day after the terrorists had struck the financial capital.
The audience also got little jewels of wisdom from each winner in different categories. Pankaj R Patel of Zydus Cadila, who received an award in the category Healthcare & Life Sciences, spilled the secret of doing business with global pharmaceutical companies. “When one is in a partnership business, the only way to succeed is being frank and open with your partner,” Patel said.
N Vaghul, the ex-chairman of ICICI Bank, who won the Ernst & Young Lifetime Achievement Award, termed his achievement as “performance of duty”. While receiving the award, he was asked to divulge his management secret. “How has the country’s second-largest bank managed to have so many women in leadership position?” Vaghul replied: “My role was just to identify the right people and present them with opportunities. It is their achievement to make use of it. I am standing here in the shadow of their excellence.”
Among the winners, there was a man whom everyone wanted to listen. When he took the stage to receive the award, the audience was all ears. Anand Mahindra began: “I don’t fit the profile of typical entrepreneur as my family had the business for two generations before me.” But the journey that he has travelled is nothing less than an entrepreneur’s. The early 1990s was a period of turmoil at the company. It had to deal with a slowdown and violent labour unrest. By the mid-1990s, the government had opened up the automobile sector to global manufacturers and most people expected that Indian companies would have to sell out or wind up. Mahindra stood up to all these challenges and transformed the company to what it is today. “Entrepreneurship is all about dreams,” said Mahindra concluding his award speech.
