UK Trade & Investment awards announced

The first ever UK Trade & Investment India Business Awards, celebrating path-breaking UK-India Business Partnerships, were presented this evening by HRH Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, on his first visit to Mumbai, at an impressive ceremony at the Taj Land's End Hotel. The function was attended by top-ranking business people representing world-class business links between the UK and India.

UK Trade & Investment is the British government's international business development agency.

The Awards and Winners were as below:

INVESTOR OF THE YEAR For Indian companies that have successfully set up in the UK: HCL TECHNOLOGIES

Business Partnership of the Year For a successful Indian-UK business partnership in the UK or India: TECH MAHINDRA

Innovation Award For UK companies who have successfully launched a new product or service in the Indian market: LOGICACMG

New Market Entrant of the Year For an Indian or UK SME company demonstrating start-up success in the UK or India: CRANES SOFTWARE

Business Person of the Year For an Indian or UK businessperson who has contributed significantly to India-UK business relations: Mr Y C DEVESHWAR, CHAIRMAN, ITC LIMITED

Entrepreneur of the Year For an Indian entrepreneur successful in the UK:

Mr AJAY PIRAMAL, CHAIRMAN, PIRAMAL GROUP

The Awards, announced by British Prime Minister Tony Blair during his visit to India in September 2005, were sponsored by Barclays, London Stock Exchange, Grant Thornton and Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces. The winners were decided by an eminent jury: Mr S Ramadorai, CEO, TCS; Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon India; Dr Saurabh Srivastava, Chairman, Xansa; Mr Kiran Karnik, President, NASSCOM; Lord Karan Bilimoria, Chairman, Cobra Beer; Hugh Sandeman, Head of Business Development, London Stock Exchange; chaired by the British High Commissioner in India Sir Michael Arthur KCMG.

In addition, UK Trade & Investment presented a Special Recognition Award to the Co-Chairmen of the Indo- British Partnership, Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, Founder & CEO, Cobra Beer, and Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, in appreciation of their sterling contribution to the promotion of business relationships between India and the UK.

Sir Michael Arthur said: "We are delighted to have instituted these Awards. The finalists and nominees are UK and Indian companies which have developed world-class business models. I believe that this is the first time an overseas government has instituted awards inspired by the success of its business links with India. Our doing so is testimony to our commitment to boost the UK's strong business links with India."

The number of inward investment projects from India into the UK increased 110% last year, from 36 in 2004-05 to 76 in 2005-06. More than 500 Indian companies now have a presence in the UK. The UK is India's No. 1 location for investment in Europe and UK is the 3rd biggest investor in India.

Nominated Companies

UK Trade & Investment has unveiled the list of companies and business people, which have entered into the final round of judging for the 'UK Trade & Investment India Business Awards 2006', launched by Prime Minister Tony Blair in September 2005.

The finalists include some of the most innovative and technologically-advanced companies as well as leading business people and entrepreneurs contributing to the booming investment and trade relationship between the UK and India.

New Market Entrant of the Year

1. Huntleigh Healthcare - Huntleigh Technology plc, UK, is a leading supplier of hospital and medical equipment to hospitals and care centres in more than 150 countries. It launched an Indian subsidiary in 2003 to help improve patient care and tap into the country's vast skills potential.

2. JCB Excavators Limited - JCB is a British Company and one of the world's top five manufacturers of construction equipment. They sell their products in more than a 150 countries though over 1000 dealer location. Today JCB has a range of more than 250 machines in its portfolio.

3. Oxygen Healthcare Limited - Oxygen Healthcare (O2H) have built a world class chemistry service company with its international HQ in Cambridge, UK and its operations in India.

4. Cranes Software International Limited - Cranes Software International Limited based out of Bangalore, India, has developed a significant IP-driven technology business within its focus area of Scientific and Engineering Software over the last 5 years. At present Cranes employs over 500 people.

5. Mivan Group Holding - The group specialises in the design, manufacture and sale of aluminium formwork, which is used for the construction of repetitive concrete structures for all forms of low, medium and high rise buildings.

Investor of the Year

1. Infosys Technologies Limited - Infosys is one India 's leading Information technology companies with revenues of over USD 2 Billion in 2006 with a presence in 51 countries. Headquartered out of Bangalore, the company along with TCS and Wipro have contributed to the IT revolution in the country helping put India on the global map.

2. Nicholas Piramal India Limited - Nicholas Piramal India Limited (NPIL) is the fourth largest pharmaceutical company in India. Through significant investments at home and abroad, NPIL has grown into one of the world's top ten pharmaceutical manufacturing outsourcing companies in just three years.

3. HCL Enterprises - HCL Technologies is one of India's leading global IT services company. It provides software-led IT solutions, BPO and remote infrastructure management services. For the twelve-month period ended 30th June 2006, HCL Technologies, along with its subsidiaries, had revenues of US $976 million (Rs. 4,388 crore) and employed 32,626 professionals.

Entrepreneur of the Year

1. Mr. Kamal K Singh, Rolta India Limited - Rolta India is a multinational company providing software services, IT-based engineering and geospatial solutions and services to companies around the world. Under Kamal K. Singh's leadership it has achieved strong growth, with seven subsidiaries around the world, including the USA & UK. Rolta established its UK business in 2002 to provide services to customers in the UK and Europe.

2. Mr. Ajay Piramal, Nicholas Piramal India Limited - One of India's foremost and well-respected business leaders, Ajay spearheaded investment in the UK by various companies within the Piramal Group. In particular, the flagship company Nicholas Piramal India Limited (NPIL) is the first major pharmaceutical company from India to invest in outsourcing assets in the UK.

3. Mr. Habil Khorakiwala, Wockhardt Limited - Mr Habil Khorakiwala pioneered the entry of Indian pharma companies into the UK. Under his direction, Wockhardt expanded and upgraded its UK manufacturing complex at Wrexham in Wales. Apart from its own products and that of Wockhardt's German subsidiary, Wockhardt UK today manufactures pharmaceuticals, patented as well as generic, for global leaders such as AstraZeneca, Schering Plough, Cephalon, Mitsubishi Pharma, Pfizer and Smith & Nephew.

Business Person of the Year

1. Mr. Ajay Piramal, Nicholas Piramal India limited - One of India's foremost and well-respected business leaders, Ajay spearheaded investment in the UK by various companies within the Piramal Group. In particular, the flagship company Nicholas Piramal India Limited (NPIL) is the first major pharmaceutical company from India to invest in outsourcing assets in the UK.

2. Mr. David I Hudson MBE, Group 4 Securicor Plc - Under his leadership Group 4 Securicor, a UK-based international security services company, is now the leading and most respected private security company in India and the second largest private employer, with 108,000 people and 159 offices.

3. Mr. Y C Deveshwar, ITC - From 1996, Yogesh has been the Chairman of ITC Ltd, one of India's most widely recognized and respected corporations. Under his leadership, the company has consolidated and strengthened its diversified businesses in Hotels, Paper & Board, and Packaging, achieving accelerated growth and profitability.

4. Mr. Azim Premji, Wipro Technologies - Under his leadership, the fledgling hydrogenated cooking fat company has grown into an IT services organization serving customers across the globe. Wipro is also one of the largest BPO services provider based in India. Wipro is today ranked among the top 100 Technology companies globally, according to Business Week.

Innovation Award

1. Mivan Group Holding - The group specialises in the design, manufacture and sale of aluminium formwork, which is used for the construction of repetitive concrete structures for all forms of low, medium and high rise buildings.

2. HRS International - HRS is one of the world's leading heat transfer and food processing specialists. In India, HRS Process Systems Private Ltd, India was established in April 2003. The company has introduced some innovative products into the market such as corrugated tube heat exchangers.

3. Primasonics International Limited - Primasonics International was formed in 1998 in the UK. It is the only company to specialise in the design manufacture and supply of acoustic cleaning systems for the dry processing, storage and transportation industries, It also serves power generation plants in such industrial sectors as cement, petrochemical, power generation, waste to energy, pharmaceutical, food and chemicals. In India, the company is in partnership with Protos Engineering Com. Pvt. Ltd.

4. Logica CMG - Headquartered in the UK, Logica employs 30,000 people across the globe with a presence in about 36 countries. The company provides business consulting, systems integration and IT and business process outsourcing across diverse markets including telecoms, financial services, energy & utilities, industry, distribution & transport and the public sector.

Business Partnership of the Year

1. ICICI Bank Limited - In 2000, Prudential Plc, a leading life insurer in the UK joined hands with ICICI, India's premier financial services group, to launch ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd. Within a year of launch ICICI Prudential became the No. 1 private life insurer amongst the set of newly launched private companies. In this partnership, Prudential brought to the table, global expertise in life insurance and pensions, product structure and risk management, while ICICI Bank brought a deep understanding of the local market and a wide distribution network.

2. Tech Mahindra Limited - Tech Mahindra is the longest running joint venture in the IT industry. The company's focus is on providing software services to telecom equipment manufacturers with product and protocol expertise in voice & data communication. Majority owned by Mahindra & Mahindra, India's fifth largest commercial group, in partnership with BT Plc (BT), Europe's second largest telecom service provider, Tech Mahindra has grown rapidly to become the 8th largest software exporter in India. It is also ranked as the 3rd largest BSS SI in the world and the 4th largest player in Telecom Software from India.3. Mastek Limited - Mastek is an £88m global software solutions and integration services provider that architects, designs, develops, integrates and maintains business applications to enable companies to solve their complex, mission critical business problems with innovative solutions to grow their business. Its delivery predictability combined with agility and innovation is cited by the company as providing long-standing relationships with customers including: Capita, BT, Provident Financial, HBOS/Lex Vehicle Leasing, Patsystems, Charles Taylor Consulting and HBOS/Mourant.

Panel of Jurors

A distinguished panel of judges has shortlisted Indian and UK companies excelling in knowledge based industries, including ICT, Software, BPO, Pharma, Biotech, Healthcare, Automotive and Engineering Services in the following categories:

The panel of jurors for the awards, the first created by any government to specifically recognise India's global influence, is chaired by British High Commissioner in India, Sir Michael Arthur KCMG. The jurors are (in alphabetical order): Hugh Sandeman, Head of Business Development for India, London Stock Exchange; Lord Karan Bilimoria, Chairman of Cobra Beer Limited and UK Co-Chairman of the Indo-British Partnership; Kiran Karnik, President of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM); Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon Limited; Saurabh Srivastava, Chairman of Xansa and President of the Delhi chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE); and Subramaniam Ramadorai, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services.