Mr. Anil Agarwal, Executive Chairman, Vedanta Resources, one of the leading metals & mining company, has been named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008. Eight other successful entrepreneurs received these coveted awards across various categories at a magnificent award banquet here on Wednesday night.
This is the tenth year of these awards in India and as many as 400 of the country’s top industrialists and leading corporate personalities participated at this occasion, the only global business award program in India, which is celebrated in over 135 cities spanning across 50 countries. Mr Anil Agarwal will now represent India at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Monte Carlo , Monaco in May 2009.
A six-member jury comprising eminent personalities, chaired by Mr. KV Kamath, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Bank, selected the finalists from over 291 nominations received this year, the highest since the Awards were launched in 1999.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred upon Mr. PRS Oberoi, Chairman & CEO,
The Oberoi Group, who is credited with redefining architectural and design standards in luxury hospitality both in India and overseas.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year Infrastructure & Construction Award was presented to Shri. Jaiprakash Gaur, Founder Chairman, Jaypee Group, who has established the group as a diversified infrastructure conglomerate.
Mr. Gautam Thapar, Chairman & CEO, Avantha Group, credited with the transformation of Ballarpur Industries Limited was announced as the winner in the Manufacturing Category.
The Award for the Start-Up Entrepreneur Of The Year was given to Mr. Arvind Rao, CEO & Co-Founder, OnMobile Global, the leading value-added services player in the media verticals and telecom sector.
The Services Category Award was bestowed upon Mr. Rohinton Screwvala, CEO, UTV Software Communications, who has established India’s first global media conglomerate, with a presence across movie-production, broadcasting, television-content and gaming businesses
Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani, CEO & Managing Director & Hitesh Oberoi, Director & COO, Info Edge ( India ) were honoured with the award for Entrepreneur Of The Year – Business Transformation for revolutionizing the online recruitment in India with the launch of Naukri.com,
The award for the Manager Entrepreneur Of The Year was given to Mr. A. M. Naik, Chairman & Managing Director, Larsen & Tourbo, who is responsible for directing a transformation process that has not only sharpened the strategic focus of L&T but also helped expand its international footprint.
The Health Care & Life Sciences Award was awarded to Dr. P Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care Systems for his contribution to super-specialty ophthalmology and his pioneering work in medical and surgical treatment of diseases of retina & vitreous in India .
Says Rajiv Memani, Country Managing Partner, Ernst & Young, “all the winners are
outstanding individuals who have built exceptional enterprises. They have challenged existing business models, created markets where none existed, led innovation and also built global scale and structure.”
