Nitin Gadkari presents AIMA Managing India Awards
Minister promises to turn Indian economy green
22 September 2021, New Delhi
Mr Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, presented the 2021 AIMA Managing India Awards in a virtual ceremony. He congratulated each award winner and complimented All India Management Association (AIMA) for creating a unique platform for peer acknowledgement of management excellence. He appreciated the fact that one-third of the individual award winners were women, which he said was a good sign for the society and the economy.
Addressing the award winners and the audience, Mr Gadkari emphasized that while celebrating success, it was important to focus on the challenge of rebuilding country's economy. "We not only need to recover from the recent setbacks, we have to change what we do and the way we do it for a better future. We need to speed up the country's industrialization and digitalization and find ways to make the economic growth more health and environment friendly," he said.
Mr Gadkari reiterated the government's commitment to force the automotive industry to give the customers the choice of clean, green fuels and said that the government would strongly encourage use of solar and wind energy to charge the electric vehicles. He said that the government would shift 100% of the public transport, logistics vehicles, and construction and agriculture equipment to green fuels. "We have to make India the global hub of green hydrogen production and export by doing R&D in low-cost fuel cells and electrolizer technologies," he said.
The minister emphasized that the country needed to use more biofuels to integrate the automotive industry with agriculture, which would also raise and secure farmers' income without government support.
Mr Harsh Pati Singhania, President, AIMA and Vice Chairman & Managing Director, JK Paper Ltd, said that the awards were being presented at a time of great disruption and change. "Each one of our awardees has pivoted to the new opportunities and adjusted their strategies and capabilities to win in a much changed world," he said.
Mr Sanjay Kirloskar, Convention Chairman and Chairman & Managing Director, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd, complimented the awards jury. "I appreciate the jury for both its diligence and bravery in reaching its decisions," he said. Mr Kirloskar emphasized that increasingly, companies and business leaders will be judged by their ethics and values, and their contribution to public health, social harmony, economic equality, climate change mitigation and such things.
Mr Harshavardhan Neotia, Managing India Awards jury chairman, explained the difficulty of deciding the winners. "More often than not, choosing the first among equals is a thankless task, but the task is made particularly difficult when the metrics are qualitative and complex. The jury had to work hard on building consensus and shortlisting the winners because each nominee had a very good claim on the award," he said.
The Managing India Award winners were:
Mr Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group - Lifetime Contribution Award
Mr A M Naik, Group Chairman, Larsen & Toubro Ltd - Outstanding Institution Builder
Mr Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group - Business Leader of the Year
State Bank of India - Outstanding PSU of the Year - (Mr Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, SBI)
Mr Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India - Emerging Business Leader of the Year
Ms Falguni Nayar, Founder & CEO, Nykaa E-Retail Pvt Ltd - Entrepreneur of the Year
Mr Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & Group CEO, Oyo Rooms - Young Entrepreneur Award
Mr Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, Ola Cabs - Transformational Business Leader of the Year
Ms Kalli Purie, Vice Chairperson, India Today Group - Outstanding Contribution to Media
Ms Zoya Akhtar, Film Director and Writer - Director of the Year
Xiaomi India - MNC in India of the Year (Manu Jain, Managing Director, Xiaomi India to receive the award)
Receiving his award, Mr Adi Godrej said that the ongoing crisis was an opportunity and a responsibility to solve the major economic problems of our times.
Mr AM Naik pointed to the challenge of balancing of pandemic handling with aspirations of growth. "In times like these, we need to bring our resilience and resolve," he said.
Mr Sanjiv Goenka said that he was humbled to receive his award from Mr Gadkari, a man who never fails to inspire with his vision and delivery.
Mr Dinesh Kumar Khara of SBI said that despite the odds, SBI was better placed and more resilient today. "SBI will continue to serve Indian growth story," he said.
Mr Adar Poonawala said that the Managing India Award validated all the decisions taken and the hard work done at SII during the past year. He said that SII had delivered 600 million doses of covid vaccine to India in a record time. He expressed hope that in a year the pandemic will be behind us.
Mr Bhavish Aggarwal declared that the next decade would be truly transformative for the country. "India has the talent, capital and market to build world scale products and business models for India and the world," he said.
Mr Ritesh Agrawal expressed gratitude to Oyo's partner and patrons for his award. "I am here today only because of them," he said.
Ms Phalguni Nayar said that she was inspired by all the entrepreneurs she came across while working with Kotak Mahindra Bank. "I am extremely proud of Building a business from scratch and seeing it take a life of its own," she said.
Ms Kallie Purie considered the award particularly special because it came after a cycle of lockdowns which tested every dimension of her leadership. She announced launch of a fresh news channel - Good News Today.
Ms Zoya Akhtar said that receiving an award from AIMA would stop people from telling her to get organized.
The award citations were read by eminent leaders from the worlds of business, politics, bureaucracy, media, music and fashion. The citation readers were:
Mr N K Singh, Indian Politician, Economist and former Member of Parliament and bureaucrat
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Renowned Indian Classical Sarod Player
Mr B J Panda, National Vice-President and Spokesperson, Bharatiya Janata Party
Mr Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief and Chairman, The Print
Mr Vir Sanghvi, Indian Print and Television Journalist, Author, Columnist and Talk Show Host
Mr Raj Nayak, Founder & Managing Director, House Of Cheer Networks Pvt Ltd
Mr Suhel Seth, Founder and Managing Partner, Counselage India
Mr T V Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services Pvt Ltd
Mr Rajiv Makhani, Managing Editor, NDTV
Ms Ritu Beri, Indian Fashion Designer
In his concluding remarks, Mr C K Ranganathan, Senior Vice President, AIMA and Chairman & Managing Director, CavinKare Pvt Ltd, congratulated the award winners and remarked that these awards were bellwether of change in Indian economy, as many of the Managing India Award winners in 2021 were from the startup sector and many winners were women.
Mr Ranganathan thanked the minister for his green initiatives. "We appreciate your drive for old vehicle scrappage in the country and the promotion of clean fuels and mobility technologies. These steps will make a big difference to both the growth of the industry and the quality of life," he said.
Ms Rekha Sethi, Director General, AIMA anchored the award ceremony.
Awards Distribution
Entrepreneur of the Year - Falguni Nayar, Founder and CEO, Nykaa E-Retail Pvt Ltd
Citation to be read by Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief and Chairman, The Print
Young Entrepreneur Award - Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & Group CEO, Oyo Rooms
Citation to be read by Ritu Beri, Indian Fashion Designer
Transformational Business Leader of the Year - Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, Ola Cabs
Citation to be read by Vir Sanghvi, Indian Print and Television Journalist, Author, Columnist and Talk Show Host
Director of the Year - Zoya Akhtar, Film Director and Writer
Citation to be read by Suhel Seth, Founder and Managing Partner, Counselage India
MNC in India of the Year - Xiaomi India (Manu Jain, Managing Director, Xiaomi India to receive the award)
Citation to be read by Rajiv Makhani, Managing Editor, NDTV
Outstanding Contribution to Media - Kalli Purie, Vice Chairperson, India Today Group
Citation to be read by Shrinivas Dempo, Vice President, AIMA and Chairman, Dempo Group of Companies
Outstanding PSU of the Year - State Bank of India (Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, SBI to receive the award)
Citation to be read by Raj Nayak, Founder & Managing Director, House Of Cheer Networks Pvt Ltd
Outstanding Institution Builder - A M Naik, Group Chairman, Larsen & Toubro Ltd
Citation to be read by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Renowned Indian Classical Sarod Player
Emerging Business Leader of the Year - Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India
Citation to be read by T V Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services Pvt Ltd
Business Leader of the Year - Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group
Citation to be read by B J Panda, National Vice-President and Spokesperson, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Lifetime Contribution Award - Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group
Citation to be read by N K Singh, Indian Politician, Economist and Former Indian Administrative Service officer
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