- Adi Godrej to be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award
- An eminent eight-member Jury, led by Uday Kotak, selected the 17 Finalists
- The 17 Finalists, including several unicorns, have a combined revenue of over
INR 100, 000 crores and employ more than 115,000 people
- The Jury commends the Finalists for their innovation, customer-centricity, technology focus, agility, societal impact and building sustainable enterprises
New Delhi, 7 February 2020: EY, the leading global professional services organization, today announced selection of 17 of the most exceptional entrepreneurs as Finalists for the 21st Entrepreneur of the Year™ - India (EOY) 2019 Awards. The Finalists have been selected from among over 225 outstanding nominations and will be felicitated at a grand celebratory Awards Banquet on 19 February in New Delhi.
On the occasion, the award winners will be announced across several categories. The winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from India will represent the country at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo from 4 – 7 June 2020.
Together, the 17 Finalists have combined revenues of INR 100,000 crores and are providing employment to more than 115,000 people in India and globally. Underscoring their resilience, the Finalists also reported significantly stronger financial performance in times when global and domestic economic growth rates have been tepid.
The Finalists were selected by an eminent eight-member independent Jury Panel led by Uday Kotak, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank. The other Jury Members are Naina Lal Kidwai, Chairman of Advent Private Equity, Gopal Srinivasan, Founder,
Chairman, and Managing Director, TVS Capital Funds, Sameer Sain, Co-founder, Everstone Group, Kunal Shroff, Co-founder and Managing Partner, ChrysCapital, Vijay Sankar, Deputy Chairman, The Sanmar Group, Jalaj Dani, co-promoter, Asian Paints, and Deep Kalra, Founder, Group Chairman and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip Limited.
Uday Kotak, the Jury Chairman and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank, says, “I have been associated with the EOY Awards for several years and every year I am amazed at the outstanding quality of entrepreneurs from across sectors and regions. The jury process has a lot of rigor and independence with significant analysis that makes it an exhilarating experience for everyone on the jury. We wish each Finalist all the best and hope that each one of them continue to build bigger and bolder businesses for a thriving India.”
The Jury considered a host of criterion including the nominee’s entrepreneurial spirit, recent financial performance, strategic direction, product or service innovation, company leadership including personal integrity and risk-taking, corporate governance, values, and involvement with the community.
The Finalists for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ 2019 India Awards are:
- K. B. S. Anand, Managing Director and CEO, Asian Paints
- Peyush Bansal, Founder and CEO, Lenskart Solutions
- Dr. Bhaskar Rao Bollineni, Managing Director, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS)
- Yashish Dahiya, CEO and Co-Founder, PolicyBazaar
- Kuldip Singh Dhingra, Chairman, and Gurbachan Singh Dhingra, Vice-Chairman, Berger Paints
- (Hony) Brig Dr. Arvind Lal, Chairman and Managing Director and Dr. Om Manchanda, CEO, Dr. Lal PathLabs
- Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon
- Rajeev Mehrotra, Chairman and Managing Director, RITES
- Sunil Mirani, Co-founder and CEO, Ugam Solutions
- Keshav Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS Global Services
- Falguni Nayar, Founder and CEO, Nykaa E-Retail
- Tuhin Parikh, Senior Managing Director – Real estate, Blackstone India
- Ravi Raheja and Neel Raheja, Group Presidents, K Raheja Corp
- Arun Bharat Ram, Chairman, SRF
- Unnathan Shekhar, Managing Director, Galaxy Surfactants
- Sridhar Vembu, Founder and CEO, Zoho Corporation
- Rajesh Yabaji, CEO and Co-founder, Zinka Logistics Solutions (BlackBuck)
Click here for more information on the Finalists.
Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej group will be felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award. A third-generation entrepreneur, Adi Godrej grew, diversified, and transformed the 120-year old Godrej brand of consumer products and home utilities into a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate of diversified entities. He was also behind 10-year restructuring process of the group, which unlocked greater shareholder value and enhanced its market relevance. Adi Godrej is also associated with many philanthropic contributions in healthcare, education, and the environment.
Rajiv Memani, Chairman, EY India, says, “We salute these extraordinary entrepreneurs who are focused on creating lasting value for their stakeholders. Our 2019 Finalists have shown a clear strategy, steadfast focus on staying relevant for their customers and a commitment to creating long-term impact. Their commitment to high governance standards as also to driving innovation in not only customer acquisition and experience but also in achieving operational excellence, differentiate them in their respective sectors.”
Says Farokh Balsara, Partner and EOY India Program Leader, “Our EOY Finalists are taking risks with bold new ideas, investing and building the industries of the future amidst global challenges, thus ensuring India’s enduring growth story. They have succeeded in riding the wave of technological disruption and used agile innovation to create profitable enterprises with profound positive impact on industries, societies and individual lives. They are truly the builders of a better India.”
Ashish Gumashta, CEO, Julius Baer, India “For the past 21 years, EOY has been passionately recognizing Indian entrepreneurs for their vision, innovation, courage and leadership in building successful businesses of the future. We are proud to partner with EY as Program Sponsors for the Entrepreneur of the Year program and help take India’s most inspiring entrepreneurial stories to a global stage.”
The past winners of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year India Awards include Siddhartha Lal
(Eicher Motors), Sanjiv Bajaj (Bajaj Finserv), Vivek Chaand Sehgal (Samvardhana Motherson Group), Vinita and Nilesh Gupta (Lupin Limited), Uday Kotak (Kotak Mahindra Bank), Adi Godrej (Godrej Group), Rahul Bhatia (Interglobe Enterprises), Dilip Shanghvi (Sun Pharmaceuticals), Anand Mahindra (Mahindra Group), Anil Agarwal (Vedanta Resources), Tulsi Tanti (Suzlon Energy), Kumar Mangalam Birla (Aditya Birla Group), Sunil Bharti Mittal (Bharti Group), Ratan Tata (Tata Group), N.R Narayana Murthy (Infosys), Brijmohan Lall Munjal (Hero Group), Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries) and Subhash Chandra (Zee Telefilms).
Read more about the 21st EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ here.
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Notes to Editors
About EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ Award
EY Entrepreneur of the Year is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities in 60 countries.
About EY
EY is a global leader in its Assurance, Tax, Transaction and Advisory services. Our insights and the quality services we deliver help to build trust and confidence in capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In doing so, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.
