BW Communities

India’s Global Achievers

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[India is rapidly integrating with the global economy. Cross-border mergers and acquisitions are on the rise and merchandise trade has trebled in the past six years. And all this in the midst of a global economic downturn. Keeping these achievements in mind, the Businessworld International Business Awards were conceived to honour businesses that have taken cross-border trade to new levels. The winners of this first edition of the awards were felicitated at a glittering ceremony in the power-packed ballroom of New Delhi's Shangri-La Eros hotel on 28 May 2012. The evening's discussions were centred on the role of innovation in helping Indian businesses seize opportunities in global markets. The much-anticipated event started off with opening remarks by Prosenjit Datta, editor of Businessworld, who pointed out that despite a slowdown in Europe and North America, India's main trading markets, the better Indian companies have increased the volume of their international business. Zarin Daruwala, president, ICICI Bank, pointed out that Indian exports formed only 2 per cent of the world's exports. "So, clearly there is a huge opportunity to grow international trade," she said. Deepak Kapoor, chairman of Pricewater-houseCoopers, said, "We saw several corporates adopting innovative practices. This is a very intelligent trend, which would help establish a better footprint in the global market." Kapil Sibal, Union minister of communications and information technology, and human resource development, graced the occasion as the chief guest. In his address, he stressed the importance of looking at un-served markets. "We must innovate in business to be able to serve the un-served markets. When we think in those terms, we will be able to bring about innovation," he said. The event also featured a panel discussion, which was moderated by Shyamal Ghosh, former director-general of foreign trade, former chairman of the Telecom Commission and secretary, Department of Telecommunications. The other eminent panelists were Anwarul Hoda, chair professor of the trade policy and WTO research programme at the Indian Council for Research and International Economic Relations (ICRIER); Loknath Mishra, head, commercial banking, ICICI Bank; Anupam Khanna, chief economist and director-general, policy outreach, Nasscom; Debashis Ghosh, president, life sciences, manufacturing & energy business group, TCS. The proceedings moved on to felicitating the winners. The selection process included exhaustive questionnaires on qualitative and quantitative parameters. On an average, the top 10 companies in each category were presented to an external jury comprising of Shyamal Ghosh, Surjit Bhalla, chairman of Oxus Investments, and Bipul Chatterjee, deputy executive director, CUTS International (Consumer Unity & Trust Society), who then decided the winners in nine categories. In the auto and engineering category, Maruti Suzuki was the winner. The awardees were: Ashok P. Sahni, CFO, Shree Ganesh Jewellery House, in the gems and jewellery category; H.N. Ramakrishna, director marketing, Bharat Electronics, in the electricals, electronics and machinery category; Debashis Ghosh, TCS, in the IT and ITeS category; Vivek Kumar Jain, MD, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, in pharma and chemicals; Rupesh Kamdar, director, Amoli Organics, for innovation among small and medium enterprises; Murali Gopalan, joint chief information officer and senior vice-president of UST Global, for innovation in emerging corporations; Ujwal Lahoti, chairman, Lahoti Overseas, for Best Export House; and Rajendra Prasad, CFO, SRF, got the Best CFO Award. Kaushik Bannerjee, vice-president, English magazines and digital, ABP Group, delivered the closing remarks. The event's presenting sponsor was ICICI Bank, Federation of Indian Micro & Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) was partner, Teacher's Origin was the celebrating partner and NDTV Profit was the media partner. Watch the coverage of Businessworld International Business Awards 2012 on Saturday June 16 at 12.30 pm, and repeat telecast on Sunday, June 17 at 6.30 pm <a href="http://www.businessworld.in/businessworld/businessworld/slideshows/Global-Footprint.html" target="_blank">Click to View A Slideshow On The Businessworld International Business Awards 2012</a> (This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-06-2012)