The Role Of CFOs Is Going To Be The Most Crucial In Future, Says Suresh Prabhu

The good work done by the CFO is eclipsed in the performance of the company, said the Railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, applauding the efforts and hardwork of the Chief Financial Officers, who often work relentlessly backstage.

Speaking at the BWBusinessworld Best CFO Awards 2017, the minister said that sometimes people who significantly contribute to the growth of the company do not get recognised and congratulated Businessworld and Yes Bank for awarding the unsung heroes of the companies in India.

The minister echoed how the changing dynamics of the market has led to challenging situations, especially finance, which requires major innovation and tremendous amount of hardwork, where the role of CFOs is going to be the most crucial.

“Seeing the current dynamics, the role of CFOs is going to be very challenging. For instance, managing the liquidity is a huge task for the financial leaders today, amongst the parallel issue of surplus cash deployment and others. The financial architecture of the corporate world is not the same years back. It is ever evolving”, said the minister.

He also talked about the need for improved infrastructure to take care of these changing dynamics, especially at the times of depressed investments.

“Apart from the improved infrastructure, we would require different kind of expertise and innovative instruments, especially financing, to stay ahead and grow at a steady pace. The government is making all the efforts to provide the best infrastructure”, added the minister.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog and Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State Culture and Tourism were present to facilitate the winners.

The country's best chief financial officers (CFOs) were honoured at BW Businessworld-YES Bank Best CFO Awards 2017 in the capital.

Winners:

The Overall Champion CFO was awarded to Ashok Modi, Torrent Pharma and Yogesh Dhingra, Bluedart, respectively.

The award for the sustained wealth creation in the Large Size Enterprise category went to Jayesh Merchant, Asain Paints and Naresh Bhansali, Emami in the Medium category, respectively. Nitin Parekh, Cadila Healthcare, received the award in the Healthy Balance Sheet Management, large corporate category and Sunil Nalvadi, VRL Logistics, in the mid corporate category, respectively.

In the consistent Liquidity Management, Ashok Modi, Torrent Pharma was honoured in the large corporate category and Narayan Barasia, Greaves Cotton in the Mid category.

The best CFO MNC went to Ajay Seth of Maruti Suzuki and Yogesh Dhingra, Blue Dart Express in large and medium category.

RK Garg was honoured with the Best CFO PSU, alongside Rajesh Agarwal, Indraprastha Gas.

There was also a category for the best woman CFO, which was bagged by Jayashree Satagopan, PI Industries.

The ceremony awarded the CFOs who went beyond their traditional roles to champion the overall growth of their companies.

Kevin P D’sa of Bajaj Auto received the award as the Best Transformation Agent in the large corporate category and A Jacob Kuruvilla, V Guard in the medium category, respectively.

Ramesh Swaminathan, Lupin was honoured with the award for the Best Inorganic Growth; V. Ramakrishnan, TCS, Best CFO, Creating Shared Values.