Star’s Uday Shankar among 17 finalists for EY Entrepreneur of the Year

EY, the global professional services organisation, has announced the selection of 17 of the country’s most exceptional entrepreneurs as Finalists for the 18^th Entrepreneur of the Year - India 2016. The Finalists have been selected from among 250 nominations and will be felicitated at a celebratory Awards Banquet to be held on February 24, 2017 in New Delhi. 

Together, these 17 Finalists have combined revenues of over Rs 154,335 crore ($23.38 billion) and are providing employment to over 5.2 lakh people in India and globally. 

A nine-member independent Jury led by Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries, selected the Finalists. Other Jury members include Subodh Bhargava, Chairman, Tata Communications; Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Executive Vice-Chairman, Info Edge (India); Naina Lal Kidwai, Chairman, Max Financial Services; Uday Kotak, Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank; Kalpana Morparia, Chief Executive Officer, JP Morgan Chase South Asia and India; Rishad Premji, Chief Strategy Officer, Wipro; Renuka Ramnath, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Multiples Alternate Asset Management; and A Vellayan, Executive Chairman, Murugappa Group. 

The Finalists for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016 India Awards are: 

Ram Gopal Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Agritech

Vishwavir Ahuja, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, RBL Bank

Hari Mohan Bangur, Managing Director, Shree Cement

R Dinesh, Managing Director, TVS Logistics Services

Dr Abhay Firodia, Chairman, Force Motors

Ajit Isaac, Chairman and Managing Director, Quess Corp

Girish Mathrubootham, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Freshdesk

Ravi Modi, Chairman and Managing Director, Vedant Fashions (Manyavar)

Vikas Oberoi, Chairman and Managing Director, Oberoi Realty

Darshan Patel, Chairman and Managing Director, Vini Cosmetics

M P Ramachandran, Chairman and Managing Director, Jyothy Laboratories

Vivek Chaand Sehgal, Chairman, Motherson Sumi Systems

Rashesh Shah, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Edelweiss Group

Uday Shankar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Star India

Samprada Singh, Chairman Emeritus and Basudeo Narain Singh, Executive Chairman, Alkem Laboratories

Chandubhai Virani, Whole time Director, Balaji Wafers 

Nandan Nilekani will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his invaluable contribution to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is a pioneering citizen identification programme, unparalleled in scope and scale worldwide. As the Honorary Advisor to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), he has also helped create the ecosystem for digital financial services in India. He has also played a major role in the growth of the Indian Information Technology industry and is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian honour, in 2009. 

Dilip Shanghvi, Jury Chairman and Managing Director, Sun Pharmaceuticals, commented, “Like previous years, this year’s Finalists too represent extremely successful companies that have not only disrupted the industry with a new business model, but have disrupted themselves to chart a new growth path. We need more entrepreneurs to propel our country’s growth and it is important to recognise such innovative entrepreneurs.” 

The selection criterion included the nominee’s entrepreneurial spirit, recent financial performance, strategic direction and global impact, product or service innovation, company leadership including personal integrity and risk-taking, values and key employee initiatives, and involvement with the community. 

The winners will be announced across several categories, while the national winner will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Monte Carlo from June 8 to 11, 2017. 

The past winners of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year India Awards  includeVinita and Nilesh Gupta (Lupin Limited), Dr Cyrus S Poonawalla (Serum Institute of India), Uday Kotak (Kotak Mahindra Bank), Adi Godrej (Godrej Group), Rahul Bhatia (Interglobe Enterprises), Dilip Shanghvi (Sun Pharmaceuticals), Anand G 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), NR Narayana Murthy (Infosys), Brijmohan Lall Munjal (Hero Group), (Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries), and Subhash Chandra (Zee Telefilms).