On Wednesday, professional services organisation EY announced the selection of 11 entrepreneurs in India as the finalists for its 24th EY Entrepreneur of the Year India (EOY) 2022 Awards. These have been selected from over 250 nominations and will be felicitated at an awards banquet to be held on February 23 in New Delhi.
“These 11 finalists and the lifetime achievement winner have combined revenues of over Rs 2 lakh crore, employ more than 80,000 people with over Rs 5 lakh crore in market capitalisation, reflecting the scale and trust they have built over the years,” EY said in a statement. “Our finalists are contributing to the country’s development by creating enduring profitable enterprises, generating employment, entering new domestic and global markets, and are spearheading sustainability in their businesses.”
A seven-member independent jury led by KV Kamath, former chairman, ICICI Bank, hand-picked them. The jury panel includes Harsh Mariwala (founder & chairman, Marico), Anjali Bansal (founder & chairperson, Avaana Capital), Amit Dixit (Asia Head Private Equity, Blackstone) Anish Shah (MD & CEO, Mahindra Group), Sunish Sharma (managing partner & founder, Kedaara Capital), and Ireena Vittal (independent director on boards of Godrej Consumer Products, HDFC, Compass Plc and Wipro).
The finalists for the EOY 2022 India Awards are:
V Vaidyanathan, MD & CEO, IDFC First Bank;
Irfan Razack, CMD, Prestige Construction Group;
Samina Hamied, executive vice-chairperson, Cipla;
Pradeep Kheruka, executive chairman, Borosil Group;
Pawan Jain, chairman, and Rubal Jain, MD, Safexpress;
Vivek Kumar Jain, CMD, Gujarat Fluorochemicals;
Sajjan Jindal, CMD, JSW Group;
Ashok Boob, MD, and Siddharth Sikchi, executive director, Clean Sciences & Technology;
Ravi Modi, CMD, Vedant Fashions Ltd (Manyavar);
Mahesh Pratapneni, co-founder & group CEO, Medgenome; and
Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh, co-founders, Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd (Mamaearth).
The winner will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year (WEOY) on June 8, 2023. The previous WEOY winners include Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon (2020), Uday Kotak, Kotak Mahindra Bank (2014) and Narayana Murthy, Infosys (2003).
KP Singh, chairman, DLF Group, will be felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
This year, a Special Jury Award has been bestowed upon Deepak Bagla, MD & CEO, Invest India, for his work to facilitate unprecedented foreign investments into the country.
Rajiv Memani, chairman & CEO, EY India, said that a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem has been key to India’s meteoric rise as the fastest growing large economy. “Our 2022 finalists comprise start-ups and new-age companies who have created new niche market opportunities as also those who have taken bold steps to build businesses that have stood the test of time and become market leaders,” he said.
Farokh Balsara, partner & EOY India Program Leader, added that despite the pandemic-induced slowdown, global political instability and weak investor sentiments, India’s entrepreneurial spirit has consistently grown, demonstrating resilience in the face of adversity.
The past winners of the EOY include Falguni Nayar (Nykaa), Harsh C Mariwala (Marico), Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Biocon), Siddhartha Lal (Eicher Motors), Sanjiv Bajaj (Bajaj Finserv), Vivek Chaand Sehgal (Samvardhana Motherson), Vinita and Nilesh Gupta (Lupin), 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), Kumar Mangalam Birla (Aditya Birla Group), Sunil Bharti Mittal (Bharti Airtel), Ratan Tata (Tata Group), NR Narayana Murthy (Infosys), Brijmohan Lall Munjal (Hero Group) and Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries).