Hari Mohan Bangur wins Forbes India ‘Entrepreneur for the Year 2017’ Award

The Forbes India Leadership Awards, trusted as among India's most prestigious business recognition events, with an emphasis on excellence, innovation and transformational leadership, honoured some of India Inc’s biggest and brightest personalities at a high-profile ceremony on Tuesday.

Commenting on the occasion, Joy Chakraborthy, CEO – Forbes India & President – Revenue, Network18 said, Leaders with their vision, foresight, grit to walk the talk, to take others along, with a spirit of business ethics achieve phenomenal results, inspiring many along the way. The 2017 FILA edition seeks to honor this transformational leadership that goes on to build great organizations. Our winners are outstanding achievers each reflective of such transformational leadership. Through the Forbes India Leadership Awards platform we attempt to recognize contributions of those making a mark with their commitment to society and its betterment, touching lives of those less fortunate. In its 100th year, the Forbes magazine and brand continues to pursue excellence in path defining business & entrepreneurship through its various platforms, making inroads with ever evolving patrons globally as well as the Indian subcontinent.

The awards, across ten categories, acknowledged the outstanding contributions of CEOs, entrepreneurs and business leaders who have built enterprises that have had a deep and enduring impact on the wider society. The nominees and winners represented diverse backgrounds: from start-ups and mid-sized firms to the more mature organizations of global scale.

“Over the past decade, India has emerged as one of the most sought after destinations for investment and nurturing entrepreneurial talent. Since their inception in 2011, the Forbes India Leadership Awards have attempted to recognise outstanding talent and performances during this journey of change. Our winners this year are risk-takers who have transformed their companies through bold decisions and worked to ensure their vision is realised. We have also recognised individuals or firms creating a deep social impact through their entrepreneurial ventures, empowering thousands in the process,” said Sourav Majumdar, Editor, Forbes India.

The achievements of this year’s winners assume significance since many of the business leaders felicitated have braved challenging economic conditions over the past year, to steer their organisations towards operational excellence.  

Here are the winners of the Forbes India Leadership Awards 2017:

Outstanding Startup
Sumant Sinha – ReNew Power Ventures

GenNext Entrepreneur
Anant Goenka – CEAT

Entrepreneur with Social Impact
Chetna Sinha – Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank

Conscious Capitalist Company for the year
Zoho Corp

Best CEO – Multinational Company
Varun Berry – Britannia Industries

Best CEO - Public Sector
Abhaya Prasad Hota – National Payments Corporation of India

Best CEO - Private Sector
Suresh Narayanan – Nestle India

Value Creators
Avanti Feeds

Lifetime Achievement Award for the Year
Adi Godrej – Godrej Group

Entrepreneur for the Year
Hari Mohan Bangur – Shree Cement

Methodology

The process started almost six months ago, with extensive research on qualitative and quantitative parameters. The long-list of names for each category was whittled down by August and was narrowed down to a strong set of three to five nominees for each category. In September, a high-powered jury headed by Mr Harsh Mariwala, chairman of Marico Ltd, examined the nominations and came up with the set of winners. The other eminent members of the jury were Zia Mody, Founder and Senior Partner, AZB & Partners; Manish Sabharwal, Co-founder and Chairman, TeamLease Services; Ashu Suyash, MD & CEO, CRISIL; Ronnie Screwvala, Co-founder & Chairman, UpGrad; and Sanjay Nayar, CEO, KKR India. Together, they bring years of experience in the corporate sector to the jury. KPMG, Forbes India’s knowledge partner for the event, helped with the number crunching so essential for the process.