Thirty entrepreneurs and business leaders from India were honoured as winners of the prestigious Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2016 (APEA) at a star-studded awards ceremony in New Delhi, India. Over 300 attendees were present at the by-invitation only event, comprising of industry leaders, leading entrepreneurs,dignitaries and the who’s who of the business world, including, General V.K. Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn, Chairman of Enterprise Asia, Tarun Das, former Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Lt. General Sudhir Sharma, Advisor to Enterprise Asia, and Dato’ William Ng, President of Enterprise Asia.
The Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards (APEA) is a regional recognition programme
organised by Enterprise Asia, the region’s leading association for entrepreneurship. The
Awards are presented to a handful of entrepreneurs across Asia Pacific each year, with
annual award ceremonies held in over fourteen countries. The APEA is often compared to the Olympics for its stringent entry criteria and highlycompetitive judging parameters. Nominations to the APEA itself is by invitation, either through past or current awardees, a supporting trade association or the executive committee of Enterprise Asia. Nominees are then subjected to a series of rigorous tests, which include financial verification by an appointed audit firm and a compulsory physical site audit and interview, culminating with a confidential balloting process by an independent judging panel. Awardees are expected to be torchbearers of entrepreneurship and business leaders in their respective countries, while adhering to strict standards of personal and business ethics. “We can say with certainty that the recipients of the APEA are like no other. Not only do they have to prove their entrepreneurial skills and experience in one of the toughest contests in the world, they also subject themselves to a pledge to uphold the highest standards of entrepreneurship, which includes allegiance to the two founding pillars of Enterprise Asia, namely Investment in People and Responsible Entrepreneurship”, says William Ng, president of Enterprise Asia.
Among the recipients were Rahul Bajaj of Bajaj Auto Ltd, who received the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, and Malvinder Mohan Singh of Fortis Healthcare Limited, who was named the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’, and V. Vaidyanathan of Capital First Limited who received the APEA in the ‘Outstanding’ category. “I’m honoured and delighted to receive the award in the ‘Outstanding’ Category at the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2016 India. This is a recognition not only for me and my colleagues at Capital First, but also for the amazing opportunities India provides to emerging entrepreneurs through an enabling ecosystem”, said Mr. V. Vaidyanathan, Chairman of Capital First Limited. The recipients in India were selected from among 150 shortlisted candidates, ranging from talented young entrepreneurs to experienced industrialists. Ng explained, “The APEA is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship. Beyond recognizing the efforts of these entrepreneurs, we hope to encourage them to continue taking their businesses to the next level, and in the process, provide more job opportunities to the people in the region and help to drive the economy forward.”
RECIPIENT LIST OF ASIA PACIFIC ENTREPRNEURSHIP AWARDS 2016 INDIA
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto Ltd
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
Malvinder Mohan Singh, Executive Chairman, Fortis Healthcare Limited
OUTSTANDING CATEGORY
V.Vaidyanathan, Chairman, Capital First Limited
Sudhir Agarwal, Founder, MD, DB Corp Limited
Dr Mukesh Batra, Founder & Chairman, Dr. Batra’s® Healthcare
Sunita Sharma, MD and CEO, LIC Housing Finance Ltd
Gaurav Rungta, Joint MD, Man Structurals Pvt Ltd
Naseem Sheikh, MD, Shera Energy Private Limited
Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman cum MD, Uflex Limited
MOST PROMISING CATEGORY
Paresh Shah, CEO, Allied Digital Services Limited
Dewang Neralla, CEO, Atom Technologies Limited
Sangeeta Kulkarni, CEO, Brickwork India Pvt Ltd
Lakshmi Ram Thakuria, Chairman cum MD, Charu Group of Industries
Arjun Handa, Vice Chairman and MD, Claris Lifesciences Limited
Murali Krishna Gannamani, MD and CEO, Fluentgrid Limited
Ramashankar Pandey, MD, Hella India Lighting Ltd
Perry D. Chaturvedi, CEO and President, Intelegencia Analytics Pvt. Ltd.
Pinkesh Narendrabhai Kotecha, MD, Ishan Netsol Private Limited
Abhilash Ramesh, Executive Director, Kairali Ayurvedic Group
Dr. Trimbakrao Tulshiram Patil, Chairman and MD, Mahafeed Speciality Fertilizers (India) Pvt Ltd
Vijendra Babu N., MD, Micro Plastics Pvt Ltd
Manoj Bisht, CEO, MK Infosystems Pvt. Ltd.
Vivek Agarwal, Co-Founder and MD, Mtech Informatics Ltd
Vinay R Sharma, MD and Founder, Oil Field Warehouse & Services Ltd
S. Vasudevan, Director, Pioneer Coldstore & Cladding Pvt Ltd
Balan M Thevar, MD, Shine Agrotechnology Pvt. Ltd
Sandip Shah, MD, Shop Your World Private Limited
Amit Maheshwari, MD and Founder, Softlink Global Pvt Ltd
Shukanto Ranabrata Ghosh, MD, Sparklet Engineers Private Limited
K. Shyamprasad, MD, Vidya Herbs Private Limited
Launched in 2007, the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards are the region’s most prestigious awards for outstanding entrepreneurship, continuous innovation and sustainable leadership. The Awards provide a platform for companies and governments to recognise entrepreneurial excellence, hence spurring greater innovation, fair business practices and growth in entrepreneurship. As a regional award, it groups together leading entrepreneurs as a powerful voice for entrepreneurship and serves as a by-invitation only networking powerhouse. The program has grown to encompass twelve markets all over Asia.
