Forbes India Leadership Awards 2024 honours business stalwarts shaping India’s growth story

The highly anticipated leadership event of the year, the Forbes India Leadership Awards 2024, concluded on Thursday night in Mumbai. The 13th edition of the awards honoured the beacons of leadership and innovation in the presence of business and film industry stalwarts.

In his welcome address, Brian Carvalho, Editor, Forbes India said, “FILA encapsulates all that Forbes India stands for: leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship and wealth – creating it, and giving it. It’s on these four firm pillars that the Forbes India Leadership Awards are founded.”

The keynote address was delivered by business icon and leading figure in the banking industry, Uday Kotak, founder and director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, where he shared insights on leadership and the future of finance.

Stressing on the need for Indian financial institutions to be equipped with new technologies such as AI, Kotak said, “The traditional Indian financial players, who are good in the domain of risk and return, normally fail in technology. The world is moving to world-class financial institutions which can combine the power of knowledge of finance and risk management with world-class technology, delivering superior customer experience, while managing risk and making the whole transition seamless.”

Kotak was honoured with the Institution Builder award for his contribution to taking the Indian banking industry forward and creating an institution that has become the fourth largest bank in India. Harsh Mariwala, founder and chairman of Marico Ltd., presented the award.

To further brighten the evening, Karan Johar and Shahid Kapoor, two men renowned for their art, craft, and leadership capabilities in Bollywood, talked about the new order of cinema and the evolution of a star, respectively. While Johar expressed his optimism for the growth of both OTT platforms and the big screen, Kapoor talked about his journey of self-discovery. Both the stars were conferred with the Icon of Excellence award for their contributions to Indian cinema and OTT industry.

The Forbes India Leadership Award 2024 for Entrepreneur of the Year was awarded to Sunil Vachani, executive chairman of Dixon Technologies. The award underscores his transformational leadership, making Dixon Technologies one of India’s biggest electronics manufacturing companies.

The Forbes India Leadership Award 2024 for Emerging Innovator was awarded to Bellatrix Aerospace for its pathbreaking innovations in space technologies. Bellatrix Aerospace is emerging as a revolutionary space tech company with advanced propulsion technologies for space mobility. The award was received by Yashas Karanam, COO of Bellatrix Aerospace.

Tata Motors won the Forbes India Leadership Award 2024 for Turnaround Star. The award underscores Tata Motors’ resilience in overcoming adversities and becoming the third largest car manufacturer in the country. The award was received by Shailesh Chandra, MD of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility.

Chandra spoke on the challenging times and recent journey of Tata Motors, from a market share of 4.8 percent to becoming the leader in the industry. He said, “We were at rock bottom level four years back, in a situation of a perfect storm where there was a question on existence itself. Today, we can all dream to thrive at Tata Motors.”

The Forbes India Leadership Award 2024 for Ecosystem Enabler was given to Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Institute Professor & President, IITM Research Park. The award recognises his efforts to promote innovation and bridge the gap between industry and academia in India.

Groww won the Forbes India Leadership Award 2024 for Promising Startup. Groww has been a key player in the brokerage industry for simplifying investing while registering phenomenal growth in the number of clients. The award was received by Harsh Jain, co-founder and COO of Groww.

Mamaearth won the Forbes India Leadership Award 2024 for Startup Value Creator. Ghazal and Varun Alagh, co-founders of Mamaearth, received the award. Mamaearth has not just created a place for itself in a highly competitive market, but its parent company, Honasa Consumer, has also generated great returns for its early investors.

The Forbes India Leadership Award 2024 for Grassroot Philanthropists was awarded to Zarina and Ronnie Screwvala, co-founders of Swades Foundation, for their efforts in creating positive change in people’s lives at the grassroots level through their philanthropic efforts. The Swades Foundation is working in rural India to eradicate poverty through its efforts to provide education, water, and health services to rural people.

Eeki Foods won the Forbes India Leadership Award 2024 for Emerging Climate Warrior. Eeki Foods produces staple vegetables using technologies that are climate-saving and reduce growing costs. Abhay Singh, co-founder and CEO, and Amit Kumar, co-founder and COO, received the award from Andrew Holland, CEO of Avendus, and Angelo George, CEO of Bisleri.

Wagh Bakri Tea Group won the Forbes India Leadership Award 2024 for Regional Goliath for consistently maintaining their consistency, resilience, and dominance in the West Indian region in the tea industry against the dominant pan-India players. The award was received by Rasesh Desai, Vice Chariman and MD of Wagh Bakri Tea Group along with Paras Desai, Executive Director; Vidisha Desai, Director, and Priyam Parikh, Whole Time Director, from Kunal Bahl, co-founder of Titan Capital, and Shankar Sharma, founder of GQuant and First Global.

The Forbes India Leadership Awards 2024 for GenNext Entrepreneur was awarded to Parth Jindal, MD of JSW Cement and JSW Paints. The award underlines Jindal’s role in revitalising the JSW group and opening new avenues of growth, such as JSW Sports.

The Forbes India Leadership Award 2024 for CEO of the Year was awarded to Praveer Sinha, CEO of Tata Power. The award recognises Sinha’s foresight and leadership acumen and for preparing Tata Power for its next phase of growth in the renewable energy sector.

“Today, we have rediscovered ourselves and getting ready for Tata Power 2.0, which will be good for another hundred years,” Sinha said at the event. He said that ‘Lighting Up Lives’ is not just their motto but also their aim of changing people’s lives.

Further, a panel of diverse industry experts including Sunil Vachani, co-founder of Dixon Technologies, Sashank Rishyasringa, co-founder of Axio, and Rishi Das, co-founder of IndiQube, provided their insights on leadership in the time of disruption. The trio shared their diverse experience and strategies for disruptions, such as Covid-19 and AI among others.