Marico chief Harsh Mariwala is the EY Entrepreneur of the Year

Mariwala will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award to be held in June

Business leader Harsh Mariwala is the EY Entrepreneur for 2020. Mariwala, chairman of the fast moving consumer goods firm Marico, will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award in June.
 

Prathap Chandra Reddy, founder and executive chairman of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. was given the lifetime achievement award, while EY announced eight other winners in multiple categories. Byju Raveendran, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Think & Learn, better known as BYJU’s, was awarded for "business transformation". Peyush Bansal, founder and CEO of Lenskart Solutions, was awarded in the start-up category. Ameera Shah, managing director of Metropolis Healthcare, won in life science and healthcare.
 

Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director of Nestle India, got the entrepreneur CEO award. Sushil Kumar Agarwal, managing director (MD) & CEO of Aavas Financiers, won in the financial service category.
 

Mukesh Ambani, who was the keynote speaker in the virtual award ceremony, said, “Today, India is surging ahead as an economic power, as a democratic power, as a diplomatic and strategic power, as a cultural power and also a digital and technology power. And the key driving force for India’s rise will be our entrepreneurs, who are inventing new things every day that can transform India and the world, who are disruptive and hungry for success.”
 

Winners of the EY Entrepreneur awards were selected by a nine-member independent jury led by Uday Kotak, managing director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank.
 

The other jury members were: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson of Biocon; Neeraj Bharadwaj, MD, Carlyle India Advisors; Jalaj Dani, co-promoter, Asian Paints; Amit Dixit, co- head of Asia Acquisitions and head of India at Blackstone Private Equity; Deep Kalra, founder and group executive chairman, MakeMyTrip; Rajnish Kumar, former chairman of State Bank of India, Rishad Premji, chairman, Wipro; and Gopal Srinivasan, founder and CMD, TVS Capital Funds.