BS Awards for Corporate Excellence: Power-packed jury to pick winners today

A power-packed jury comprising top India Inc leaders as well as the country’s leading legal experts will meet on Thursday to select the winners of Business Standard’s annual awards for Corporate Excellence for 2021. This will be the second time the meeting will be held virtually.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group, one of India’s leading business houses, will chair the eight-member jury. The other jury members are JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal, KKR India Senior Advisor Sanjay Nayar, EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani, McKinsey & Company Senior Partner Noshir Kaka, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Managing Partner Cyril Shroff, Bain Capital Private Equity Chairman Amit Chandra, and AZB & Partners Founder and Managing Partner Zia Mody.

The jury will select the best in corporate India from a list based on financial data as well as qualitative aspects.                           

The data is compiled by Business Standard Research Bureau. Following this process, the “CEO of the Year”, “Company of the Year”, “Start-up of the Year”, and achievers in the other categories — multinational firms, small and medium enterprises, and public sector undertakings -- will be named. The period under review is the fiscal year ended March 2021 -- a year marred by several lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted business models of all companies in India and globally.The jury consists of the best of India Inc. Birla is known to be an astute industrialist who has taken the group to new heights after several mergers and acquisitions in India and abroad, making the group’s companies sector leaders -- be it cement or metals. Hindalco Industries, the group’s metals flagship company, acquired US-based Novelis (in 2007) and Aleris (2020) in two separate multi-billion dollar deals, positioning itself as one of the world’s largest aluminium companies. Likewise, UltraTech Cement is not only India’s largest cement producer, but also the sixth largest globally. The group is well known for following high standards of corporate governance in India.

Sajjan Jindal, who heads the JSW conglomerate, has made JSW Steel among the top steel producers in India. The group has expanded its power business and forayed into high growth potential segments like cement, infrastructure, and paints.

As CEO of KKR India since 2009 and now its chairman, Sanjay Nayar has been involved in several marquee private equity deals in the country. Prior to KKR, he headed Citibank India. Currently, Nayar and his family own 52.6 per cent and are the promoters of FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa), which is valued at over ~73,000 crore.

An alumna of Harvard Law School and University of Cambridge, Zia Mody set up AZB & Partners in 2004, which is now one of India’s foremost corporate law firms.

Noshir Kaka led McKinsey India as its managing director from 2011 to 2016, and founded the firm’s global outsourcing and offshoring practice and the business technology office in India. He is a senior partner and co-leads the firm’s technology, media, & telecommunications practice globally.

Memani joined EY (formerly Ernst & Young) in the mid-1980s and rose to become its India chairman. He is also a member of EY’s global executive board and chairman of EY’s global emerging markets (GEM) committee. In his role as chairman of the GEM committee, Memani’s responsibilities include connecting EMs with developed markets as well as recommending investment plans for EMs.

Shroff, managing partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, is among the country’s top lawyers with a vantage view of Indian companies. Shroff has over four decades of experience in a wide range of practice areas, including corporate and securities law, banking, bankruptcy, disputes and infrastructure. 

Chandra founded Bain Capital Private Equity’s India office in 2008. currently, he is also a member of the financial & business services vertical and a member of the Asia-Pacific leadership team. Prior to Bain Capital Private Equity, he was managing director, DSP Merrill Lynch.