Mumbai: CNBC-TV 18 India Business Leadership Awards (IBLA) presented by Standard Chartered Bank, the country’s largest and most prestigious celebration of business leadership and entrepreneurship concluded its 16th editionon a grand note. Themed, ‘Leaders of Change’, the virtual event was hosted by the channel’s Managing Editor, Shereen Bhan, and Executive Editor, Latha Venkatesh on 19th March 2021. It was followed by a keynote speech presented by Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser of India.  Over the years, the awards ceremony has honored the highest achievers and visionaries that have led India’s glorious journey. 

The Awards evening began with an introduction to an impressive jury panel comprising K V Kamath, Former President of the New Development Bank; Zarin Daruwala, Cluster CEO, India and South Asia markets (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal), Standard Chartered Bank; Dr. Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, RPSG Group; Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and Managing Director, Tata Consultancy Services; Nisaba Godrej, Chairperson& Managing Director, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI, and Sanjiv Puri, CMD, ITC. Showcasing India’s undisputed leadership in steering through the pandemic of 2020, Chief Economic Adviser of India: Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian spoke about Budget 2021, Economic Survey 2021, Labor laws, and the country’s expansive vaccination drive. 

Honoring the most deserving achievers in the India business landscape, CNBC-TV18 presented a posthumous Hall of Fame award to Former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.The award recognized the contribution of Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd for taking brand India global. Uday Kotak, Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank was bestowed with the honour of the Outstanding Business Leader of the year. Nestle India was recognized as the Outstanding Company of the Year, respectively. In a first, the award ceremony also recognized Team Dharavi, Indian Medical Association (IMA), and The Trained Nurses Association of India as COVID Champions for their undeterred commitment to fight the ongoing pandemic.

Sharing her views, Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18 said, “The success of CNBC-TV18 IBLA, over the years, is a testament to our dedication and commitment to cover India’s journey to success. A part of which is contributed by leaders of various industries who have continually challenged, disrupted, and sustained in an ever-evolving business landscape. Owing to the pandemic, we hosted IBLA virtually as a week-long initiative featuring incredible dialogs on the way ahead, sharing ideas, and crafting solutions for the country’s economic growth. We congratulate this year’s IBLA winners and hope to see a better and healthier future for all.

Building-up to the main awards night, IBLA commenced with a special Townhall held on 5th March 2021 featuring Honorable FM Nirmala Sitharaman in the presence of eminent industry leaders to talk about economic policies, budget norms, and key learnings to pave the way for India’s economic growth. The next session saw Shereen Bhan moderating and discussing the road ahead to improve women participation in the labour force, and the need for more women entrepreneurs in the Indian business ecosystem. The line-up of knowledge-parsing sessions also presented a special Startup panel consisting of Nitin Kamath, Founder & CEO of Zerodha; Vivek Sunder, COO of Swiggy, Abhiraj Bhal, Co-founder, Urban Company and Prashant Tandon, Founder & CEO, 1mg spoke about their journeys of recovery, resilience, reinvention, disruption. The last session on IBLA highlighted ‘Cyberwarfare: Are We Prepared to Cope with it’ which was an exclusive conversation between Shereen Bhan and Nikesh Arora, Chairman & CEO, Palo Alto Network.  A global cyber security leader, that continually delivers innovation to enable secure digital transformation.