11th Annual Construction World Global Awards 2013

The landmark event recognised and rewarded success stories amid trying times, report MANAS R BASTIA and SHRIYAL SETHUMADHAVAN. On a day when the entire nation was following its superstar Sachins last historic campaign for India - and he delivered in style! - the evening in the heart of India was equally spectacular for the construction and infrastructure (CI) fraternity! The movers and shakers of this sector in India and beyond congregated on the evening of November 14, 2013, in New Delhi for the 11th CONSTRUCTION WORLD Global Awards 2013 to recognise and reward excellence amid one of the toughest times in recent years for this business in the country. With the Indian CI industry displaying remarkable resilience and determination in the recent past, these awards were an ode to several success stories in these trying times of global economic turbulence. A key constituent of the 2nd India Construction Festival (for details, turn to page 80), this glittering evening marked the perfect culmination of the day-long, high-value deliberations of the engaging CONSTRUCTION WORLD Leadership Summit 2013. One could feel the growing positivity in the air as the top brass of the industry arrived at the venue and were warmly welcomed to the pre-event networking enclosure for refreshments and catching up with colleagues and competition! Adding one more jewel to the crown, exclusive awards for the equipment industry - the Equipment India Awards 2013 - were instituted for the first time in India during this event in an endeavour to address the complete spectrum of this critical sector (for details, turn to page 85). The electrifying evening also included awards for Indias Most Admired Companies. The grand evening commenced on an auspicious note with the traditional lighting of the lamp in the presence of Dharmendra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India; Atul Tandan, Chairman, ASAPP Media; and Pratap Vijay Padode, Editor-in-Chief & Managing Director, ASAPP Media. Other distinguished dignitaries who graced this occasion included Dr Burak Akcapar, Ambassador of Turkey in India; HE Janice Darbari, The Consul General of Montenegro in India; Ben Aldred, First Secretary, British Deputy High Commission; Li Jian, Founder & Secretary General, Chindia Chamber of Commerce; Anoop Kumar Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, National Buildings Construction Corporation; Vivek Singhal, CEO, Tata Projects; Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director & CEO, JCB India; Arvind Gujaral, CEO, BSES Yamuna Power; Pravin Purang, Group Head and Adviser, Supply Chain Management, Jindal Steel and Power; S Paramasivan, Deputy Managing Director, Afcons Infrastructure; Arvind K Agarwal, CFO, Amman Apollo India; Harinder Singh, Head-Sandvik Construction India; Kanwar S Dhingra, National Business Development Manager (Industrial Business Line), Berger Paints India; Piyush Goyal, Managing Director, Kelley Material Handling Equipment India and Venkatesh Lakhotia, MBL Infrastructures, to name a few. The first award of the evening was the CONSTRUCTION WORLD Man of the Year award, which Chief Guest Dharmendra conferred upon OP Puranmalka, Whole Time Director, UltraTech Cement India. As he could not attend the event, he expressed his appreciation via a video message, saying, This would not have been possible without the support of my business team. The awards began with the category for Construction Companies, recognising them for their extraordinary performance last year. Aldred along with Dharmendra presented these awards. While receiving the award on behalf of his company for being Indias Largest and Fastest Growing Company, MV Satish, Senior Vice-President & Head - Buildings and Factories, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), observed, This is motivating and will keep us on our toes - thus, leading and towering. The next category of awards was for the providers - they pump steel in the nations ambition to consolidate its position in the world economy; they cement the bond between the Indian human-resource powerhouse and economic prosperity; and paint the picture of the India we dream of. These awards were bestowed upon Building Material Companies in the presence of Jian on the dais. Debilitating global economic conditions and consequent curbs in infrastructure spending may have impacted Indias construction equipment industrys growth momentum to a certain extent but a combination of policy urgencies and political exigencies - with the parliamentary elections scheduled next year - is expected to spur growth. Against this background, the third category of awards - Construction Equipment Companies - was announced in the presence of HE Darbari. Sondhi walked up the stage with pride to receive the Largest Equipment Company Award for JCB India. We have to remain optimistic because there is an underlying demand; it is an issue of getting past the bottlenecks, which I am sure we will overcome, he said, optimistic as always. Difficult times call for innovative measures. With a view to offer practical perspectives, CONSTRUCTION WORLD had aptly taken up the theme of Innovating.... Out of the Box in its 17th Annual Edition, which was unveiled by distinguished dignitaries during the evening. With this years event, the CONSTRUCTION WORLD Awards have completed a remarkable journey of 11 years. On the stage, Dharmendra shared his thoughts with the industry: While cultural diversity is a sign of a vibrant country, infrastructure diversity reflects the lack in progress and beckons an urgent need to boost infrastructure development. Adding to this, Tandan highlighted, Infrastructure cannot be developed unless there is a partnership built on trust and commitment. And in his opening remarks, Padode said, I have been tracking the industry for years and have realised that we need a government that can cohesively deliver partnership. There are going to be problems; however, it is an evolving process. The awards for this year marked one more milestone in their journey of not only appreciating the contribution of high performers of the Indian CI sector but, more important, presenting a focussed forum to propel the India growth story of this critical sector in actionable measures beyond the obvious. Going by the marvellous response of the attendees during the gala dinner - where networking continued almost till midnight -and after this grand event, the evening will be etched in memory and continue to inspire the industry to accomplish greater glories. For more details, view / download information on 11th Annual Construction World Global Awards 2013.