Eight industry experts came together in Mumbai on September 15, 2022, to deliberate upon India’s Fastest Growing Companies and the CW Person of the Year. For the 20th year in a row, the CONSTRUCTION WORLD Global Awards once again recognises and awards India’s Fastest Growing Construction Companies, India’s Top Challengers and, of course, the CW Person of the Year. New entrants to the categories of winners include Most Admired Brands, Engineer of the Year, Construction Project of the Year, International Project of the year; Innovation in Retailing; Innovation in Construction Technique; Emerging Construction Equipment of the year; Product of the year; Project Manager of the year; Woman in Construction of the year; and CSR Company of the Year. Yes! The CONSTRUCTION WORLD Global Awards 2020 is here, hosted once again as part of the India Construction Festival. In an industry striving for excellence, arriving at the list of winners is never an easy task. Like every year, industry experts came together in Mumbai to discuss, deliberate upon and select our honour roll. This year, the jury panel comprised eight members. The jury meet was initiated by pulling out a list of nominations for the CONSTRUCTION WORLD Person of the Year 2022 in the public and private sectors. Compiled by the CW editorial team, the nominations included construction heroes who have enjoyed remarkable achievements this year and, through their efforts, propelled the organisation and industry forward. For the new categories introduced, entries were welcomed through a nomination process, which was then put to the eminent jury for detailed assessment, based on which, the final winners were arrived at. Further, to arrive at the Fastest Growing Companies, a report with a quantitative analysis of construction companies – data sourced from published annual reports and results published by companies – was presented to the panel to allow them to assess the companies in each category (Fastest Growing – Large, Medium and Small). Even in the case of non-listed firms, such data was sourced from the company directly by seeking audited figures. To ensure authenticity of data during compilation, various checks and balances were put into place. The jury was informed that the data was further audited selectively to ensure it was error-free. This data was collated and compiled by FIRST Construction Council, a non-profit trust set up in 2003 to empower and enable the construction community through information and policy advocacy. The council also engages in researching information and ranking construction and infrastructure companies. As a prelude to the discussion of selecting India’s fastest growing companies, a presentation on the parameters of the model was made by Pratap Padode, President, FIRST Construction Council. This included the definition of large, medium and small companies, and the rationale for the choice of companies along with criteria such as cut-off levels for selecting companies in various categories. Companies not considered for the awards were those with insufficient data available; those that suffered losses in FY2022; and those whose figures were derived mainly from ‘in-house performance’. In the ‘Fastest Growing Construction Company – Large’ category, consistency in profit, growth and governance were considered as important factors. It was observed that while growth for some companies who made it to the top this year had started from a lower base, some were already enjoying a higher base, and growth thereafter. Similarly, while the profits had dropped for some companies, their top-line had automatically gone up, one reason assumed being, the increase in raw material prices and the other being the execution of projects albeit at dangerously low margins. In the ‘Fastest Growing Construction Company – Medium’ category, construction companies were assessed for their discipline in financial and corporate governance. Considering consistency in the same and the current debt management as well, two companies made it to the third rank, resulting into a tie. Corporate governance drew jury’s favour in most deliberations. In the ‘Fastest Growing Construction Company – Small’ category, the jury unanimously prioritised companies on the list with a stronger track record and promising steadiness. For some companies, it was observed that, they were seen staying afloat, focusing on clearing their current projects, high on debt and inconsistent on governance. Owing to some of these reasons, these companies were not considered by the jury for the winning list. Furthermore, along with the financial data and rankings, the jury also discussed the track record of various construction companies, which included quality of work and industry happenings as well as softer issues and business factors. In all, the panel focused on top-line and bottom-line growth; they discussed all-round performance and shared their perceptions and findings on areas of concern of some companies during the period under review. This certainly had an overall impact on the final results. Eventually, it was well worth the wait when the panel arrived at its definitive list of the winning companies for 2022: India’s Fastest Growing Construction Companies. It was heartening to see the journey of few companies, who evidently have climbed up the ladder from being past winners in the ‘small’ category, to now featuring as winners in the ‘large’ category. Evidently, their growth trajectory had been swift and steady!