ET Awards 2019: Raising a toast to India Inc’s best and brightest

MUMBAI: Key ministers in the Modi government and India Inc captains will assemble in Mumbai today to honour the country’s toughest and smartest businesses and business leaders. The occasion is the 2019 edition of the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence.

Addressing the audience at India’s premier corporate awards will be Modi Cabinet’s most powerful and influential member, Home Minister Amit Shah.

Famous for his plainspeak, Shah has not only demonstrated his ability to break the mould on matters of national security, but also heads several key ministerial groups tasked with solving crucial economic policy questions.


Business leaders will also get to listen to Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Also addressing the distinguished gathering will be Railways and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

Shah, Sitharaman and Goyal form a speaker lineup that’s tough to beat any time, and more so now, when India is looking for answers to questions on national security, growth and global economic engagement.

From announcing revival measures to firm assurances on the economy, from easing the tax burden to making India more investor-friendly, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made both headlines and impacted bottom lines.

As has Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. He was at the forefront of the tough negotiations on RCEP, and is making rules to make ecommerce more India-friendly.

In the audience will be men and women who own and/or run some of India’s biggest and most consequential businesses. And a few among them will be the winners of this year’s ET Awards.

There’s Sanjeev Mehta, MD of Hindustan Unilever — the winner of the Business Leader of the Year award. There’s Entrepreneur of the Year, Sriharsha Majety — the young cofounder of Swiggy, the online food delivery enterprise that has changed how India eats.

There’s Falguni Nayar, Businesswoman of the Year, and CEO of Nykaa.com. And there’s the man who made India believe that a public sector-built world-class infrastructure project is possible — ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan, the winner of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

That’s not all. There are more winners of ET Awards 2019, and more high-profile speakers at the event.