In its 19th year of recognizing excellence in driving innovation, growth, and positive change across industries, the coveted ‘CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Awards 2023’ (IBLA) presented by Standard Chartered, held its annual awards ceremony in Mumbai.

The event was a gathering of individuals who embody the spirit of entrepreneurship and contribute significantly to India’s upward growth trajectory, a press statement from the business news channel said.

Setting the tone for the evening in her welcome address, Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18, emphasized the significance of leadership and innovation in driving economic growth.

She commented, “This year’s theme for the India Business Leader Awards, from recovery to resurgence could not be more apt. With a scorching Q2 GDP growth rate of 7.6 percent, buoyant tax collections, markets at record highs, consumption, and investment engines firing, we find ourselves in a sweet spot.

“India is in a position of undeniable strength and the IBLA 2023 celebrates leaders who are driving change and clocking new milestones with their purposeful actions. 2023 also marks CNBC-TV18’s 25th year as India’s most credible and influential news brand, with unparalleled leadership and my decade as Managing Editor”.

The event also hosted one-on-one discussions with Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Minister of Textiles and Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, and Petroleum & Natural Gas.

Highlighting the shift towards electric vehicles in India,  Goyal, in a fireside chat led by Rahul Joshi, Managing Director & Network18 Editor in Chief, said “The age of electric vehicles has arrived. In another two to three years, I see all new two-wheeler sales being electric. In three-wheeler sales, we are close to 100 percent electric or CNG-driven, while the figure for four-wheelers was only around 2 percent, the future was bright as local manufacturers — Maruti, Tata, and Mahindra, among others — were coming out with some fantastic offerings. We will see a lot of action in the four-wheeler space. Therefore, Tesla will not like to miss out on the action”.

Emphasizing the adoption of green energy in India, Puri said, “India is leading the global transition from fossil fuel to green energy, so, instead of being known as the Minister of Petroleum and Coal, I should be known as the Minister of Energy Transition.”

The evening unfolded by celebrating some of the towering leaders pioneering India’s road from Recovery to Resurgence. The ‘Young Turk of the Year’ award was bagged by Sameer Nigam, CEO, PhonePe, and the ‘Young Turk Startup of the Year’ was awarded to BluSmart.

While ONDC bagged ‘The Disruptor Award’, Persistent Systems received the ‘Most Promising Company of the Year’ recognition. The ‘IBLA Trailblazers of 2023’ title was awarded to India’s javelin gold medallist at Asian Games 2023 Annu Rani, India’s champion steeplechaser Parul Chaudhary and the Indian men’s relay team.

Sheetal Devi, who won gold medals at the Para Asian Games 2023 was honoured with the title ‘Special and Para Sports Leader of the Year Award’.

‘The Sports Leader of the Year Award’ was given to Shubman Gill, Chandrayaan 3 received IBLA ‘Outstanding Contribution to Brand India’ title and Apollo Hospitals received the ‘Outstanding Company of the Year Award’. Deepak Parekh got inducted into IBLA’s ‘Hall of Fame’. IBLA In Memoriam honoured industry stalwarts posthumously MS Swaminathan and Ashwin Dani.

Bollywood’s action-packed performer Sunny Deol was honoured with the prestigious ‘Entertainment Leader of the Year Award’ for his blockbuster hit ‘Gadar 2’, which broke all records at the box office. The evening was illuminated by Sunny’s rendition of his legendary lines from the films ‘Damini’ and ‘Gadar’, evoking a wave of nostalgia among the audience.

Katrina’s Kay Beauty was honoured with ‘Breakout Brand of the Year’ title, while the former CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, received the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Public Service Award’. Nepra’s Lets Recycle was awarded in the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Climate Consciousness’ category and the ‘Brand Campaign of the Year’ was given to Spotify. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon Ltd & Biocon Biologics Ltd was felicitated with the ‘Outstanding Business Leader of the Year’ title. The Founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Uday Kotak, received the prestigious ‘Lifetime Achievement Award.