CNN-News18 has announced the CNN-News18 Indian of the Year awards 2023, which recognise exceptional contributions of individuals across seven categories – Business, Entertainment, Sports, Youth Icon, Rising Sports Star, Social Change, and Climate Warriors.
The nominees in the Business category have played a pivotal role in propelling India’s economic growth. The nominees include N Chandrasekaran (Chairperson, Tata Sons), Sanjiv Puri (Managing Director, ITC), Dinesh Khara (Chairperson, State Bank of India), Sunil Vachani (Founder & Chairman, Dixon Technologies) and Sandeep Bakhshi (CEO, ICICI Bank).
Under the leadership of N Chandrasekaran, Tata Sons witnessed a recovery and comeback in key businesses such as Steel and Auto. He consolidated the leadership in the aviation sector through the Air India acquisition, and the company is now investing in semi-conductors, is a manufacturer for Apple and has entered into a tie-up with Nvidia for AI. N Chandrasekaran oversees 30 companies across ten verticals, operating in 100+ countries with a collective revenue of $150 billion (INR 12 trillion), in 2022-23, employing over 1 million people.
Sanjiv Puri has been at the forefront of steering ITC towards sustainable growth and innovation. The demerger of ITC hotels and acquisitions in the D2C and digital space have paid off. It also consolidated agro, foods, and hospitality for a significant push in millets.
Dinesh Khara has played a crucial role after taking the helm at the State Bank of India. In the first quarter (Q1) of the ongoing financial year (FY) 2023-24, SBI’s net profit stood at Rs 18,736 crore. Asset quality has improved, costs are under control and the share of safe and secure retail assets have also increased.
Sunil Vachani is a torchbearer of the Make in India initiative and transformed Dixon into a powerhouse in electronics manufacturing. In just six years, the company’s workforce has surged from 1,500 to 25,000 employees.
Sandeep Bakhshi cleaned up ICICI Bank’s loan book and ramped up the digital game for the bank. ICICI Bank on October 21 registered 35.7% year-on-year growth in standalone profit and a 24% rise in net interest income in the July-September quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24 (Q2), with a significant fall in bad loan provisions.
‘CNN-News18 Indian of the Year’ has a legacy of honouring exceptional individuals. The 2023 winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony in January 2024.
Past winners in the Business category include Ratan Tata, Aditya Puri, Rajiv Bajaj, Kumar Mangalam Birla and Uday Kotak, to name a few. This year, the winner selection process will combine expert judgment and public voting, with 50 pc of the decision-making power given to the audience and the remaining 50 pc entrusted to the jury.
