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Inaugural "Fortune India #TheNext500" Event Celebrates India's Finest Midsize Companies

Company Brief

Telangna, August 18, 2015

Fortune India magazine celebrated the unsung heroes of Indian industry-the country’s largest and finest midsize companies-at the first-ever #TheNext500 event in Delhi yesterday. Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, and New & Renewable Energy graced the occasion as chief guest and keynote speaker, and Shri KT Rama Rao, Minister for IT and Panchayati Raj, government of Telangana, was guest of honour.

The event was attended by the top management of the Next 500 companies, other senior industry leaders, policymakers, and senior bureaucrats. Fortune India collaborated with a host of marquee partners to build this unique concept, including state partner Telangana, event partner Lamborghini, technology partner Lenovo, banking partner State Bank of India, innovation partner Toshiba E-Studio, Exchange Partner BSE, associate partners Da Milano Italia, Giant Starkenn, and JW Marriott New Delhi Aerocity, television partner NDTV Prime, and knowledge partner Greyhound Knowledge Group.

Introducing the concept, Mr DD Purakayastha, MD and CEO of ABP Pvt Ltd, the publisher of Fortune India, pointed out that the Fortune India Next 500 is the definitive ranking of midsize companies with revenues ranging from Rs 700 crore to Rs 1,700 crore, which are most likely to break into the bellwether Fortune India 500 list in the next few years.

Apart from creating a world-class knowledge-sharing platform designed to address the specific challenges of these companies, Fortune India honoured the 10 companies from the Next 500 list that have generated the greatest value for their stakeholders in the past three years. The elite group of value creators was topped by Ind-Swift Laboratories, and included Westlife Development, Vaibhav Global, JBM Auto, Avanti Feeds, Ajanta Pharma, Eveready Industries India, Astral Poly Technik, Excel Crop Care, and Hitachi Home and Life Solutions India.

In his address, Shri Goyal congratulated Fortune India for turning its focus to this sector that often finds itself omitted from the public discourse. “These companies are poised to ramp up, and it’s a sensitive time when they need a lot of support and handholding. I am delighted that the Fortune India team thought it prudent to bring attention to these companies, which probably provide more employment per rupee spent than any other,” he said. “I also compliment the award winners for leading the way amid a lot of challenges.”

Mr. Rao in his address welcomed the recognition to the Next 500 and outlined how the Telengana government’s mission is aligned with the event. “We are the youngest state; we call ourselves the startup state. We have the drive and the hunger to grow. The reason we’ve chosen to align with the Next 500 is because just like us, you are in your growth trajectory, and I hope you will consider Telengana for your investment,” he said.

The award ceremony was followed by a fireside chat between Dr Subir Gokarn, director-research, Brookings India, and Dr Rajiv Kumar, senior fellow, Centre for Policy Research, on “Greece, China, and Beyond: How India Inc. Should Prepare”.

This was followed by workshops on three topics that are urgent priorities for midsize companies. The first, on how cloud computing can help midsize companies scale, was conducted by Bikram S Bedi, Head of India, Amazon Web Services India. The second, on resource optimization, was delivered by Rahul Narayan, tech lead of Team Indus, which is aiming to be India’s first private company to land a rover on the moon. The final workshop, on talent management, was conducted by K Ramkumar, Executive Director, ICICI Bank and President, National HRD Network. The event closed with a networking session.

For further information, please contact:

Nupur Chauhan

Email: nupurchauhan@gmail.com

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