Mumbai, India – Vellayan Subbiah, Chairman of Cholamandalam Finance and Executive Vice Chairman of Tube Investments of India, has been honored with the prestigious EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ Award 2023 (EOY) for his outstanding entrepreneurial achievements. The award recognizes Subbiah’s bold strategies in transforming existing businesses and seizing new opportunities through acquisitions and diversification. Under his leadership, Subbiah’s group companies experienced unprecedented growth and achieved a remarkable four-fold increase in shareholder value in just three years.
Selected by a nine-member independent jury led by K V Kamath, former Chairman of ICICI Bank, Subbiah’s entrepreneurial excellence stood out among the finalists. As the winner of the EOY 2023 award, Subbiah will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo from June 4-7, 2024.
The awards ceremony, held in Mumbai, also recognized the achievements of other individuals and teams across different categories. Deepinder Goyal, co-founder of Zomato, received the Business Transformation category award, while Team ICICI Bank, led by CEO Sandeep Bakhshi and Executive Directors Sandeep Batra and Rakesh Jha, won in the Entrepreneurial CEO category.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, was presented with the Special Jury Award for his exceptional leadership of the Tata Group and contribution to nation-building. His strategies, which focused on strengthening core businesses and creating synergies within the group, led to a doubling of the group’s market capitalization from US$170 billion to a staggering US$365 billion.
Venu Srinivasan, Chairman Emeritus of TVS Motor Company, received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades-long entrepreneurial excellence in revolutionizing the two-wheeler industry in India. Known for his commitment to quality, innovation, and sustainable practices, Srinivasan has received numerous global and Indian awards, including the prestigious Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
The EOY 2023 winners and finalists collectively represent a significant revenue of INR 14.7 lakh crore and provide employment for over 12.5 lakh people in India and globally. The jury, chaired by Kamath, included industry leaders and visionaries such as Falguni Nayar, Sanjiv Bajaj, Dilip Shanghvi, Sajjan Jindal, Sunish Sharma, Ranjan Pai, Shailendra Singh, and Gaurav Trehan.
Rajiv Memani, Chairman and CEO of EY India, praised the winners and finalists for their entrepreneurial excellence and their ability to transform businesses and create new markets. He highlighted their scale, customer centricity, and innovation as the distinguishing factors that have led to their success.
The EOY Award program for 2023 was sponsored by IDFC FIRST Bank. Farokh Balsara, Partner and EOY India Program Leader, described the EOY as a celebration of entrepreneurship where winners and finalists inspire with their vision, resilience, and passion to make a difference. He commended the winners for their immense contributions to their industries and broader communities, all in the pursuit of building a better India.
This year’s Awards marked the 25th Anniversary, celebrating the theme of ‘Builders of a Better India.’ The event applauded past winners of the Awards, including industry stalwarts like Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Anand Mahindra, Kumar Mangalam Birla, and Sunil Bharti Mittal. These visionary leaders continue to inspire and contribute to India’s progress. Several past winners, such as N.R Narayana Murthy, Uday Kotak, and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, have also received the World Entrepreneur Of the Year title. Since its establishment in 1999, the EOY program in India has recognized over 350 outstanding entrepreneurs.
For more information about the program, visit EY Entrepreneur Of The Year India.
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