Hindustan Times’ Business and Entrepreneur Felicitation Ceremony: A toast to the best in business
CHANDIGARH: Smart and savvy, the movers and shakers of the regions booming business sector were honoured at Hindustan Times’ Business and Entrepreneur Felicitation Ceremony at JW Marriott, Sector 35, Chandigarh.
Union minister of state for commerce and industry Som Parkash was the chief guest for this star-spangled gathering of luminaries of the business community. With comedian Parvinder Singh leaving the audience in splits, and Madhur Dhir and his band members serenading the audience, it was an evening filled with roaring laughter, delectable food, free-flowing drinks and foot-tapping numbers.
The top 20 businesses and entrepreneurs in the region were felicitated and given titles. Gillco Developers and Builders Private Limited was crowned real estate developer of the year, and Fortis Hospital Mohali, multi superspeciality hospital of the year. SeraSeal™ was recognised for its excellence in innovative surgical bleed management, and Surya Travels and Associates for excellence in the field of air travel services.
Antier Solutions Private Limited was declared pioneering blockchain technology company of the year, and DLF City Centre as the promising premium neighbourhood mall. Natasha Singla for Elsa Design Co. was given the title of furniture and interior brand of the region, and Thind Motion Films Private Limited was honoured for being a prominent movie production house. Dr Reet was named international education consultant of the region, and Femina by Bunny Arora the fashion label of the year.
Joban Sandhu and Gunkaran Singh took home the title of power couple of the year. Detailing Bull was named automotive care brand of the year, and Pulkit Kapoor millennial entrepreneur of the region. Gillco International School was recognised as the pioneer of progressive education in tricity, while La Pino’z Pizza emerged as the customer’s choice pizza brand of the year. Suffescom Solutions Private Limited was recognised as trending enterprise blockchain development company, Expert Entertainments Private Limited as iconic entertainment PR company, Phoenix Industries as a pioneer in office décor solutions, and Pureway as the e-commerce brand of the year.
‘India most attractive investment destination’
Speaking on the occasion, the Union minister said, “Many changes have taken place over the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. People suffered a lot. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested turning adversity into opportunity and called for entrepreneurship.”
“The Word Bank and IMF have ranked India as the most attractive investment destination. Ours is the fifth-largest economy in the world. This year, we registered a growth of 8.25%, the highest in the world. In late March, we crossed the $400-billion export mark,” he said.
“We are working to improve ease of doing business in India. In 2014, when Modi became the PM, our rank was 142 in ease of doing business, and in 2019 we were positioned 63. We have scrapped 31,000 compliances to allow businesses to thrive and set up a single-window clearance system. We have mapped 4,200 industrial parks in India,” he said, apprising the businessmen of the schemes launched to promote startups.
Mitsubishi Electric Air Conditioners was the presenting sponsor of the felicitation ceremony which was attended by the company’s air conditioning division director Naohiko Hosokawa, senior general manager Neeraj Gupta, and Chandigarh branch head Ankush Saluja.
Asserting that Mitsubishi has a significant brand presence in Chandigarh, Hosokawa said, “I am happy to be in the City Beautiful where Mitsubishi is the preferred brand. I am looking forward to exploring the city.” Gupta said, “It was a lovely evening. Besides, it is always a delight to visit Chandigarh.”
“With Mitsubishi being a premier brand, it was only right for us to be associated with this event that felicitates premier businesses in the region, many of which are our clients,” added Saluja.
Speaking on the occasion, prominent entrepreneur of the region Manteshwar Singh, who was present at the event, said having such kind of events to promote entrepreneurial excellence acts as a major boost to the ever-growing business potential of the region.
A night to remember
The man with the golden voice, Madhur Dhir, who featured in the first YouTube Originals series ‘ARRived’ featuring the legendary AR Rahman, said, “Music in itself is healing. It is an explosive expression of humanity that touches us all, irrespective of our varied backgrounds.”
Playing popular numbers such as Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Gulabi Ankhein, and Abhi Na Jao Chod Kar, Dhir and his band members – Navjot (guitarist), Harun Andrews (bassist), Saarang (drummer) and Ajay Kumar (dholi) – held the audience in a trance.
Dhir’s musical performance was ably supported by celebrity artiste Nobby Singh who added another dimension of entertainment excellence to the evening.
Homegrown comedian, Parvinder Singh, of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge fame, made some side-splitting observations about our craze for brands, Punjabi earworms, and the wholesome ‘kuttu atta’. The engineer-turned-comic also poked good-natured fun at recruitment drives, and the struggled to come up with an impressive hobby eliciting chuckles.
