The 9th edition of Business Goa Awards for Corporate Excellence was celebrated in splendour with 23 awardees being honoured in a glittering ceremony that felicitated excellence in business and public service
Ryan Costa (Cosme Costa Group), Dr Sangam Kurade (Dr. Kurade’s), Prashant Joshi (Goa Hyundai) and Rajesh Dempo (Vision Dempo)
HDFC presents Business Goa Awards 2021 was held on 1st August 2021 in a glittering yet subdued function at the Marriott, Miramar, in view of the pandemic protocols.
Organising an event of this scale, in the shadow of Covid-19 was not a cakewalk, yet Business Goa went ahead and presented a business awards function that Goa could be proud of: The Business Goa Awards for Corporate Excellence – an awards ceremony honouring all those who have significantly contributed to Goa’s vibrant economic development.
The past one and a half year has seen businesses crumble and fall victim to the pandemic, which swept the ground beneath our feet. Goa being the smallest state, suffered at every turn, yet the common man along with the business fraternity rose up like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes and managed to innovate and adapt themselves to the changing circumstances.
Although held on a smaller scale as compared to past editions, the who’s who of the business world in Goa made their presence felt and said that the event helped uplift spirits and boost their morale.
The keynote speaker for the evening was Sanjay Kirloskar, Chairman of Kirloskar Brothers Pvt. Ltd, who delivered his speech remotely, which was played on screen.
The Awards were spread across various categories spanning across sectors, scale and size of businesses. These categories range diversely to cover sectors like hospitality, real estate, manufacturing, MSMEs and startups.
The awards saw 23 awardees being recognized for their efforts in the space of business, economy and excellence. The four categories of the Awards – Hospitality & Real Estate, Excellence, Best Companies and Top Honours, honoured some of the best and brightest minds for their contribution to business and excellence in Goa.
The winners in the Hospitality & Real Estate category were Saad Infrastructure (Real Estate Company of the Year), Rajdeep Builders (Real Estate Brand of the Year), L & L Builders (Contribution to Real Estate), Hilton Goa Resort (Luxury Hotel of the Year), Peep Kitchen (Best in Goan Cuisine) and Prashant Kumar (Hospitality Consultant of the Year).
The winners in the Excellence category were Heta Pandit (Preserving Goan Heritage), Mac Vaz (Service to Business), Rotary Club Panaji Riviera (Social Responsibility Award), Verna Industries Association (Business Organisation of the Year), Supriya Rane (Author of the Year) and Kishor Naik Gaonkar (Journalism).
The winners in the Best Companies category were Kilowott (IT Company of the Year), Glazetek Systems (Industry of the Year), Como (Style Business of the Year), AR-Mine’s Industries (Make in India Award), Wooden Homes India (Goan Brand), and Spintly (Startup of the Year).
The awardees in the Top Honours category were Nandan Kudchadkar (Influencer of the Year), Dr Kedar Padte (Professional of the Year), Molbio Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd. (Innovation in Healthcare), Damodar Kochkar (Business Leadership Award) and Narayan R. Bandekar (Lifetime Achievement Award).
HDFC Bank was the presenting sponsor, Fortune Miramar and Tangentia were the associate partners for the Awards. The event was powered by Dr. Kurade’s, Real Group of Companies, and Vision Dempo. John Distilleries was the beverage partner, TPT Productions was the creative partner, Goa Hyundai was the automobile partner, while My Goa and Savoir Faire were the magazine partner and organizing partner respectively. AdCity was the outdoor partner, Goa Marriott Resort and Spa was the venue partner; and DNA-Goa was the broadband partner. The host for the evening was Founder-CEO of Work Better, Swapnil Kamat.
Resilience: Way Forward for Industry
Sanjay Kirloskar, Chairman of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. and Immediate Past President, All India Management Association, while congratulating the awardees, spoke on the resilience of entrepreneurs in the face of the pandemic
The keynote address for the Awards was delivered remotely and played on the screen. The keynote speaker, Sanjay Kirloskar is a stalwart of the Indian business space, under whose leadership, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. have grown to be the largest manufacturers of pumps and valves in India and one of the largest in the world by market cap. Having earned his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Sanjay returned home, to not only make his mark in the business arena but also to build a legacy. Sanjay, the Immediate Past President of the All India Management Association (AIMA), has also set up the all-women operated and managed manufacturing plant of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd at Coimbatore as a part of a drive to have more women in the core-engineering sector. He is a true industry leader in every sense of the word.
Excerpts from his speech:
Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to be with you and thank you for inviting me to the Business Goa Awards for Corporate Excellence.
It is nice to see a return of the award functions, even if with a sparse attendance in person. Given the continued threat of the pandemic, it is smarter to continue with mostly online gatherings.
My compliments to Mr Bhatkuly and his associates for celebrating outstanding achievements in many different sectors and identifying role models for the new generation. My congratulations to each of the award winners and I hope that they will continue to set high standards and inspire others to raise theirs.
It is nice to see a local business publication supporting these awards. I am told that it is the only business magazine in Goa and it has been around for 12 years and it has been involved with these awards for the past nine years. My compliments to the magazine for its sustained commitment to promoting business and entrepreneurship in Goa.
The past year and half have been extremely challenging for everyone and it has brought home the ephemeral nature of life and business. The pandemic and the disruption have reminded that leaders must infuse resilience into business model, organisation, supply chain and the society itself. I am pleased that the organisers have chosen to focus on resilience as the way forward for industry at this function.
The key to building resilience is to look beyond cost savings and prioritise business continuity under all conditions. One of the greatest lessons of the covid disruption has been the vulnerability of the ‘just in time’ and global supply chains. While it is perfect business to seek the lowest cost and the most efficient supplier anywhere in the world, it is not smart business to put all the eggs in one basket. The covid experience has taught everyone to manage the supply chain risk better by having alternate suppliers nearby and in more than one region and country.
The travel and transportation disruptions have also highlighted the need to diversify one’s markets. The frequent and sudden lockdowns in different areas must make a business diversify both the customers and the revenue sources. In fact, the companies that quickly repurposed their factories, material and distribution to offer pandemic-appropriate products and services have harvested huge profits during the crisis.
Technology adoption is another big piece of the resilience strategy. Digitalising and automating are no longer the fancies of hip companies only. These have become the basic necessities for the existence of business in the new normal. Whatever be the size or type of a business, there is no future without having a certain minimum online presence, communication and transaction. Of course, this requires not just investment in technology but also in reskilling old employees and finding news ones with digital skills. But, this cost is the cost of staying in business.
Addressing you through this recording may not be the preferable way to be with you, but in the prevailing circumstances, it is the best way. Adoption of technology and a change in mindset has made it possible to overcome the limitations on movement and meeting and getting things done.
As Thomas Alva Edision once said: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Many businesses have crumbled during the pandemic and some have been wiped out. This is not just the time to bounce back, it is also a time to recreate the building blocks of your businesses. The setbacks and losses may be too huge for some, but the human spirit is an amazing thing and entrepreneurs, by their very nature, are more often than not, wired to overcome such challenges.
This awards ceremony is a silver lining in the cloud, as Goa is celebrating its entrepreneurial talent and its contribution to the society. These entrepreneurs and leaders are being feted for their perseverance and resilience to make a difference to everyone around them.
This awards presentation is perhaps the best tonic needed to lift the spirit of Goa’s entrepreneurial community.
I congratulate the organiser, Harshvardhan Bhatkuly, former Chairman, Goa Management Association and publisher and editor of Business Goa, on braving covid and putting together this award ceremony.
Thank you, once again, and best wishes.
“Original content is vital for print media”
Shrinivas Dempo, in his speech, congratulates Business Goa for its twelve years of supporting the business community in the State
Shrinivas Dempo is the chairperson of Goa’s leading business house, Dempo, whose modern-era activity was pioneered by his grandfather, late Vasantrao S Dempo in the year 1941. Shrinivas Dempo was called upon to lead the family business from the year 1998, using his post-graduate management education in Industrial Administration received at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, to give a new direction to the business group. His stewardship has been marked by expansion of existing businesses, benchmarking of products and processes to international standards, introduction of progressive people management systems, enterprise resource planning, corporate sustainability reporting and the deepening of corporate social responsibility. Dempo is currently the senior Vice President of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Excerpts from his speech:
“This is the 12th year of Business Goa, my hearty congratulations to Urvija (I say Urvija first, because she is the publisher of the magazine) and my friend Harsh for coming up with such a wonderful product. Media is a tough business!
When the magazine was launched, I remember telling Harsh, that you are getting into a very very challenging business. There are so many changes, so many new things happening and print media is even more challenging now. Nevertheless, Harsh and Urvija have not only survived they have thrived and have blossomed. One thing I must say is that the only reason they have thrived and blossomed is not because of their advertisers like us, it is because they have unique content.
Today, a media company can only survive because of original content – everything else can be copied. Social media has such an advantage in terms of advance news that they can produce. Business Goa can only come up with a magazine once a month. I have observed Harsh systematically working towards getting into the social media platform. I receive my Business Goa edition online the day it is released. I must congratulate Harsh and Urvija for having the vision to do this.
To be very honest, I can say this with a lot of conviction now, when he started, I thought Harsh will not survive for more than two years; because he did not have deep pockets. I will tell you The Navhind Times lost money for 25 years before it posted profit. Fortunately, my grandfather started the newspaper for a different purpose and never to make money. Now, that it is profitable, it is another story.
Therefore, I really had my doubts whether Harsh would survive, but hats off to him. It is only because he did something unique, he served the business community in Goa. Look at all the startups, it so amazing. Here, there are luminaries of business and startup entrepreneurs, who started from nowhere. Where do they project themselves? On official forums? Business is criticised more than it is appreciated with comments like, “These are the crony capitalists that had advantage from the government; they take all the money away.” That is what Harsh is doing so beautifully. From every nook and corner of Goa, from every space and every area, Business Goa is highlighting businesses. I saw some of the new startups and hats off to them. Goa is not a friendly place, it is a very challenging environment, the market is small, the end product you put across to the country, it is not easy to survive on all this, because there are big pockets everywhere and you can’t compete with them. Once again, a job well done both Harsh and Urvija. Now I am confident that they will easily cross 50 years. My best wishes to them always.”
Advice to Business Goa to excel in a post Covid world. What would you like to see Business Goa do?
“I think Business Goa should just keep on innovating, keep on highlighting important issues. Content creation is most important across the economic divide, if you can create your own content and highlight a niche area, Business Goa will always have an advantage.
I think the magazine has started doing it, but it should just keep on doing it and they will thrive.”
“As Goa’s only business magazine, we take our quest to be the ‘Voice of Business in Goa’ very seriously”
I need not dwell on the challenge thrown to us by the pandemic. Many businesses got wiped out, entrepreneurs have had to tweak their business models, redefine their goals, change the way they did their businesses before. Before the pandemic, we would attend many talks and lectures about VUCA but we thought VUCA at best be ten years later or years into the future, and now it was staring at us in the face, in the form of covid. Everything became uncertain and we were thrown to the mercy of the elements.
However as Goa’s only business magazine, we took our commitment, our quest to be the ‘Voice of Business in Goa’, very seriously. We were the only magazine in Goa who were lucky to see ourselves on the newsstands’ every month throughout this pandemic.
I remember in May last year when the lockdown was just lifted I had a meeting with RajKumar Kamat of BNI, and I was trying to talk to him about the prospects about how things would pan out. I was unaware of what I was thinking or what I was doing, as everything was such a fog. All I knew, when I came out of that room, that yes we have to get over this and come out with an issue every month; irrespective of the challenges with regards to cost, talent, people or whether we are going to be read at all because there was a fear of touching pages in the initial stages of the pandemic. But then we braved it all and here I am in front of you. Not all this work has been that of my doing only. I have an extremely strong team which is the bulwark of support Annalise Gouveia, Sybil Rodrigues, Mayur Santineskar, Ameya Nayak who was with us then, and now Saachi Pai Kane. They are too strong for any challenge in this world and we have been successful that we took ourselves very seriously and we had to come out with an issue every month. I know it’s a lot of divine grace but it’s also a lot of support from our advertisers, well wishers, subscribers and friends, many of whom are in the room tonight. I really owe a debt of gratitude to you all.
Business Goa Awards were first instituted in 2012 at Tito’s. The idea was to recognize felicitate, applaud, appreciate and recognize the talent and change makers among entrepreneurs in Goa.
A magazine that was told it has only three months to survive when we started out, not because we couldn’t afford it, but because there was no business in Goa, as such – over the years, including tonight, we have awarded 236 people – which I think is quite laudable especially when people do not link Goa with entrepreneurship or businesses and leadership. I must congratulate every awardee over the years, who have kept the Goan flag flying very high.
