Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, 26th November, 2006: Akhil Gupta, Chief Financial Officer of leading Indian telecom services provider Bharti Airtel, celebrated a triple success at the first CFO Awards for India hosted by Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone and broadcast by CNBC-TV18.
The Awards panel voted Gupta Best CFO of the Year and Best Performing CFO in the Telecommunications Sector, and to crown a memorable evening he was also named the people’s choice as the Best CFO of the Year.
Gupta received his awards at a glittering ceremony in Ras Al Khaimah on Saturday night which was attended by H.H.Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Economy, and H.H. Sheikh Faisal Bin Saqr Al Qassimi, Chairman of Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone.
The 2006 CFO Awards for India will be televised across India by CNBC-TV18 to an estimated audience of 38 million viewers.
“It was a great pleasure to come to Ras Al Khaimah and I’m honoured to receive the awards,” said Gupta, who also won the keys to a brand new Toyota Corolla. “The viewers’ award was especially satisfying. That’s something you just don’t expect.”
“This really is the culmination of all the work we have done over more than ten years, stretching back to the launch of our first product in 1995. Every year since then we have added certain things and are now in all 23 of the telecoms circles in India.”
Awards 2
Among the other CFOs honoured during the Awards ceremony in front of the CNBC cameras at the Ras Al Khaimah Hilton was United Breweries’ Ravi Nedungadi, who carried off the award for the Best Deal in the Mergers and Acquisitions category.
B.R. Jaju of electrical engineering conglomerate Crompton Greaves was named the Most Promising Entrant into the Big League.
Sheikh Saud, Shaikha Lubna and Sheikh Faisal all joined the pre-eminent Awards panel on the stage for the presentations which brought together 60 of India’s top senior Chief Financial Officers and is now expected to become a major annual event.
By sponsoring and hosting the Awards, Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone, is enjoying major exposure in the key market of India where it is achieving increased success.
It recently moved into a spacious new facility and added extra staff in Mumbai and other Indian metros to handle the increased interest in from investors.
One of the fastest growing free trade zones, RAK FTZ now has more than 2,400 companies from 87 countries around the globe. This year alone it has registered more than 1100 new companies, an increase of 160 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Oussama El Omari, CEO for RAK FTZ said: “We are very happy to have partnered CNBC-TV18 in staging this prestigious Awards event as part of our ongoing efforts to highlight the opportunities in Ras Al Khaimah to investors from across the Middle East and Asia.”
He added: “The event has united the world of corporate and public sector finance in India, and CNBC-TV18’s national coverage of the event will again reinforce our drive to increase awareness of the emirate, the free trade zone, and the facilities and benefits we offer to investors.”
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The full list of Awards winners is:
Best Performing CFO in the Auto & Auto Ancillaries Sector
Tata Motors - Praveen P Kadle - ED finance
Best Performing CFO in the Telecommunications Sector
Bharti Airtel Ltd.- Akhil Gupta
Best Performing CFO in the FMCG Sector
HLL Shri Sundaram
Best Performing CFO in the Healthcare Sector
Cipla - Mr S. Radhakrishnan
Sun Pharma: Sudhir Walia
Best Performing CFO in the Financial Services Sector
HDFC: Keki Mistry (MD)
Best Performing CFO in the IT and ITES Sector
Wipro - Mr. Suresh Senapati
Best Performing CFO in the Engineering and Capital Goods Sector
Larsen & Toubro -Yeshwant M. Deosthalee
Best Performing CFO in the Commodities Sector
Grasim - Mr D.D. Rathi
Best Performing CFO in the Oil & Allied Services Sector
Oil & Natural Gas Corpn. Ltd. RS Sharma (Also continues as Director Finance)
Best Performing CFO in the Logistics Sector
GE Shipping - Balan Wasudeo
Most promising Entrant into the Big League
Crompton Greaves -BR Jaju
Best Deal in the M&A Category
United Breweries - Ravi Nedungadi
Best CFO of the Year
Bharti Airtel lts - Akhil Gupta
Best CFO of the Year - People's choice awards
Bharti Airtel lts - Akhil Gupta
