Indian Innovation Awards

Arun Maira

Arun Maira is a Member of the Planning Commission chaired by the Prime Minister of India. In this ministerial level position, he is responsible for facilitating the shaping of policies and programs relating to industrialization and urbanization in the country, and tourism.

Arun Maira was a member of the Tata Administrative Services and worked in several senior positions in the TATA Group in India and abroad for 25 years until 1989. He worked with Arthur D.Little Inc (ADL), the international management consultancy and consulted with companies across the world. During this time he was Managing Director of Innovation Associates, an Arthur D. Little subsidiary, Leader of ADL’s North American Manufacturing Practice and Leader of ADL’s World-wide Organization and Strategy Practice. He returned to India in 2000 and was Chairman of The Boston Consulting Group in India until April 2008.

Arun Maira has served on the boards of several organizations, including the Tata, Birla, Godrej, Hero, Mahindra Groups and several management education institutions. He was also on the boards of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, the India Brand Equity Foundation, and the Public Interest Foundation, as well as a trustee of WWF India, the World Food Program India Trust, and Aspen India. He has been a Member of the CII’s National Council for many years, as well as Chairman of several of CII’s National Councils, including the National Council for Corporate Governance, and Chairman of CII’s Leadership Summit. He was also Chairman of Save the Children, India, and Chairman of the Axis Bank Foundation.

He writes regularly in the Economic Times in India and other management and business journals. He is the author of several books, which include "Shaping The Future: Aspirational Leadership in India and Beyond", “Remaking India: One Country, One Destiny”, “Discordant Democrats: Five Steps to Consensus” and “Transforming Capitalism: Business Leadership to Improve the World for Everyone”.

He received his M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Physics from St Stephen's College, Delhi University.

N. Vittal

Shri. N. Vittal is from the IAS cadre 1960 batch. He has held the appointments of Chairman, Telecom Commission and Secretary, Department of Telecommunication, Government of India, Chairman, Public Enterprises Selection Board and before retirement his last appointment was Central Vigilance Commissioner.

His experience of more than 35 years covers a wide spectrum with focus on industrial administration, science and technology and security. As Secretary to the Government of India, he initiated policies for boosting software, setting up software technology parks and strategic alliance with the industry.

Also he was successful in introducing the electronics hardware technology Park scheme, whereby, mini Hongkongs and mini Singapores could be created in India to boost manufacture of electronic hardware. He made the Department of Electronics a frontrunner in adjusting to the new industry-friendly policy, encouraging foreign direct investment from IBM, Motorola etc. As Chairman, Telecom Commission he initiated the process of liberalization in the telecom sector and played a major role in getting the National Telecom Policy 1994 approved and announced.

His published works include - India Incorporated: Reflections on the Indian Electronics Industry (1994), The Viscious Cycle of Vittal's Law,(1994) The Red Tape Guerrilla(1995), Fighting Corruption and Restructuring Government (2000), and Information Technology: India's Tomorrow. He has edited Export Processing Zones in Asia -Some Dimensions published by Asian Productivity Organization (1977).

He is a regular columnist for the Economic Times and the Web magazine Rediff on the Net. He is included in the list of "Fifty men and women who shaped the economy" in the fifty years after India's independence by the Business Today. He is the Honorary Fellow of the IETE and recipient of the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2012.

Alok Mittal

Alok Mittal is passionate about India's entrepreneurial ecosystem. He is a co-founder of Indian Angel Network, on the board of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Delhi, and an advisor to Adtech India. Alok joined Canaan in 2006 and is currently on the boards BharatMatrimony (Matrimony.com), IndiaProperty, iYogi, mCarbon, UnitedLex, CarTrade and Happiest Minds.

Alok's expertise is working with early stage consumer internet and mobile companies, as well as supporting innovators in managed software services and other IT enabled businesses. He is a regular speaker at prominent industry events such as TiE, NASSCOM, VCCircle, Adtech and more.

Prior to joining Canaan, Alok co-founded JobsAhead.com, a leading web-based recruitment business, which was acquired by Monster.com, the global leader in online recruitment. He also brings strong Telecom experience to Canaan having worked for Hughes Software Systems. Alok earned a BE in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and a MS in computer science from UC Berkeley.

Amitabh Kant

Mr. Amitabh Kant, IAS is the CEO & Managing Director of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Ltd. He also served as the National Project Director of the Rural Tourism Project of UNDP. During his tenure India Tourism focused on infrastructure development, diversification of India’s tourism products and raising the quality of its products and services. He worked as a Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India; Secretary of Tourism for Govt. of Kerala; Managing Director of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation; District Collector of Kozikhode and Managing Director of Matsyafed. During his tenure in Kerala, Mr. Kant structured the Calicut Airport as a private sector project based on User’s Fee and developed the BSES Power Project and Mattanchery Bridge under Private Public Partnership.

He is a Member of the Indian Administrative Service, (Kerala Cadre: 1980 Batch). He also conceptualized and executed the “Atithi Devo Bhavah” – “Guest is God” campaign to train Taxi Drivers, Guides and Immigration Officials to make them stakeholders in the tourism development process. Mr. Kant is also the Author of “Branding India – An Incredible Story” and has been the key driver of the “Incredible India” and “God’s Own Country” campaigns which positioned and branded India and Kerala State as leading tourism destinations.

He is a graduate in Economics (Hons.) from St. Stephen’s College, Post-Graduate in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a British Chevening Scholar from the Manchester Business School. He has also undertaken a course on Governance and Public Administration conducted by John F. Kennedy School of Government (Harvard University) and IIM, Ahmedabad.

M. S. Valiathan

Professor M.V.S Valiathan graduated in medicine from the Kerala University and received training in surgery in the UK with subsequent specialization in cardiac surgery in the US. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1960 and a Master of Surgery from the University of Liverpool two years later. He received the Fellowship of the Canadian Royal College in cardiac surgery in 1970.

Professor Valiathan served on the faculties of the Georgetown University Hospital, Washington; Postgraduate Medical Institute, Chandigarh and IIT, Chennai (Biomedical Engineering) before moving to Trivandrum as the architect of the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute, Trivandrum where he remained as Professor of Cardiac Surgery and Director for twenty years. After leaving the Chitra Institute, Professor Valiathan served as the first Vice-Chancellor of the Manipal University. He is a Past-President of the Indian National Science Academy, Association of Indian Universities and currently, a National Research Professor.

Professor Valiathan’s professional and scientific interests were cardiac surgery in children, studies on the causation of a tropical heart muscle disease, and the development of technology for cardiovascular devices. He has published a monograph and many scientific papers on these subjects. More recently he has published a series of three volumes on Ayurveda based on the classics of Charaka, Suśruta and Vagbhata. A new book “An Introduction to Ayurveda” was published recently.

He is a recipient of many national and international honours, honorary doctorates and Awards including the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2005.

Ranjana Kumar

Ranjana Kumar is a prominent Indian Banker with varied experience of around 44 years. She retired as a Vigilance Commissioner from the Central Vigilance Commission and has held many significant positions in her career, including that of the Chairperson and Managing Director of Indian Bank; Chairperson of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Executive Director holding concurrent charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank and CEO of the US operations of Bank of India based in New York.

Mrs. Kumar, under her chairmanship, was instrumental in turning around Indian Bank the weakest PSU Bank from a loss making entity into a successful Bank. She has been recipient of various awards, notable among them being, Lifetime Achievement Award in the Banking Industry in 2012 by Business World Special; BMA Management Woman Achiever of the Year Award 2008-09, Banker of the Year in 2002 by Business Standard and India’s turn around Queen in 2003 by The Economist, UK

She has the distinction of being the first woman Chairman & Managing Director of a Public Sector Bank in India and the first woman Vigilance Commissioner, Central Vigilance Commission, Govt of India. She has authored a book titled, “A New Beginning – The Turnaround Story of Indian Bank”.

Wilfried Aulbur

Wilfried Aulbur is the Managing Partner of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in India. His industry focus is Automotive, engineered products and high technology companies, Aerospace and Defense, as well as Engineering and IT service companies. However, he has worked in other areas such as Consumer Goods & Retail and Energy, Chemical & Utilities.

He works on issues of strategic relevance such as market entry into India as well as out of India into 2nd and 1st hemisphere markets, product portfolio optimization, M&A, etc. Besides strategy, his work in India is focused on operations, e.g., lean manufacturing and operational performance improvement or restructuring.

Prior to his work with Roland Berger, Dr. Aulbur was the Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India and responsible for the passenger cars, trucks and buses. He has held various roles in SIAM as well as the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. He is currently the Chair of the National Automotive Council of Assocham and a founding member of the Indian Institute for Competitiveness. Besides also being a member of the jury of the Porter Prize, Dr. Aulbur publishes regularly and is a columnist of the Hindu Business Line. He also acts as a member of the Advisory board of companies. Wilfried worked in India for 10 years, he has 10 year experience in the United States as well as substantial work experience in various European markets.

Vineet Nayar

Vineet Nayar is the former CEO of HCL Technologies and Founder of Sampark Foundation. Vineet is an acknowledged management visionary and radical thinker who architected HCLT’s transformation, which led Fortune to recognize HCL as “the world’s most modern management” while BusinessWeek named HCLT as “one of the world’s most influential companies”. It’s case is studied at both the Harvard and London Business School.

Vineet was also recently chosen by Fortune Magazine for its first ever global “Executive Dream Team” 2012 which has been described as an “all-star leadership” that “could coalesce and dominate in any industry”. He is also recognized as the world’s top 50 business thinkers. His work in Sampark Foundation has seen Vinnet being cited in Forbes magazine's prestigious '48 Heroes of philanthropy List 2013'.

Vineet currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the McKinsey Leadership Institute and is on the Advisory Panel of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index established by INSEAD and Human Capital Institute and the Millions Learning Project led by the ex-Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard. He is also the Founding member of Brookings India and has been a Juror of prestigious McKinsey Prize, two years in a row. Previously Vineet has served as Governor of ICT, member of the Global Advisory Board of Women Leader's and Gender Parity Program as well as a Community Partner of the Forum of Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum.

He has also authored the highly acclaimed management book “Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down”.

Vivek Lall

Vivek Lall is President and CEO, Reliance Industries Ltd. spearheading growth in new ventures since April 2011. He is a Distinguished Fellow at India’s Premier think tank Observer Foundation as well as co-chair of the FICCI Homeland Security Committee and serves as Chairman of the Indo-US Strategic Dialogue by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce. In 2013, he was inducted in the Joint Working Group on Cyber Security led by the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister.

Formerly, Vivek was the Vice President and Country Head, Boeing Defense Space & Security where he led a team to conclude the path breaking and largest ever US-India defense deals for C17 strategic lift, P-8I Anti submarine warfare aircraft and Harpoon Missiles. Vivek has also served as Managing Director of Boeing Commercial Airplanes in India. During his tenure, the largest ever commercial airplane order in Indian aviation history by the Government of India was finalized. He also served as the founding Co Chair of the US India Aviation Cooperation Program launched by Norman Mineta in 2005.

Prior to Boeing he worked for Raytheon and with NASA Ames Research Center in various multidisciplinary engineering fields. He also worked as an adjunct faculty at Embry-Riddle, McConnell Air Force Base teaching aerodynamics and propulsion for aircraft and spacecraft to U.S. Air Force and Boeing personnel.

Vivek has been the recipient of several honors, including the 2008 OCA National Asian Pacific American Corporate Achievement Award. He has been identified by Cambridge (UK) as one of only 2000 scientists in the entire twentieth century. He is in the Sigma Gamma Tau Aerospace Honor Society as well as the Pi Mu Epsilon Mathematics Honor Society. He was President of the Mathematical Association of America and is a member of various engineering and management societies in the US. He has authored over a hundred articles in various journals. He was also trained as a private pilot at the Phoenix International Flight Training Center.

He holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from Carleton University in Canada and a Masters of Aeronautical Engineering degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida. He also has his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Wichita State University in Kansas and his MBA from City University in Washington. He has also completed management and executive courses at the American Management Association in Washington DC and the Boeing Leadership Center in St. Louis.

M. Sahu

M. Sahu retired as Additional Chief Secretary, Industries & Mines, Government of Gujarat and was member of the Indian Administrative Services of the Gujarat Carder. He has served as Joint Secretary in the Department of Telecommunications at Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited. Sahu served as Project Director in UNIDO. He has more than 23 years of experience in Civil Service and 15 years practical experience in industries including that of more than five years in Government of India. He has been the Chairman of Gujarat State Financial Corp. since July 9, 2009 and its Director since April 2, 2009. He has been the Chairman of Gujarat Mineral Development Corp. Ltd. since July 09, 2009. He serves as a Director of GVFL Ltd. Mr. Sahu served as a Joint Secretary for Ministry of Environment & Forests and worked in different departments in Government of Gujarat in various capacities

Since 2009 he was Chairman of GIDC (Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation) and Principal Secretary of Industries & Mines, Government of Gujarat. He was instrumental in rapidly developing industrialization in Gujarat and was the main architect of “Vibrant Gujarat”. He played a key role in the development of Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Special Investment Region in Dahej and the Automobile Cluster in Sanand.