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Vinod Mathew

Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, and recepient of the 7th Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year (2005) award.

THE India story, they say, is big... and getting bigger all the time. The FII investments in the equity market are a reflection of this growing global realisation, the pundits say. Of course, there are the periodic ebbs, even as there are surges in this conviction about the India story.

These days, Indian business houses do not always leave it to the phirangs to vouchsafe the attractiveness of India as a business destination. At the drop of a topi or a turban, they get on their jets and travel the big wide world of business before swooping down on a foreign business house for a merger here and an acquisition there.

With quite a few Indian companies beginning to flex their muscles in terms of global reach and positioning in certain product segments, it is only to be expected that the world recognises them for their true worth. And what better way to take centre-stage than at a world business awards function.

The attempts by home-grown business czars and czarinas to declare themselves to the world have got a fillip with global business awards coming to India.

One such platform is Ernst & Young's `The World's Business Award', an event conducted along the lines of internationalshows such as the Miss World contest or the Oscars.

The E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 awards night in Mumbai last week had all the trappings of a Miss Universe extravaganza . It even had the fresh face of the year category and a lifetime achievements award.

Much before the awards function got under way, the wine was flowing in abundance and business barons let their hair down, even as top bureaucrats and politicians rubbed shoulders with them.

Representation of women at the show, as active participants, was limited to two: Ms Mallika Srinivasan, of TAFE, jury member, and Ms Shobhana Bhartia of HT Media, who went on to win the award in the ICE (IT, Communication and Entertainment) category.

There were no major surprises as the `corporati' seemed pretty sure of which way the awards would go — eight awards in all to be divided among 19 participants. And not many at the gathering were particularly surprised that Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla took home the award of the evening. Mr Birla will represent India at the international pageant in Monaco next June, as did Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal a year ago at Monte Carlo, when Mr Wayne Huizenga of Miami Dolphins and owner and founder of Blockbuster Entertainment won the `World Entrepreneur of the Year' award.

Should one brace for a publicity blitz as the Indian entrepreneur of the year gets ready to take on the best in the world in Monaco next year? The lessons learnt from the Lagaan candidature should not be quickly forgotten.

So what if it did not make the grade at the Oscars? As far as Indians were concerned it was `the Oscar movie of the year'. Monaco or no Monaco, we can still have our world businessman of the year.

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