The Hindu Business Line : TN’s first generation entrepreneurs honoured

The Confederation of Indian Industry honoured five distinguished first generation entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu with its second edition of the ICCI-Venture-CII Entrepreneurship Awards on Monday.

The entrepreneurs have not only made their mark in the State, but also have contributed substantially to the country and the global ICT (information and communication technology) industry. Mr R. Srinivasan, Managing Director, Redington India Ltd, won the award for the best ‘Entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu who has succeeded in Tamil Nadu’. He attributed the success to his perseverance and perception of risk. He said he persisted in his business despite a leading venture capitalist turning down his business proposal. At the same time, another venture capitalist, who chose to invest in the business is being handsomely rewarded. “So, your perception of risk makes all the difference,” he said.

In any business, one has to play by the rules. “There is no excuse for bending the rules in the passion to win in your business. There is no substitute for integrity,” said Mr Ashok Narasimhan, who won the award for ‘A person from Tamil Nadu who succeeded outside India’. Mr Narasimhan is the Founder Chairman and CEO of July Systems. He also sits on the boards of several companies including iCelerate, Tarang Technologies and iSeva as well as a US venture capital firm, Global Internet Ventures.

The Chairman and CEO of Accel India Ltd, Mr N.R. Panicker, who won the award for ‘A person from outside Tamil Nadu who succeeded in Tamil Nadu’, said liberation has to take place mainly in villages, and the Government must empower rural India on a priority basis.

The ICT Support Ecosystem award went to Mr T.R. Pachamuthu, Founder Chancellor of SRM Deemed University, who sought industry status for educational institutions. “I am very glad the CII chose to call a person who runs an educational institution an entrepreneur.”

Mr N. Vittal, IAS (Retd), former Central Vigilance Commissioner, who bagged the Lifetime Achievement award, said one must admit his ignorance and should not hesitate to learn from others who know the subject. One must ask questions to understand the business he is in and use his lateral thinking to improve the situation.

Giving away the awards in his capacity as the Chief Guest of the ceremony, Mr N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu Group of publications, said entrepreneurship is being self-confident, innovative and multi-skilled, having the ability to face difficult situations and being result-oriented.

Citing unavailability of accurate data on Internet usage and bridging the digital divide as some of the key challenges facing the IT and IT-enabled services industry today, Mr Ram said this could be overcome only if a scientific method to collect data is put in place. “Lessons can be learnt from the mobile telephony growth to tackle challenges posed by the digital divide for entrepreneurs,” said Mr Ram.