Ceat Ltd, the RPG Group flagship, has announced the second edition of India Road Transportation Awards 2011.

The awards will be given out at the regional level, which will then be followed at the national-level. It will seek to evaluate fleet owners under the parameters of innovation, impact, sustainability and replicability, a company spokesperson said here on Tuesday.

CAPTIVE FLEET

Fleet companies and other companies with a captive fleet size of more than 50 trucks can participate.

Heavy commercial vehicles fleet should be only transporters of materials. The entry is free entry and open to fleet owners across India (50 plus fleet size).

The objectives are to raise standards by recognising excellence and making it known to all stakeholders; creating aspiration for second-generation entrepreneurs and introducing and formalising thought leadership.

As for the industry, it will seek to create a benchmark for excellence in various fields ranging from operations to environment to human resource management and use of technology and innovation for driving international best practices.

GOOD RESPONSE

According to Mr Vinod Kumar, Head Marketing, Ceat Ltd, last year's edition received good response from leading auto industry bodies. The IRTA received 600 entries then, from which six winners were selected.

The awards will be adjudged under the six categories of operational excellence, environment conservation, customer experience, personnel management, transport personality of the year and youth entrepreneur/achiever.

An advisory board has been set up to advice on the awards process and on how best to provide recognition and uplift of transportation industry, the spokesperson said.

ADVOSRY BOARD

The board comprises of eminent personalities such as Mr Adarsh Kumar, Senior Vice-President, Tata Motor Finance; Mr Anant Goenka, Deputy Managing Director, Ceat; Mr G.R. Shanmugappa, President, All-India Motor Transport Congress; and Mr Nalin Mehta, Chief Executive Officer–designate, Mahindra Navistar Automotive.

An Independent jury has been set up who will screen, tabulate score and select the finalist.

AWARD JURY

The jury comprises Mr Ajay Chopra, Chief Executive Officer, Drive India Enterprise Solutions, a Tata enterprise; Mr Amit Kawoor, former head-Logistics and Customer Operations, Marico; Mr Anand Mirchandani, Chief Editor, Transtopics; Mr Parari A. Patil, Vice-President, Supply Chain and Business Development, Lupin; Mr Pravin Puntambekar, Vice-President, Shriram Transport Finance Company; Mr Sudhanshu Kumar, Chief - Customer Service Division, Tata Steel; Mr V.V. Benugopal, General Manager, Mahindra Logistic; Mr Sanjay Mane, Logistics Practitioners; and Mr Vivek Sarabhai, Vice-President-Supply Chain, Kraft Foods.

Ernst and Young will be process validators and official tabulators, the spokesperson added.