On 9 January 2013, the unsung heroes of Indian transport were identified and lauded. The objective of the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards is to recognise and reward excellence and outperformance of all key stakeholders of the Indian transport sector. The awards' philosophy is to reward those who demonstrate RISE principles/pillars in their work in the Indian transport sector. The award was categorised into fleet owners, fleet drivers, dhaba owners, highway mechanics, customised application builder and driver training initiative. In all, the Awards 2012 edition attracted 2,780 entries, 60 per cent more than last year.

Besides recognising the lifeline of the transport sector, the dhabas, mechanics and drivers, the Awards to 'Lady Transporters' and 'Youth Transporters' created a lot of excitement. And of course, giving away a brand new truck to the Super Outperformer Driver was a major high of the ceremony. In all, 38 winners, 28 regional and ten national, have been felicitated.

The Awards Night began with lamp lighting by Heavy Industries Minister, Praful Patel, Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group, MF Farooqui, Secretary of Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Ambuj Sharma, Joint Secretary, Dr Goenka, Nalin Mehta and Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Network, followed by Dr Goenka's welcome speech.

Praful Patel spoke eloquently about the successes of the Mahindra Group, the vital role it is playing, the importance of these Awards and how they had touched lives of so many people in transport world. This was followed by Mehta's presentation to take the audience through the highlights of the entire awards process. He stressed upon the fact that the Awards this year are more representative with three new categories and also bigger and better. Performers from the Sadhya troupe brought alive the three pillars of RISE through a scintillating act. Zee emcees held the show together and enlivened it with interesting anecdotes.

Over 650 invitees attended the Awards Night. The biggest attraction at this year's edition was the new and unique category, 'Lady Transporter' and 'Lady Transport Personality of the Year'. A pioneering initiative of Mahindra to acknowledge the efforts of those who dared to enter this male bastion and made a difference.

During the awards ceremony, Mahindra's new initiative, MPOWER, a Management Development Programme meant for young transporters, was launched by Anand Mahindra. The programme will be run at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, who, as knowledge partners, have developed the programme sponsored by Mahindra. While unveiling the new brand initiate, Anand Mahindra said, "Last year, I had urged my young friends to join your 'papa ke business', but to grow it according to your own vision. This year, we want to help you to prepare yourselves for converting your ideas into business reality. There is a famous Chinese proverb which says: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Friends, we at Mahindra felt it was necessary for us to play our part in teaching others to fish."

While speaking about the Lady Transport Personality of the Year Award, Anand Mahindra said, "In the last few weeks, there have been some very shameful headlines on issues concerning the way we treat women. That makes it even more important for companies like ours to empower, encourage and recognise women achievers. The Indian transport industry is a very male dominated one, where women have to struggle to make their mark."

The Awards philosophy was very aptly summarised by Dr Goenka, who said in his speech, "We are keen that we also focus on what is traditionally called the softer aspects - building a place in the minds and hearts of people from our ecosystem. It is here that Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards plays a role."