Honouring the unsung heroes
The seventh edition of Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards honoured the outperformers of Indian road transport sector.

Change, Road Safety and Innovation were the mantras of the seventh edition of Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards held recently in New Delhi, where the who's who of Indian road transport sector gathered and various outperformers of Indian transport were honoured.

Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards recognises and rewards various stakeholders in the trucking industry on parameters like Outperformance, Excellence, Innovation and Change Leadership, judged against the backdrop of RISE pillars - Accepting No Limits, Alternative Thinking and Driving Positive Change. The initiative, with its inclusive nature, has set for itself, very high standards.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has continued to support the awards program for the fifth consecutive year. Besides higher numbers, the entries also exhibited better quality, more interesting stories and stronger pitch, giving a feeling that the Transport Excellence Awards have come of age.

The Awards
Vinod Sahay presented the report card of the Awards program, reaffirming the company's commitment to continue, strengthen and make more relevant, this RISE initiative. Saakshi Kishnani, Senior Manager, Advisory Services, Media & Entertainment, E&Y provided the customary certification for fairness, robustness and transparency from the stage. Prominent CV financiers like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank took away the top honours in their category.

Veejay Nakra, Chief of Sales & Marketing, Auto Division, talked about the inclusion of SCV and LCV category. He stressed upon important role play by the segment in emerging Indian economy through last mile distribution. Sundaram Finance was felicitated for Enablers of Social Change category.

Speaking at the occasion, YS Malik, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India, said, 'I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations and praise the Mahindra Group for coming up with such a recognition for one of the most important sectors of the Indian economy. There is a need that we honour those who are thriving to make a change in their day to day work and this effort is in that direction.'

On the theme of Road Safety, this year Mahindra introduced a new short story contest called, 'Come Home Papa' in collaboration with its Literature Partner, tellmeyourstory.in. Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan Scholarship winning daughters of truck drivers were invited to write stories on Road Safety, based on father's experiences on the road. All the stories were published online, at www.tellmeyourstory.in and the best 30 stories have been chosen for publishing in the book. Four of these girls, who were chosen by a special jury, were felicitated with their family members.

Experts debate
The seventh Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards saw a high-level panel discussion deliberation on a pertinent topic Commercial Vehicle End-of-Life Policy in India. Vivek Law, a prominent journalist and Consulting Editor, Zee Business, moderated the panel discussion. The discussion focused on the likely contours of the policy as well as the impact of such a policy on all stakeholders like commercial vehicle OEMs, government agencies, fleet owners, single truck owners, etc.  

The other members of the panel included Rakesh Batra, Partner, Automotive Practice, E&Y; YS Malik, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India; Prof G Raghuram, Director, IIM Bangalore; and Vinod Sahay, CEO, Mahindra Truck & Bus and Construction Equipment Division, Mahindra & Mahindra.

The audience comprising prominent truck fleets owners, transporters and logistics company heads and professionals, commercial vehicle financiers, dealers of commercial vehicles, and senior delegates from transport sector, faculty members from IIM-Ahmedabad, and delegates from Mahindra Group and heads of various agencies and select media delegates took immense interest and relished the proceedings.

Dr Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, addressed the gathering about the significant changes happening in the world economy, India, automotive industry and in CV industry, under the theme, CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT. He said, 'The best way to predict the future, is to create it.' He urged the gathering to invest in own light of knowledge initiative, within their company, community, ecosystem. He added, 'There can be nothing better than investing in sharpening the saw, to better prepare for the ever-changing forest.' 

In his concluding remarks, Rajan Wadhera, President - Automotive Sector and Member - Group Executive Board, Mahindra & Mahindra, reinforced that Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards will continue to applaud the endeavour of the unsung heroes of the industry in the years to come.


Award Winners
The seventh edition of the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards recognised and rewarded various stakeholders and included SCV, LCV and ICV segments for various awards category. With an overall award entry 3,722 fleet owners' participation and 8,848 nominations, this initiative is getting bigger, better and more inclusive.

Group 1: SCV & LCV
Outperformers in Business
Winner: 3X Cargo Cab
Runner-up: SSPT Logistics

Outperformers in Distribution
Winner: Inland World Logistics Pvt Ltd
Runner-up: SVA Logistics Pvt Ltd

Dream Chasers
Winner: Vaishali Transcarriers Pvt Ltd
Runner-up: Coldrush Logistics Pvt Ltd

Enablers of Social Change
Winner: Sundaram Finance

Torch Bearers of Safety
Winner: Peenya Industrial Gases
Pvt Ltd

Group 2: ICV & HCV
Outperformers in Business
(Up to 100 CVS)
Winner: Gujarat Logistics
1st Runner up: Orange Cargo Carriers
2nd Runner up: Panther Transfreight Ltd
Outperformers in Business (More than 100 CVS)
Winner: Cargo Carriers India Ltd
1st Runner up: BLR Logistiks (I) Ltd
2nd Runner up: Ganpati Carrying Corporation Ltd

Outperformers in Infrastructure Segment
Winner: Gujarat Logistics
Runner up: RVN Transports

Torch Bearers of Safety
(ICV & HCV)
Winner: Cargo Carriers India Ltd
Runner up: Sankari Roadways

Youth Transport Personality of the Year
Winner: Praveen Somani, Inland World Logistics Pvt Ltd
Runner up: Rubal Jain, Safexpress Pvt Ltd

Lady Transport Personality of the Year
Winner: Anuradha Nijhawan Anand Trans Logistics Pvt Ltd
Runner up: Mukta Shah, Shree Hatkeshwara Translines Pvt Ltd

Fleet Driver Category
Winner: CS Elangovan, R. Gopal Transport
1st Runner up: Yadhava Radhakrishnan G, Dhanalakshmi Cargo Movers
2nd Runner up: N Dhamotharan; RKC Transports & Co
GROUP 3: ECOSYSTEM AWARDS
Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: Prof G Raghuram, Director, IIM Bangalore

Commercial Vehicle Financier
Winner: ICICI Bank Ltd
Runner-up: HDFC Bank Ltd

Outperformance in Integrated Logistics Services
Winner: NTC Logistics India Pvt Ltd
Runner-up: Rhenus Logistics
India Pvt Ltd

Customised Application Builder
Winner: Sanva Motors Pvt Ltd
Runner-up: Sub Zero Mobile Refrigeration Solutions

Highway Dhaba Categor
Winner: Sagar Dhaba
Runner-up: Surya Dhaba

Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan 'come Home Papa' Story Writing Contesty
Winner: Bulbul Khan & Rukhsar Khan
1st Runner-up: Riya Dahiya
2nd Runner-up: T Sivasri

Lady Achievers
Shilpa; G Selvamani.

Special Recognition Award
Winner: Rivigo Service Pvt Ltd