Max founder Analjit Singh gets Golden Peacock Award

Max India founder and Vodafone chairman Analjit Singh has been given this year's Golden Peacock Award for personal leadership and his contribution to society.

Eric Pickles, Former Prime Minister of Sweden and Co-Chair of the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development, presented the award at the third 'Global Conference on Sustainability' in London on Thursday night.

Receiving the award, Analjit Singh, a 'Padma Bhushan' awardee, described it as a great honour and said he was "delighted to receive the award".

Singh is a member of the Prime Minister's Joint Indo-US CEOs Forum and Chairman of Vodafone India, one of India's largest mobile telephony services.

The citation said "Max India is a corporate icon -- demonstrating the importance of a service provider (in their case, insurance) taking a lead in improving the world around it - in their case extending through strategic partnerships to the provision of not just healthcare but also clinical research.

"Today, Max Group's annual turnover is Rs 80 billion (Rs 8,000 crore), with a customer base touching 5 million.

"It has over 500 offices across India with an employee-base of about 54,000", it said.

Among others, the Golden Peacock Global Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance, 2012, was given to India's NTPC Ltd, Starbucks Corporation and IRPC Public Company Ltd.

Receiving the award, A K Jha, Technical Director of NTPC said: "I am proud to receive the award on behalf of the company".

The Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance, 2012 was also presented to State Bank of India, Dabur India Ltd, Persistence Systems Ltd, Muthoot Finance Ltd, Cairn India Ltd and Infotech Enterprises Ltd.

Diwakar Gupta, managing director and CEO of SBI said: "We maintain the highest corporate standard".

The citation said: ". . .The Bank is committed to the highest standards and practices, and ethics in the area of Corporate Governance -- far beyond mere compliance with legal and regulatory requirements".

Gaurav Burman, Director, International Business received the award on behalf of Dabur India Ltd, the fourth largest company in India.

M G George Muthoor, Chairman of Muthoot Finance, the flagship company of the Muthoot Group, while receiving the award, said the main guiding principles of the company include "ethics, values, reliability, dependability, integrity and goodwill".

India's Tata Motors Ltd was one of the three companies that received the Golden Peacock Global Award for Sustainability, 2012.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Yes Bank Ltd and ABB Ltd were winners of the Golden Peacock Award for Sustainability, 2012.

Image: Analjit Singh