OnMobile, Naukri get Ernst & Young award

BANGALORE, INDIA: Arvind Rao, CEO and co-founder of OnMobile Global, a value-added services player in the media verticals and telecom sector, has been named The Ernst & Young ‘Start-Up Entrepreneur Of The Year’ 2008.

Eight other successful entrepreneurs received these coveted awards across various categories at a magnificent award banquet here on Wednesday night, said a press release.

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, CEO and MD, and Hitesh Oberoi, director and COO of Info Edge (India) were honoured with the award for Entrepreneur Of The Year – Business Transformation for revolutionizing the online recruitment in India with the launch of Naukri.com.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year award was given to Anil Agarwal, executive chairman, Vedanta Resources, one of the leading metals an mining company.

The Services Category Award was bestowed upon Rohinton Screwvala, CEO, UTV Software Communications, who has established India’s first global media conglomerate, with a presence across movie-production, broadcasting, television-content and gaming businesses.

“All the winners are outstanding individuals who have built exceptional enterprises. They have challenged existing business models, created markets where none existed, led innovation and also built global scale and structure,” said Rajiv Memani, country managing partner, Ernst & Young.

Other awardees: P. R. S. Oberoi, chairman and CEO, The Oberoi Group - Lifetime Entrepreneur Of The Year Jaiprakash Gaur, founder chairman, Jaypee Group - Entrepreneur Of The Year - Infrastructure and Construction Dr. P Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care Systems - Entrepreneur Of The Year - Health Care & Life Sciences Gautam Thapar, chairman & CEO, Avantha Group - Entrepreneur Of The Year - Manufacturing A.M. Naik, Chairman & Managing Director, Larsen & Tourbo - Entrepreneur Of The Year - Manager.

A six-member jury chaired by KV Kamath, managing director and CEO, ICICI Bank, selected the finalists from over 291 nominations received this year, the release said.