Anand Mahindra, Amitabh Mattoo, Beroz Vacha, Aditya Puri, Devi Prasad Shetty get Qimpro Awards

At the Qimpro Awards 2008 felicitation ceremony on 6 February 2009 at the Indian Merchants' Chamber, five leaders were recognised for their extraordinary work in the areas of business, education and healthcare.

The awards, instituted by the Qimpro Foundation, have been landmark events in the world of Indian business since 1990. Qimpro, a two decade-old organisation founded by Suresh Lulla, has been at the forefront of the quality and business excellence movement in India. Lulla's pioneering role was referred to by every speaker at the awards ceremony.

Anand Mahindra, vice chairman and managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra, was awarded the Qimpro Platinum Standard (Business). For the past decade, Mahindra has been advocating that quality should no longer be a differentiator but a prerequisite to enter markets, locally and globally. At the ceremony, he talked of how Indian industry has gone through a ''manthan'', a churning and has come out on top. Today, he said, India is not just a low-cost manufacturing country, it is ''a low-cost, high quality'' manufacturing country.

He said that while our quality of manufacturing has never been as good as it is today, we must ask ourselves if this is enough. Not surprising, from a man who has been raising the bar in his own group and has been recognised as an evangelist for innovation. Mahindra, who said that businesses should strive not just to improve the quality of industry but also to improve the quality of life, was recognised as a ''national statesman for excellence in business practices''.

Aditya Puri, managing director, HDFC Bank, was awarded the Qimpro Gold Standard (Business) and recognised as a ''corporate leader who has successfully implemented world-class quality practices and achieved outstanding performance results''.

He said that while banks around the world had been hit by crisis, Indian banks are relatively safe and secure. Puri has been one of the most influential Indian bankers since the mid-1990s, having built HDFC Bank from the ground up, and has been recognised as an ''institution builder''.