Ratan Tata, Cisco's John Chambers, BA's Willie Walsh conferred Nasscom's Global Leadership Awards 2008

Mumbai: NASSCOM has announced Tata Group chairman Ratan N Tata as the winner of the 2008 Global Indian Award. The award is given to an individual who has distinguished himself globally within the academic or business communities and while differentiating himself as a visionary while bringing in recognition to his country.

Ravi Kant, managing director, Tata Motors, will accept the award on behalf of Tata.

Willie Walsh, CEO, British Airways, has been chosen as the 2008 Business Transformation Award winner. Robert Webb, Member of the Board of British Airways will receive the award on his behalf. This award is conferred on an individual who has encouraged the use of technology within the organisation to achieve business goals and operational excellence.

The Business leader Award 2008 goes to John Chambers, chairman, Cisco, and will be received by Wim Elfrink, Cisco's chief globalisation officer on behalf of Chambers. This award is given to an individual who has set the company on a path of innovation, customer responsiveness and corporate governance and enabled it to achieve rapid growth and profitability.

Union minister of aviation Praful Patel and Maharashtra chief minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh will felicitate the winners at the awards ceremony on 14 February, at Mumbai on the sidelines of the NASSCOM 2008 India Leadership Forum.

The award is a part of the NASSCOM Global Leadership Awards 2008 that recognise outstanding global business leaders, and have emerged as India's highest honour and tribute to performance in the IT-BPO industry.