Waaree Energies' Hitesh Doshi Wins NDTV's Entrepreneur Of The Year Award
The nominees were Sriharsha Majety, Rahul Jaimini and Nandan Reddy- the cofounders of Swiggy, Adit Palicha- the cofounder and CEO of Zepto and Doshi.
Hitesh Doshi, the chairman and managing director of Waaree Energies Ltd., one of India's prominent firms in the renewable energy sector, received the entrepreneur of the year award from NDTV for his efforts in the sector.
The award was presented by Dhruv Galgotia, the chief executive officer of Galgotia Hotels and Resorts, at NDTV's 'Indian Of The Year' awards ceremony.
The nominees were Sriharsha Majety, Rahul Jaimini, and Nandan Reddy—the cofounders of Swiggy; Adit Palicha—the cofounder and CEO of Zepto and Doshi.
The jury for the selection process consisted of former Supreme Court judge AK Sikri; Chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, Sanjiv Goenka; Karambir Singh, former chief of Naval Staff; actor and director Asha Parekh; advertisement guru Piyush Pandey; and the Securities and Exchange Board of India's former chairman, UK Sinha.
The candidates were shortlisted in collaboration with Grant Thornton Bharat to ensure that the sanctity of the award framework and process is being upheld.
Doshi thanked NDTV and the jury for the award.
"When we started this business and what we were looking for, we thought that the biggest reserve of 'oil' in this country is the sun; if every roof in the country was covered by solar panels, it may not be all, but it would deal with a large portion of climate change," Waaree's managing director said.
"We have been working on this mission for the last 15 years, and this new policy and support from the government will help us do much better," Doshi concluded.
Doshi's initial foray into entrepreneurship was through a relatively small thermal equipment business known as 'Mahavir Thermo Equip' after graduating from Shri Chinai College of Commerce and Economics at the University of Mumbai.
He was inspired to shift his focus to solar energy after visiting a trade exhibition in Germany in 2007; this led him to sell his business and establish Waaree Energies in 1989, named after the Wari temple in his native village. The firm was one of India's largest solar panel manufacturers, with a net worth of Rs 4,470 crore, according to the latest financial information quoted by Equity Master.
The event was attended by Sanjay Pugalia, editor in chief of NDTV, and Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister of Railways of India.
