To promote good governance practices among the corporates and to recognise the companies worthy of being exemplified, the 13th ICSI National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance was held recently in Kolkata.
Addressing the gathering, Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs, said: “The companies are instrument which deals with minor investors and the quality of governance add to its credibility. The Indian economy slowly coming into the age which increasing opportunity in corporate sectors and it is a challenge for us to take these opportunities.”
The ICSI lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on Shiv Nadar, chairman and chief strategy officer, HCl Technologies limited for translating excellence in corporate governance into reality. After receiving the award, Shiv Nadar said: “I believe good corporate governance is critical in enhancing competitiveness, and to create industry-leading profitable growth and superior returns for every stakeholder.”
Rajeev Sharma, chairman and MD, Rural Electrification Corporation limited (RECl) and Ashok Sethi, executive director, Tata Power Company limited (TPCl) also received the awards.The company secretaries of awardee companies, CS J S Amitabh of RECl and CS H M Mistry of TPCl were also honoured for adhering to good corporate governance practices.
CS R Sridharan, president, ICSI said: “One of the important initiatives of the Institute to promote good corporate governance is the ICSI National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance which was instituted in 2001,” he said adding that ICSI will soon come out with the corporate governance rating model.
CS Vikas Y Khare, VP, ICSI said that a year on year analysis of the top 10 companies in the last three years shows a significant improvement in the good governance practices. They have addressed areas such as clearly laid procedure for Induction of Independent directors, attention towards directors’ development and training, CSR initiatives, engagement with investors, and risk management.
A certificate of recognition for excellence in corporate governance were presented to other top five companies that includes CMC limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation limited, ICICI Bank limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ltd and Persistent Systems limited.