To recognise the entrepreneurial spirit of India’s youth and encourage more young Indians to become entrepreneurs, Home Minister Rajnath Singh presented the First National Entrepreneurship awards in New Delhi. The Minister of State (I/C) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy was the guest of honour on the occasion.
The Entrepreneurship Awards system has been created through a partnership between MSDE and a number of reputed institutions across the country including, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT - Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur and Chennai), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai and XlRI, Jamshedpur. Every year, one such institution will play the role of the lead institution to anchor the awards. For 2016-2017, the lead institution is IIT, Delhi.
The awards were followed by inspiring speeches by successful young entrepreneurs — Varun Khetan (Founder, Urban Clap), Shrikant Bolla (Founder Bollant Industries) and Ritesh Agarwal (Founder Bollant Industries) — who shared their experiences. Their entrepreneurial experiences were encouraging examples for the youth present at the ceremony.
Subsequently, awards were presented in 11 categories under two selection tracks — Award Track and Recognition Track. These winners have been selected through a three stage rigorous selection process.