Expressnews
Chennai, February 2023: “CFOs have come a long way today. From the traditional head of finance to becoming the CEO’s business partner, the trusted adviser and key strategist. Today, the roles played by the CFO are many. One of the key functions is data analytics and maintain regulatory compliance process,” said Mr C K Ranganathan, Immediate Past Chairman, CII Southern Region & Chairman & Managing Director, CavinKare Pvt Ltd in his keynote address at the 2nd Edition of the CII CFO Excellence Awards organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Chennai today.
Commenting on the evolving changes a CFO and in fact, every function head has to understand and accept, Mr Ranganathan said, “The huge impact AI is making in today’s world is being felt everywhere. AI is a boon and a challenge across all functions. It is just the tip of an iceberg. For one to be relevant today, one must be competitive and constantly keep learning. In the earlier years, process would change occasionally. It is not the case anymore. As automation creates an impact, it is a demanding task for CFOs to build talent, nurse them and also raise up to the multiple challenges,”
“AI is expected to be reasonably intelligent in the coming months. The world belongs to those who use AI and then add value to their roles and responsibilities”, he added.
“Out of the 300 CFOs who had expressed interest in being part of the assessments. The jury identified 173 CFOs and had finally shortlisted on 75 applications. The awards were split into 2 categories including thematic awards focussing on functions such as raising capital & fund management, merger and acquisitions, ESG, Digital Transformation, and Turnaround. The other awards were based on sectoral categories including – Auto & Auto components, BFSI, Consumer Products, Consumer services, Energy/Infra/real estate, Healthcare, Industrial Manufacturing, Pharma & Chemicals. We focussed on 3 key criteria: Strategy, Leadership and Stimulation,” said Mr M P Vijay Kumar,Member – Jury Committee, CFO Excellence Awards & CFO, Sify Technologies Ltd in his inaugural address.
Mr Ritesh Tiwari, Executive Director, Finance – Hindustan Unilever Limited and CFO – Unilever South Asia was awarded the CFO of the Year Award.
Other notable winners were : Ms Rekha Talluri, CFO-India, Microsoft Corporation India who bagged the Woman CFO of the Year Award; Mrs Komal Gupta, CFO, Windlas Biotech Ltd picked up the Young CFO of the Year Award; Mr Pratap Daruka, CFO, Tredence Analytics Solutions -the MSME CFO of the Year Award
The Sectoral Awards Winner were:
Mr Krishnan Akhileshwaran, Group CFO, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd won the CFO of the Year – Healthcare Award; Mr Prateek Aggarwal, CFO, HCL Technologies Ltd bagged the CFO of the Year – IT, ITeS Award; Mr Ajay Seth, CFO, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is the Auto & Auto Components Sector CFO of the Year; Mr V S Mani, Executive Director & Global CFO, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd is the Pharma & Chemicals CFO of the Year; Mr Abhishek Gupta, Group CFO, Oravel Stays Pvt Ltd is the Consumer Services Sector CFO of the Year; Mr Rajendran Arunachalam, Group CFO, Thermax Ltd is the Industrial Manufacturing Sector CFO of the Year; Mr Rajneesh Narang, Director- Finance, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd – Energy, Infrastructure & Utilities Sector CFO of the Year; Mr Saibal Sengupta, CFO, Orient Electric Ltd is the Consumer Products Sector CFO of the Year; Mr Niranjan Banodkar, CFO, Yes Bank Ltd is the BFSI Sector CFO of the Year.
Thematic Award Winners:
Excellence in Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG): Mr Muralidar V S, Senior Director & CFO – India, GS Head – API, Danfoss Industries Pvt Ltd
Excellence in Turnaround: Mr Ian Gerard De Souza, CFO, Bank of Baroda
Excellence in Mergers & Acquisitions: Mr Nitin Sood, CFO, PVR Ltd
Excellence in Digital Transformation: Mr Rajneesh Jain, CFO, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd
Excellence in Raising Capital & Fund Management: Mr Vimal Jain, CFO, AU Small Finance Bank Ltd
