The Times Group, Federal Bank and Dun & Bradstreet joined hands to launch the “SME Business Excellence Awards 2014” to recognize India’s leading SMEs. The awards programme was conceptualized under the theme “It’s Time to let the World Know”. The awards event was held at a grand ceremony on Monday, 24th November in New Delhi.

The Chief Guest, Shri Jayant Sinha, Honourable Minister of State, Ministry of Finance, Government of India released D&B’s premier publication,’Leading SMEs of India 2014’along with Mr. Kaushal Sampat , President & Managing Director – India, Dun & Bradstreet, Mr. Abraham Chacko, Executive Director, Federal Bank Ltd and Mr. Ravindra Nath, Chairman & Managing Director, National Small Industries Corporation Ltd.

Shri Jayant Sinha felicitated the 27 award winners from across 21 categories who were chosen by eminent jury panel of industry experts- Mr. M. V. Tanksale, Chief Executive – Indian Banks’ Association; Mr. M. S. Unnikrishnan, Managing Director & CEO, Thermax Ltd and Mr. Sankar Chakraborti, Chief Executive Officer, SMERA Ratings Ltd.”

The awards ceremony also saw a panel discussion on ‘Indian SMEs – Making the journey from the $1 million to the $100 million mark’. The panelists included Mr. Ashutosh Khajuria, President (Treasury) & Network Head 2, Federal Bank Ltd.; Mr. Sankar Chakraborti, Chief Executive Officer, SMERA Ratings Ltd.; Mr. Ravindra Nath, Chairman & Managing Director, National Small Industries Corporation Ltd., Mr. Ajay Thakur, Head – SME Segment, BSE SME Platform; Mr. Satya Rao, Chairman & Managing Director, Axiom Consulting Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. D K Aggarwal, Chairman & Managing Director, SMC Comtrade Ltd. The discussion was moderated by Mridu Bhandari, Anchor & Senior Producer Special Projects, ET Now.