Date:18/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/18/stories/2007091860450500.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Entrepreneurship awards given away

Special Correspondent

“Global success requires playing by rules”

IT industry urged to leverage mobile-user base to increase Internet penetration
“Education is an industry which needs entrepreneurs like any other”

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s information and communication technology industry honoured some of its most distinguished peers on Monday at the second edition of the ICICI Venture-CII Connect 2007 Entrepreneurship Awards.

The award for an entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu who has succeeded in the State went to R. Srinivasan, managing director, Redington India, one of India’s leading IT distribution companies. The entrepreneur got extra thrill from the honour, as ICICI Venture had once turned down his business proposal, and yet was now sponsoring his award.

Amid the laughter from the audience as he revealed this, Mr. Srinivasan drew a moral from the story: entrepreneurs need perseverance—as he persisted in his business despite ICICI’s rebuff—and the willingness to stand by their own perception of risk.

In contrast to Mr. Srinivasan’s experience, fellow winner N.R. Panicker dedicated his award partially to ICICI Venture, which had helped fund his company’s growth. Kerala-born Panicker, chairman and chief executive of well-known IT infrastructure services firm, Accel India, won the award for an entrepreneur who succeeded in Tamil Nadu despite hailing from another State.

In an interesting coincidence, Mr. Panicker was informed of the award by Gopal Srinivasan, director, TVS Electronics, which partnered Accel in systems integration, while the award was presented by N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, which was Accel’s first customer. He called upon the information and communication technology industry to empower rural India. “Liberation has to take place in villages,” said Mr. Panicker, who himself hails from a village.

Accurate data

Mr. Ram also pointed to the digital divide as a challenge for ICT entrepreneurs to tackle. “Lessons can be learnt from the growth of mobile telephony,” he said, advising the IT industry to leverage the rapidly growing mobile-user base to increase Internet penetration. This was possible only if the industry instituted independent scientific surveys to collect accurate data on Internet usage.

The award for an entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu who has made it big on the global stage went to Ashok Narasimhan, chairman and co-founder of July Systems. The man who has been instrumental in founding and building several successful billion dollar global corporations, including Wipro, warned that global success required playing by the rules. “The rules are the same all over the world. There is no substitute for integrity, no excuse for bending the rules in your passion to win.”

T.R. Pachamuthu, Chancellor, SRM University, won the award for an entrepreneur who has fostered the resources that make Tamil Nadu’s ICT ecosystem successful. He felt that the award was long due recognition that education was an industry which need entrepreneurs like any other. “No institution can run on a loss…Growth is possible only with liberal investment,” he said, decrying the attitude of those who look down on profit-making educational institutions.

The Lifetime Achievement Award went to N. Vittal, who, in his former capacity as Central Vigilance Commissioner, led a crusade against corruption, which is “the most flourishing industry in India,” in his own words. He attributed his success in various government positions to qualities prized in every entrepreneur: the willingness to admit ignorance, ask the questions that others laugh at and use lateral thinking to make out-of-the-box suggestions.