Shining the spotlight on the achievers of the Indian steel industry, the Steel Users Federation of India (SUFI), for the first time, held a festive award ceremony at a luxury hotel in Mumbai on December 16. The SUFI Steel Awards 2017 was held in the grand presence of chief guest Subhash Desai, Industries Minister, Government of Maharashtra, and guest of honor AS Firoz, chief economist, JPC Ministry of Steel, among other eminent officials and industry personalities.

Winners podium

While Kalyani Steels Ltd won the 'Emerging Company of the Year' award, Anil Mittal, CEO of ACCIL and R Sridhar, CEO of Essar Steel Pune Pre-coated Facility, were the joint winners of the 'Steel CEO of the Year' prize. The 'Steel Company of the Year' trophy went to JSW Steel. The winners were selected by a jury comprising eminent personalities from different walks of life. The evaluation of the nomination process was conducted by using a point based qualitative approach to determine the overall winners, earlier this month.

During the ceremony, guest of honour Firoz enlightened the audience on the new steel policy and how the target of 300 million tonnes by 2030 is achievable. "It is important that steel industry takes user industry in their stride, as it drives products and innovation," he said.

While Rajiv Jalota, commissioner, GST, Maharashtra as well as chairman of the jury could not attend, his video-recorded message was played, where he appreciated the comprehensive, rigorous and impartial evaluation process.

Congratulating the winners, Nikunj Turakhia, president of SUFI, said, "SUFI was born because until then there was no consolidated and united front which could approach the government. Steel stakeholders are not independent but they are interdependent. They have to co-exist. For the last few years, the steel industry has seen lot of ups and downs, and it is now imperative that excellence is recognised and awarded. It creates a benchmark for the industry to emulate."

Turakhia further laid down the road map for future plans of SUFI in order to help kickstart the consumption cycle in steel to achieve its target of 160 kg per head by 2030. The SUFI Steel Awards has been launched with an objective to recognise world-class innovation, out of the box approach, adapting to changing times, and excellence in steel.

The evaluation criteria was drafted by reputed Financial and Tax Advisory firms from Mumbai—Synthesis and UPG Associate. The other SUFI panel members like viz solutions combined and C N Sanghavi & Co were also felicitated. Mitesh Prajapati, general secretary, SUFI said, "This is the first time the entire Indian steel industry is present together. This is a huge achievement by SUFI."

The event was also attended by Ramesh Chander, commissioner, customs, Mumbai, Abhijeet Sinha, consultant, government affairs & director, EODB & ASSAR, Mohan Gurnani, trade leader and chairman, CAMIT and Hinesh Doshi, income tax expert and VP, Chamber of Tax Consultants.

The entire steel fraternity, including steel mills such as Tata, JSW, JSPL, SAIL, Manaksia, Essar, Bhushan, ACCIL, CRIL and Uttam Steel, along with big steel users and prominent traders were also present. The function was well attended by foreign companies such as Macsteel, Nippon Steel and Sumikin Busan, Duferco , JFE Shoji, CIEC, S K Networks, G S Global, Nucor trading, ThyssenKrupp, Aluzinc Asia, Pisec Group Gmbh and Toyota Tsusho. Steel associations such as Bima, Disma, Steel Chamber of India, Gujarat Federation, Tamil Nadu association, Ilva, BME, CAMIT, AIEA and IMC were present to felicitate the winners.

The principal sponsor for the event was Pushpak Rolling mills. Vinod Bane, secretary of SUFI mentioned that they will add a few more award categories next year. 

 

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

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