National Entrepreneurship Awards 2016 presented by Home Minister Rajnath Singh

The Minister of State (I/C) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy was the guest of honour on the occasion.

The awards have been presented in order to recognise the entrepreneurial spirit of India’s youth and encourage more young Indians to become entrepreneurs.

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.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh in his speech highlighted the role of Entrepreneurship in making India a leading economy globally.

He also congratulated the winners and praised them for their exceptional achievements.

During the ceremony an overview of MSDE’s entrepreneurship initiatives were outlined by Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

He also said that the Awards Ceremony will not only recognise budding entrepreneurs in India, but will also serve as a platform to showcase the transformative potential of entrepreneurship to young Indians and inspire them to become entrepreneurs.

This was 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.