Siddhartha Lal is EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018

Siddhartha Lal, managing director and CEO of Eicher Motors, won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2018. Lal, who took charge of the company in 2006, has been instrumental in turning the company around and reviving the Royal Enfield brand.

Speaking at the award ceremony at Jio Garden in Mumbai’s BKC, Lal said, “When I started my journey 20 years ago… I wasn’t thinking about getting any awards. I was only thinking about keeping the business going and having fun.” He then went on to say that he doesn’t necessarily feel like a businessman, but rather like a person who is “enjoying himself and having a great time doing what I do.”

Lal, who dedicated the award to the mavericks and misfits who disrupt their sectors, will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the year award event to be held from June 6-8 in Monte Carlo. Former winners of the award include Ratan Tata, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Mukesh Ambani, and N.R. Narayana Murthy. In the height of oil price boom, Tulsi Tanti also won the award in 2006 for the rapid growth of his wind energy firm Suzlon.

Azim Premji, chairman, Wipro, won the Lifetime Achievement award for his work in making his company a global leader in the information technology space and his philanthropic endeavours in areas such as education, nutrition, and the betterment of the underprivileged and the vulnerable.

Here are the winners in other categories:

Start-up: Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of BYJU’S

Business transformation: Kishore Biyani, founder and group CEO of Future Group

Services: Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of OYO

Entrepreneurial CEO: Bhaskar Bhat, MD of Titan

The winners were decided by a panel of eight jury members led by Uday Kotak, MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, a former recipient of the award.