Biocon Chairperson & Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year India 2019 and will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo from 4 – 6 June 2020.
EY Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) India Award recognizes entrepreneurs, who, with their disruptive ideas and passion to excel are creating successful enterprises and emerging as ‘Builders of a better India’. The award honours those who have contributed significantly towards nation building with their entrepreneurial ingenuity and visionary ideas.
In their citation, EY said Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is “synonymous with the Indian biotech industry”, and has been at the “forefront of innovation” through her strong investments in research.
Ms Mazumdar-Shaw, who was among the 17 finalists for the EOY 2019 award, was felicitated at a grand awards gala, amidst a gathering of over 500 of India’s leading entrepreneurs, business icons, investors and government leaders, in New Delhi on February 19, 2020.
To hear my Journey of Building Biocon, Click HERE
On receiving the award, Ms Mazumdar-Shaw said, “This is a huge honour for me to receive this award which I accept with immense humility and pride. I would like to thank EY for celebrating entrepreneurship for over two decades. In 2002, I had received EY’s Best Entrepreneur Award in the field of health care and life sciences. This year I was recognized again for the impact that Biocon has made through my entrepreneurship in the intervening years.
I believe Entrepreneurship is one of the most economically empowering pursuits, which allows you to follow your own path to solving some of society’s toughest challenges, driving sustainable inclusive growth and ultimately creating a better world. As an entrepreneur, I have been committed to building a differentiated humanitarian business that provides affordable access to life-saving medicines globally. I would like to appreciate the significant role played by EY in supporting entrepreneurship in both emerging and developed economies, aiding new business models to scale up overcoming their biggest barriers to growth.
It is entrepreneurship which has really built our economy to where it is today and although I call myself an accidental entrepreneur, listening to the stories of all the finalists, I can tell you that every one of them is an accidental entrepreneur. We are risk takers and entrepreneurship is that which will build the USD 5 trillion economy for India. We are nearly a USD 3 trillion economy and I am very confident that we can become a USD 5 trillion economy by the targeted date of 2024-25 by unleashing the entrepreneurial energy that we have in this country with enabling policies and I have no doubt that we will exceed that target.
Lastly, I think it is very important for us to have pride in what we do today. I think India has to be proud of what it has accomplished, and pride will actually take us forward in very many ways because I really believe that entrepreneurial zeal has to be built with pride, values, and purpose. I believe it is the sense of purpose which has kept me going because for me a blockbuster drug is not about a billion dollars, but it is about making a difference to a billion lives around the world!”
For Ms Mazumdar-Shaw’s Acceptance Speech, click HERE
For Ms Mazumdar-Shaw’s Journey of Building Biocon, click HERE
