MUMBAI: Businessworld in association with McDowell's Signature presented the 'Most Respected Awards 2004,' on 29 October in Mumbai at the Hilton Towers. The awards, which were hosted by Siddhartha Basu, saw an addition of three new categories that took the number of sectors that were covered to 17.

The spark of the evening at the awards, which are touted as the only sector-based awards in the country, was no one other than the Hon'ble Indian Finance minister P Chidambaram.

The awards were based on a peer-perception survey called the 'most respected company survey', which was conducted by the leading market research firm IMRB. The survey covered close to 1100 senior executives, CEOs and their direct reports.

Leaving the high profile audience for some food for thought, Chidambaram said, "I am humbled by the fact that Businessworld has invited the poorest man in this country to speak to you. Fifteen - twenty years ago, wealth creation was considered a sin and sometimes a crime. I know of wealth creators who were put in prison because of some obscure violation of Excise law. In my belief, wealth creation is the highest pursuit of mankind. So, you create wealth and I distribute it."

Moving on to some key pointers, the finance minister made a plea to the audience to bear this in mind and spread the message that -

• The only growth that is sustainable is inclusive growth and hence to embrace the phenomenon.
• We must question our uninhibited privatization just like we christened nationalisation many years ago.
• How long should the Indian private sector be insulated from competition? A level playing ground needs to be created and ideological battled need to be pushed to the background.
• Indian companies need to embrace excellence and must benchmark themselves with companies internationally. The aim must be the world's best companies and institutions.

Moving on to the awards:

1) The most respected company - Infosys Technologies
2) The most dynamic company - Reliance Industries
3) The most ethical company - Infosys Technologies
4) The most globally competitive company - Infosys Technologies
5) The most respected automobile company - Maruti Udyog
6) The most respected auto ancillaries company - Sundaram Fasteners
7) The most respected Banking company - HDFC Bank
8) The most respected consumer durable company - Nokia India
9) The most respected FMCG company - Hindustan Lever Ltd
10) The most respected food services company - McDonald's
11) The most respected IT company - Infosys Technologies
12) The most respected infrastructure company - L&T
13) The most respected insurance company - LIC
14) The most respected IT-enabled services company - Wipro Spectramind
15) The most respected media & entertainment company - Star India
16) The most respected petroleum company - HPCL
17) The most respected pharmaceutical company - Dr. Reddy's Labs
18) The most respected readymades & Textiles company - Raymond
19) The most respected retail company - Lifestyle
20) The most respected Telecon company - Bharti Tele-ventures
21) The most respected travel & hospitality company - Jet Airways