Keki Mistry , Vice Chairman & CEO of Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC), is a financial expert with a deep understanding of the stated and unstated needs of middle-class Indians. He is an effective leader and strategist. In addition, he is comfortable playing a key role in the joint ventures of the HDFC Group, namely, HDFC Bank, HDFC AMC, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, and more.

Before joining HDFC in 1981, Mr. Mistry gained a rainbow of experience in a leading audit firm, a multi-national consumer products company, and a leading chain of luxury hotels. As a result, he has evolved a unique management formula that delights the shareholders, customers, and employees. Mr. Mistry, has a soft but firm leadership style. His primary focus is on process agility in order to satisfy the ever changing needs of customers. He understands that this approach improves revenues, reduces costs, as well as, empowers employees. A best practice.

Mr. Mistry has built on a solid foundation he inherited at HDFC. The cornerstone of HDFC's excellent brand strength emerges from its unrelenting focus on corporate governance, its high standards of ethics and clarity of vision which percolates through the organization. In this context, Mr. Mistry has ensured that the professionalism, transparency, integrity, and customer focus at HDFC have grown from strength to strength even in an intensely competitive environment.

Mr. Mistry is a professional leader who is logical, subtle and innovative. Quality and excellence are high on his agenda.

We congratulate Mr. Keki Mistry, Qimpro Gold Standard 2011 for Business.

Debu Bhattacharya heads the Global Metals business of Aditya Birla Group. In this capacity he is the Managing Director of Hindalco Industries Limited, Vice-chairman of Novalis Inc, and Chairman of Aditya Birla Minerals Limited. Over the past 10 years, Mr Bhattacharya has not only led the metamorphosis of Hindalco and Novelis, but has in fact transformed himself from a consumer products and Indian retail professional, to a non-ferrous metals and global manufacturing authority. He is an effective leader and strategist; comfortable in any business environment.

Over the last decade, Mr Bhattacharya has grown Hindalco 30-fold addressing the challenge of price volatility by building a robust, sustainable, integrated business portfolio. Today, Hindalco is the most profitable aluminium company globally, with its low cost position, significant presence in value added segments, and world-class quality.

The leadership style of Mr Bhattacharya is soft but firm. This has been a critical success factor during the organic and inorganic growth of Hindalco; particularly in a business environment impacted by recession, price volatility, climate change, terror, and poor governance. Apart from Hindalco, Mr Bhattacharya has also brilliantly turned around Novelis, an organization that was criticized for chronic poor performance.

Mr Bhattacharya has been the guiding force behind numerous CSR activities undertaken by Hindalco and its affiliates. He is an advocate for triple bottom line accounting and is therefore involved in significant community development. He is also actively pursuing reduction measures for carbon footprints.

Mr Bhattacharya is a focused transformation leader, who is logical, subtle and innovative. He is a visionary, whose best practices are showcased in the Harvard Business Review.

Mr Bhattacharya. A gentleman; consistently striving for excellence.

Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director, Titan Industries Limited, is synonymous with innovation and excellence in India. The metamorphosis of Titan products from utility to lifestyle is attributed to Mr Bhat's keen insights of market forces and customer needs.

Mr Bhat is a quiet performer. He has grown the variety of Titan watches from 500 to 700 over the past five years; and Tanishq jewellery designs from 6,000 to 16,000 over the same period. His core competency is in systematically translating customer needs into products that are benchmarked by international players. Brands “Titan” and “Tanishq” have won numerous accolades over the past decade.

Titan is a preferred employer for young graduates. Mr Bhat believes that fashion-retail-chains deliver customer satisfaction results only when employees are delighted. Therefore, he has a radically different approach to HR. He considers his human resources to be “appreciating” assets, and ensures they are managed accordingly.

Mr Bhat is sensitive to the needs of society. The noteworthy social responsibility outcomes from Titan include: scholarship programs in backward areas that have benefitted over 600 students; creation of 'karigar' parks for jewellery craftsmen, that have resulted in improving the quality of life of over 600 workers; and green power generation of the order of 33.5 kwh.

Mr Bhat has made a difference. He has inspired many entrepreneurs to believe in a left-brain right-brain balance. He has catalyzed them to believe in a marketing mind-set.

Aditya Puri is the Managing Director of HDFC Bank Limited. He has the distinction of having conceptualized a World-Class Indian Bank in 1994 and built the same based on principle-centered values, customer–focus, and employee empowerment.

Based on his vast international exposure at CitiBank, Mr Puri designed HDFC Bank from first principles, namely, customer and market segmentation; product and service goals; process goals and capability; operational and improvement teams; and deployment of vision and values. These are truly Best Practices for building quality into an organization.

Over the past decade, under the able stewardship of Mr Puri, HDFC Bank has earned the trust of Indian citizens. It has been consistently recognized as the “Best Bank”; most customer-responsive service provider; and best IT user in the banking sector.

Mr Puri is one of Asia's most influential bankers. He has earned international accolades for his extraordinary leadership skills and governance practices. He is recognized by the business community as an institution builder.

Deepak M Satwalekar, Managing Director, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited, is a crusader for perfection. Industrious to the core, he walks his quality-talk.

Mr Satwalekar has always led from the front. At Housing Development Finance Corporation and HDFC Standard Life Insurance. He considers his human resources to be the most important asset, and has built a team of highly motivated professionals who consistently deliver quality and excellence.

Ethical behavior is synonymous with Mr Satwalekar. He has ensured that all his organizational decisions, actions, and stakeholder interactions conform to professional principles. He has also ensured that his organizational vision and mission are aligned to ethical principles.

Beyond HDFC Standard Life Insurance, Mr Satwalekar has been a Consultant to the World Bank in Indonesia, USAID in Sri Lanka, UN Centre for Human Settlements in Nairobi, and Asian Development Bank in Sri Lanka. A recognition of his professional capability and facilitation skills.

Mr Satwalekar's leadership style is characterized by focus, detail, integrity and humility.

We congratulate Mr Deepak M Satwalekar, Qimpro Gold Standard 2007.

Dr Baba Neelkanth Kalyani, Chairman, Kalyani Group, and Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Forge Limited, is a tireless crusader for quality.

Dr Kalyani has led from the front. He has effectively built quality through technology, thereby transforming Bharat Forge into the most competitive forging company in the world. As testimony, exports account for almost half of the company's sales. The overseas customer base created by Dr Kalyani includes General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Renault, Volvo, Caterpillar, Cummins, amongst others. The stars of the automotive industry. A best practice. Dr Kalyani has also pioneered the export of automobile components to China.

Dr Kalyani considers his human resources to be the most important asset of the Group. He has built a highly motivated team of professionals who, singularly and collectively, consistently deliver quality and excellence. Always challenging the given standard. Their collective vision is to make "Made in India" a global brand in the automotive industry.

Beyond the Kalyani Group, Dr Kalyani has played a significant role in promoting quality and excellence in several educational institutions. In particular, he is Chairman, Board of Governors, IIM, Indore; he is also Founder Chairman of Pratham Pune Education Foundation, an NGO that provides primary education.

Dr Kalyani's leadership style is characterized by focus, integrity and humility.

We congratulate Dr Baba Neelkanth Kalyani, Qimpro Gold Standard 2006.

Ravi Kant, Managing Director, Tata Motors Limited is a tireless crusader for quality.

Mr Kant has led from the front, two major initiatives at the Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, namely the Tata Business Excellence Model and the Balanced Scorecard. With dramatic transformation results. Transformation from an organization of collective functional silos to an integrated unit that works towards the distinct objective of customer satisfaction. A best practice.

Critical to the success of the Commercial Vehicle Business Unit has been Mr Kant’s emphasis on pre-manufacturing processes. In particular, the ‘new product introduction’ process. This has substantially enabled the Commercial Vehicle Business Unit to reduce its break even point from 65 percent to 33 percent capacity utilization. In 2005, the Commercial Vehicle Business Unit was declared the winner of the JRD Quality Values Award.

Mr Kant has implemented the Tata Code of Conduct at Tata Motors. He is a strong advocate for corporate governance. His leadership style is characterized by simplicity, integrity, and individual dignity. A hallmark practice.

We congratulate Mr Ravi Kant, Qimpro Gold Standard 2005.