Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) invites nominations for National Entrepreneurship Awards 2019

The fourth edition of the National Entrepreneurship Awards, instituted in a bid to recognize and encourage outstanding Indian Entrepreneurs and catalyse a cultural shift in youth for entrepreneurship by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has opened for nominations. The National Entrepreneurship Awards (NEA) 2019 aim to honour outstanding young first generation entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders for their exceptional contribution in entrepreneurship development.

• Nominations open on http://www.neas.gov.in/  till 10 September 2019
• A total of 45 Awards under NEA 2019 have been carefully considered to enable participation of young entrepreneurs across categories

With NEA, the Government of India will reward the most innovative, inspiring and accomplished micro entrepreneurs to scale up their business. The objective of these awards is to recognize the businesses and businessmen, not only to improve their marketability, but also address discontinuity towards better business systems and enhanced products & services with the help of a prize money. The awards ceremony will be held in November this year.

There are a total of 45 specially designed awards to be bestowed – 39 Enterprise Awards and 6 Awards for Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders. To be eligible for these awards, the nominee must be under the age of 40 years; they must be first-generation entrepreneurs; the nominee (entrepreneur) must hold 51% or more equity and ownership of the business; and women entrants must individually or collectively own 75% or more of the enterprise.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, said, “This year marks the fourth year of running the National Entrepreneurship Awards, and I am gratified by the continued interest of the entrepreneurs in the initiative. I would take this opportunity to congratulate all the people, not just from the ministry, but also from private organisations and institutions who have come forward and volunteered their valuable time to this cause. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to skill every Indian and encourage the youth towards entrepreneurship has enabled us to launch many such initiatives. Entrepreneurs are able to contribute much more to the country as job creators.”

Dr. Pandey further added “It is heartening to know that our initiatives to involve every part of the country, in our skilling efforts, is bearing fruit. I look forward to the award ceremony on November 9 where we will get the chance to recognize the biggest contributors and make their achievements a milestone event.”

Contribution to entrepreneurship ecosystem in India

The annual awards aim to recognise individual or organization(s) that have made outstanding contributions in the entrepreneur ecosystem of India. The purpose is to highlight models of excellence for others to emulate and improve upon. Nominations are encouraged for individuals or teams of individuals from across India. I therefore urge to all the budding entrepreneurs to come forth and be a part of this National Entrepreneurship Award and showcase how their contribution has made a difference in the country.”

Click the link to view last year’s award winners: https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/msde-national-entrepreneurship-awards-2018/

Winners will be felicitated in a grand Award Ceremony, organised by the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, and will be presented with a Trophy, Certificate and a Cash Prize of ₹5 lakh (enterprises/ individuals) and ₹10 lakh (organizations/ institutes). The ceremony has been proposed to take place in November 2019.

Candidates will be mobilised through Nomination/Self-nomination, and will undergo a three-level rigorous evaluation process, wherein, in the last step the National Jury of eminent persons drawn from academia/research, industry, social sector, banking etc., will select the winners. To ensure excellence of the National Award, the Jury has the power to not award any applicant in a given category, if applications are found unsatisfactory.

Indian Institute of Technology (Madras, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur), IRMA, NABARD, National Innovation Foundation, National Small Industries Corporation, National Institute IAEM, Rural Development and Self-employment and Training Institute, TISS, Xavier’s School of Management are the organisations supporting the implementation of NEA 2019. These institutes will assist in outreach and primary selection of award entries.

The NEA has seen winners go on and become some of the biggest companies in the country like Wow Momo Foods Private Ltd and Jet Set Go Aviation services in 2016; Rays Culinary Delights Pvt. Ltd. (that owns Sattviko brand) and Oravel Stays Pvt. Ltd. (that owns Oyo brand) in 2017; and Varun Engineering Works in 2018, among many others.