Bajaj Finserv's Sanjiv Bajaj bags EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 award

Sanjiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Finserv, the financial holding company of the Bajaj Group, was named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in a ceremony held in Mumbai on February 15, 2017.

A nine-member jury, led by Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries bestowed the honour on Bajaj, for leading his company to become the country’s leading name in financial services with solutions across lending, life and general insurance and wealth advisory.

Sanjiv, gthe 48-year-old son of  Bajaj Group patriarch, Rahul Bajaj , will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo from 13-17 June, 2018.

In a cover story that appeared in Forbes India (issue dated 27 May, 2016), the magazine had examined how Bajaj Finserv has created a financial powerhouse straddling multiple business lines by combining a sharp focus on sustainable profitability with innovation. Bajaj Finserv has had unique strategy, wherein the diversified portfolio provides for some fields which are profit drivers and others build scale: this helps reduce cyclicality in growth and assets quality. The main mantra for the company's success continues to be on account of chasing profits, innovation and technology in each of their business lines, rather than trying to capture market share right from the start.

Also read: Bajaj Finserv: Indian consumer's best friend

The current market cap of the company is ₹ 81,664.15 crore, as of February 16, 2018.

The EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards function saw other leaders of industry being felicitated as well. 'Metro Man' E Sreedharan was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for transforming the face of public transportation in India. Other category award winners included, Nithin Kamath, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Zerodha (category: startup); Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet (business transformation); Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director, Dalmia Bharat Group (manufacturing); Glenn Saldanha, Chairman and Managing Director, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (lifesciences and health care); Rashesh Shah, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Edelweiss Group (Financial Services); Satheesh Kumar K.R., Chairman and Managing Director, Enzen Global Solutions (services); (Consumer Products & Retail) Sunder Genomal, Managing Director, Page Industries; Sumant Sinha, Founder Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ReNew Power Ventures (Energy, Real Estate & Infrastructure); and Akhil Gupta, Executive Chairman, Bharti Infratel (Enterpreneurial CEO).