• Awards included most Commercial Vehicle Categories - Stakeholders from SCV, LCV, ICV and HCV Segments were considered and rewarded
• For the first time, 'Perishable Goods', 'Urban Public Services' and 'Courier / eCommerce Transportation' categories for SCV and LCV we included
• Inclusion of 'Emerging Transport Business of the Year' for ICV & HCV
• For the first time, the Awards included 'End User Organizations' - the corporate customers whose goods are being transported through categories like 'Torch Bearers of Safety' and 'Logistics Manager of the Year'
• Overall 5467 Award Entries, 9991 Nominations & Case studies received; 248 Shortlisted for Expert Jury Round
• In 'CV Financier - Fleet Owners Choice' Category - 1951 Fleet Owners Participated leading to 3596 nominations
• Outperforming Driver Award - ICV & HCV Fleet Owners were asked to nominate their best Driver. 10 Drivers were shortlisted; Jury Process included - Traffic Rules, Psychometric & Psychomotor test, Medical Check-up, Followed by Jury screening.

Highlights of the Awards Ceremony -

The awards ceremony started with a Panel Discussion on a very pertinent topic "Commercial Vehicles & Road Safety". The discussion focused on roles of various transport ecosystem stakeholders to enhance the Road safety.

Panellist comprised of - Shri Y. S. Malik, Hon Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government Of India; Mr. Vinod Sahay, CEO, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division and Mahindra Construction Equipment Division; Mr. Rakesh Batra, Partner & Sector Leader Automotive, Ernst & Young LLP; Mr. Arun Bagavathi, Vice-President, Supply Chain Operations, Delhivery Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. Chirag Katira, Director, SNGT Pvt Ltd.; Ms. Tanvi Naik, Director, Reema Transport; Mr. Rajkumar Gupta, Head - National Logistics, ACC, Ms. Yogita Raghuvanshi, Lady HCV Truck Driver. Mr. Saurabh Manchanda, Senior Editor, SMEs, Zee Business moderated the panel discussion.

The audience comprising of prominent Truck Fleets Owners, Transporters, Logistics Company heads and Professionals, Commercial Vehicle Financiers, MTB Dealers, Senior Delegates from Transport Sector, Faculty members from IIM, Ahmedabad, heads of various agencies and select media delegates and delegates from Mahindra Group, led by Dr. Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and Mr. Rajan Wadhera, President, Automotive Sector, Member - Group Executive Board and President - Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

The formal inauguration of the program started with National Anthem followed by the Rise for Good Act performance by Singing Sardar, the ITBP Commando, Vikramjeet Singh. It was a statement of encouragement, one of solidarity. We as a nation are at peace because of Jawans like him, who protect us round the clock and yet pursue their passion for singing!

Mr. Vinod Sahay, Chief Executive Officer, Mahindra Truck and Bus and Mahindra Construction Equipment Division, presented the report card of the Awards program. He shared with the audience, the fact that the Awards program was becoming bigger and better with every passing year and was attracting better quality entries, which is a heartening news. He also highlighted the fairness, robustness and transparency of Award Jury Process from the stage.

Group 1 - SCV & LCV Winners & Runner ups

• Outperformers in Business up to 50 CVs - Ravi Integrated Logistics India (Winner); Esteem Group (Runner up)
• Outperformers in Business more than 50 CVs - Vaishali Transcarriers (Winner); Ajanta Transport (Runner up)
• Outperformers in Perishable Goods Transportation- Supermarket Grocery Supplies. (Winner); Brring Integrated Logistics (Runner up)
• Outperformers in Urban Public Services Transportation - BVG India
• Dream Chasers - Shadowfax Technologies (Winner)
• Outperformers in Courier / eCommerce Transportation - Blue Dart (Winner)
• Youth Transport Personality - Virendra Chaudhary, Algor Supply Chain Solutions (Winner)

Group 2 - ICV & HCV Winners & Runner ups

• Outperformers in Business - up to 100 CV - Saran Transports (Winner); N.K. Transport. (Runner up)
• Outperformers in Business - more than 100 CVs - Avana Logistek (Winner); Surat Road King (Runner up)
• Emerging Transport Business of the Year - Venture Supply Chain (winner); S. S. Logistics (Runner-up)
• Youth Transport Personality - Raghunadan Selvarathinam, Saran Transports; Mohit Nawany, ASL Logistics (Runner-up)
• Lady Transport Personality - Divya Pillai, Excel Transporters (winner); Aakansha Bhargava, PM Relocations (Runner-up)
• Fleet Driver - Chhatarapal Singh, N.K. Transport (winner); Miraj Khan, JFK Transporters (Runner-up)

Speaking at the occasion, Shri Y.S. Malik, Hon Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, GOI, described the award Jury Process as one the great learning experiences. He praised Mahindra group for coming up with such a recognition for one of the most important sectors of the Indian economy. He further added 'Transport ecosystem as a whole is hugely impacting the economy and it is hearting to note that the changes in the technology and safety of vehicles are not being pushed by so much through rules and the government regulations, but by the end user who are demanding the same from the OEMs to meet their expectation and requirement.

Prominent CV Financiers Cholamandalam Finance (Winner) and ICICI Bank (Runner up) take away the top honors in their category.

Outperformance in Integrated Logistics Services - DHL Supply Chain India (Winner). Torch Bearers of Safety - Shell India Markets, (Winner)

Mulla Dhaba won the 'national winner' awards in Highway Dhaba category.

Ecosystem Awards

• Highway Dhaba Mulla Dhaba, (Winner); Almas Dhaba (Runner-up)
• Commercial Vehicle Financier - Fleet Owners' Choice - Cholamandalam Finance, (Winner); ICICI Bank, (Runner-up)
• Outperformance in Integrated Logistics Services- DHL Supply Chain India, (Winner); Safexpress, (Runner-up)
• Torch Bearers of Safety - Shell India Markets, (Winner); ACC, (Runner-up)
• Logistics Manager of the Year - Vijay Shetty, BASF India (Winner); Ghanshyam Singh, Mountain Trail Foods (Runner-up)

And then came the moment of winning a Mahindra BLAZO X 25 T truck by Chhatarapal Singh from N.K. Transport, being the "Super Outperformer" Driver of the year". Chhatarapal Singh has shown leadership and with his over 16 years of driving experience he now mentors other fleet drivers of the company to perform well. He also successfully passed each step of stringent Driver Jury process comprising of Psychomotor & Psychometric tests, Traffic Rules and Medical tests.

"Come Home Papa" Book launch - In continuation of Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan Outperformer contest, last year a short story competition was introduced for the scholarship winner truck driver daughters in collaboration with literary partners, #TellMeYourStory. The book includes shortlisted stories and has been published by Amaryllis, Manjul Publishing.

Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan Outperformer Contest Winners - Bersha Kumari, MTech - Cloud computing, Assistant professor in Jaipur (Winner); Christian Digeena Davis, BHMS doctor from Baroda; (1st Runner-up) P. Rajeshwari, MBBS from Sankari, Tamilnadu (2nd Runner-up)

Mr. Vinod Sahay and Ms. Sheetal Mehta, Executive Director, K. C. Mahindra Education Trust through a pre-recorded video message announced the launch of Version 2.0 of the Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan in collaboration with Nanhi Kali Project, for the Teen Aged Girls (TAGs) of Commercial Load Vehicle Drivers.

Lady Transport Personality Winner - Divya Pillai, Partner Excel Transporters for 'Accepting No Limits'

Youth Transport Personality Winners

Small and Light Commercial Vehicles Category - Virendra Chaudhary, Director & Co-Founder, Algor Supply Chain Solutions for Rise Pillar 'Alternative thinking'

Intermediate and Heavy Commercial Vehicles Category - Raghunandan Selvarathinam, Managing Director, Saran Transports for Rise Pillar 'Alternative thinking'

It is a matter of great pride that IIM, Ahmedabad acknowledged the excellence of the brand journey of ours and decided to capture the developing story of MTB as a Challenger Brand, into a prestigious case study. Prof Arvind Sahay, Professor of Marketing and International Business and Prof Amit Karna, Chairperson, Placements and Chairperson, Business Policy Area, were present at the Awards and formally launched the case.

Special Recognition Awards - 8th editions of Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards witnessed 6 Special recognition awards

• Delhivery Pvt. Ltd for becoming one of the leading logistics and supply chain services companies in India, and one of the fastest growing in this space.
• SIS Group - A shining example of 'Rise to excellence' by becoming a leading security services company in India with leadership positions in cash logistics and facility management services.
• The Akshaya Patra Foundation - Special recognition their 'Driving Positive Change' initiative. They are the world's largest (not-for-profit run) Mid-Day Meal Programme serving wholesome food every school day to over 1.76 million children from 15,024 schools across 12 states in India.
• Delhi Jal Board & Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry - This recognition was given for 200 Sewer cleaning machines mounted on light commercial vehicles to ensure safety and dignity of human life. These vehicles have been provided to skilled manual scavengers making them 'sani-entrepreneurs'. It is matter of great pride that these cleaning machines have been mounted on 'Mahindra DI3200 Jayo'.
• Sandeep Sahi, Head Constable, Delhi Police - Known as Helmet Cop, Sandeep books traffic violators and gifts them a free helmet at the end of his counselling session. The Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards recognized his brilliant work as a shining Torchbearer of Safety and pledged 100 Helmets to his noble cause. He was presented a helmet as a symbol of the same.
• 3S Sara Plast - For bringing about a change in the Indian Sanitation area especially for Women through their Washroom on Wheels Initiative.

Dr. Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., while addressing the gathering, applauded the winners, both individuals and organizations for their contribution towards driving the change. He praised the role of 'Alternative thinking' over the established approach in driving the changes. In his emotion-packed speech, Dr. Goenka mentioned that when the Awards when we the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards was conceptualized 8 years ago, we had not envisaged/ imagined that it will eventually emerge as the platform for showcasing so many passionate human stories! That, in Dr. Goenka's views, was the biggest achievement of this prestigious platform.

Thereafter, Mr. Rajan Wadhera, President, Automotive Sector, Member - Group Executive Board and President - Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, delivered the Concluding Remarks. Mr. Wadhera further reinforced this year's Awards theme - CHANGE. He thanked the gathering for being the part of the ceremony.

And then, the final RISE Moment!

Mahindra's signature brand property, now eight editions old, aimed at honoring the unsung heroes of road transport, Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards will continue to strengthen the brand and business while delivering respect, self-esteem and recognitions to multiple stakeholders of the Indian Road Transport Ecosystem.