India's best SMEs: The winners

The third edition of Business Today-YES Bank SME Survey & Awards 2011 received an overwhelming response, with over 2,80,000 SMEs sending in their entries. The survey was carried out from May to November 2011, and applicants were judged in three phases. Accountancy and advisory firm Grant Thornton India validated the data and the processes of the survey. Snapshots of the winners of the BT-YES Bank SME Awards.

The top four

Shripad Madhavrao Khatav, CEO, S.S. Techno Services
Khatav says he is not affected by the downturn as his company is not very big

Debtosh Chatterjee, MD/CEO, Chatterjee Cleaning Arts
When he started out, Chatterjee often cleaned toilets himself

Shyam Sunder Sharma, CEO, Ganesha Ecosphere
Sharma was the first to start making green fibre from used plastic bottles

Pramod Maheshwari, Chairman/MD/CEO, Career Point
Maheshwari held his first few coaching classes in his father's tyre godown

CATEGORY: Star SME - Manufacturing (Small)
WINNER: Active Char Products
MD: Razin Rahman
The Kochi-based company manufactures activated carbon, used for water purification, as well as in other industries as varied as food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals. It is a highvolume producer with an operating capacity of over 5,000 metric tonnes per annum.

CATEGORIES: Star SME - Manufacturing (Medium); Best Green SME (Medium)
WINNER:MPIL Steel Structures
CMD: Ashwani Gupta
Headquartered in Mumbai, it specialises in heavy and light steel structure projects, making custom-design fabricated structural steel products and cold-rolled formed sections.

CATEGORY: Star SME - Trading (Medium)
WINNER: Poddar Global started, to Rs 50 crore in 2010/11.
MD: Sunil Poddar
It supplies imported and indigenous newsprint to more than 300 newspapers and magazines, apart from others in the publishing industry. This Delhi firm owns warehouses at several urban centres with a combined storage capacity of 300,000 sq. ft.

CATEGORIES: Star SME - Agriculture (Medium); Best SME for CSR (Medium)
WINNER: Magnum Seafood
CHAIRMAN:  Ramesh Mahapatra
This Bhubaneswar-based company exports fish and fishery products across the world. Its plants process around 4,000 tonnes of seafood per annum.

CATEGORY: Star SME - Services (Small)
WINNER:  Sequel Logistics
CMD: Sharad Jobanputra
This Ahmedabad-based firm provides secured logistics services to dealers in gems and jewellery, bullion, fashion accessories and financial instruments.

CATEGORY: Star SME - Trading (Small)
WINNER:  Vidres India Ceramics
MD: Vishal Trivedi
It makes products used as raw material by the ceramic industry. Its customers include Nitco, Kajaria Ceramics and H&R Johnson (India). The Ahmedabadbased company's revenues have risen from Rs 12 crore in 2006/07, when it started, to Rs 50 crore in 2010/11

CATEGORY: Star SME - Agriculture (Small)
WINNER: Rameswar Agro Industries
MD: Sukhmaya Das
With a production capacity of nearly 200 tonnes daily, this Bhubaneswar-headquartered company has emerged as a fastgrowing processor of raw and boiled rice.

CATEGORIES: Star SME - Services (Medium); Best SME for International Trade (Medium)
WINNER:  Frontier Lifeline
CHAIRMAN & CEO: Dr K.M. Cherian
It is a tertiary cardiac care centre in Chennai set up by renowned heart surgeon Dr K.M. Cherian. Its focus on research and specialised treatment draws many foreign patients.

CATEGORY: Best SME for Innovation (Medium)
WINNER: Sri Biotech Laboratories India
CMD:  Dr K.R.K. Reddy
In its 17 years of existence, this Hyderabad firm has indigenously developed 40 bio-organic products in the areas of crop nutrition and crop protection. It has grown tremendously in the last three years.

CATEGORY:  Best SME for Corporate Governance (Small)
WINNER:  Ishita Drugs & Industries
MD: Jagdish Agrawal
It makes pharma ingredients and fine chemicals for companies such as Pfizer, Nicholas Piramal and Zydus Cadila Healthcare. It is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange as also in Ahmedabad.

CATEGORY: Best SME for Corporate Governance (Medium)
WINNER: Black Rose Industries
ED: Anup Jatia
It operates primarily in two areas: chemicals and textiles. Headquartered in Mumbai, it exports a variety of fine and speciality chemicals. Its five-member board includes three independent directors.

CATEGORIES: Star SME - Agriculture (Small); Best SME for CSR (Small)
WINNER: MKC Fruits India
DIRECTOR (FINANCE): Mohd Nassir
The Ghaziabad-based firm is involved in contract farming and fruit trading. It buys fruit directly from farmers and sells it to bulk buyers such as Future Group and Aditya Birla Retail.

CATEGORY: Best SME for International Trade (Small)
WINNER: Artifacts India
PROPRIETOR: Ravindra Sharan
For the last seven years, this Delhi-based company has been the largest manufacturer of handmade paper products such as stationery, storage and packaging items. An export-oriented unit, it has many customers in Europe and the US.

CATEGORY:  Best SME in North East India
WINNER: North East Medical Care & Research
MD: Dr Hiteshwar Baruah
It runs a 100-bed multi-specialty hospital in Guwahati, Assam. In a span of 10 years, it has emerged as a strong brand in the delivery of health care services in the north east. It is building another 200-bed hospital in Guwahati, which will be ready by end-2013.