KOCHI, India—Neeraj Kanwar, vice chairman and managing director of Apollo Tyres Ltd., was named Rubber Asia's 2014 Rubber Man of the Year.
The award was presented at the India Rubber Summit and Dinner in Kochi on Sept. 20.
The winners of other awards are:
• Zenith Industrial Rubber Products Pvt. Ltd.—Largest rubber products exporter;
• Balkrishna Industries Ltd.—Largest tire exporter of India;
• Reliance Industries Ltd.—Largest producer of synthetic rubber in India;
• Prof Scaria Francis—Planter with largest productivity in the smallholding category;
• Vaikundam Plantations Ltd.—Planter with largest productivity in the Estate category; and
• Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur—Best rubber technology institute.
According to Rubber Asia, the award winners were narrowed down after an elaborate selection process, including consultations with industry experts and professionals, by the jury headed by P.C. Cyriac IAS, former chairman of the Rubber Board, India. Additionally, advertisements were also put up in rubber-related publications and websites inviting entries from eligible candidates.
The planters with the highest productivity in the Smallholding and Estate sectors were selected by a committee constituted by J. Thomas, former Rubber Production commissioner of the Rubber Board, after discussions with farmers and several field visits.
Speakers at the event included Hidde P. Smit, former secretary general, International Rubber Study Group; Paul Settles, LMC International, United Kingdom; Sheela Thomas, secretary general, Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries; Yeo Ek Meng, vice president, Singapore Exchange; M.P. Kanjolia, senior vice president, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd.; P. K. Mohamed, advisor, Apollo Tyres; and Shishir Desai, head of technology, Tata Steel Global Wires, India.