Conceptualized by E18's Business Events team, in collaboration with Essar Steel, the awards evening witnessed the stalwarts of India's infrastructure industry gathering to honour the achievements in a sector that forms the backbone of the economy. Hon'ble Union Minister for Urban Development, Government of India, Shri Kamal Nath was the chief guest at the event and felicitated the winners.

These awards were instituted to recognize the ‘nation builders' and felicitate infrastructure companies for excellence and strategic initiatives in the field of construction. The awards were conferred on the basis of overall excellence in execution of projects in highways and flyovers, railways, airports, ports, energy and power, oil and gas, telecom, urban infrastructure, and water and sanitation.

In its fourth year, the awards received more than 150 nominations from over 70 companies. These entries were evaluated by the jury to select the best and most sustainable value creator amongst infrastructure projects in the various categories. Grant Thornton came on board as the Advisory Partner for the event.

Speaking about the event, Farhad Wadia, CEO, E18 said: "We managed the event planning and execution, which included inviting all the dignitaries, appointing the jury, over-looking the nomination process, the entire production and set up of the award ceremony, and the on-ground event flow. These awards were the conclusion of the Infrastructure Excellence Initiative for 2012."

The jury who evaluated the entries comprised of Dr. Arvind Mayaram, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Rural Development; Dr. Kirit Parikh, Chairman, Integrated Research & Action for Development (IRADe); S S Kohli, Former Chairman & Managing Director, India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL); and Swati Ramanathan, Co-Founder, Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy.

Also read: E18 and Essar Steel host the National Infrastructure Conclave 2012