HRKatha Rising Star Leadership Awards
The inaugural HRKatha Rising Star Leadership Awards drew 129 entries from across India’s corporate landscape over a two-month nomination period. After rigorous evaluation, 59 entries were shortlisted and honoured during the event.
The Jury Composition
The jury’s composition reflected the breadth of India’s corporate landscape. Led by Sandip Ghose (MD & CEO, Birla Corps) as Jury Chair, with Ramesh Mitragotri (Group Executive President – Human Resource, Aditya Birla Group) as Jury Co-Chair, the panel included: Ashwini Prashara (CHRO, Hydrocarbons, Reliance Industries), Rajorshi Ganguli (President & Group Head-HR, Alkem Laboratories), Ayush Gupta (Director-HR, GAIL), Praveen Purohit (CHRO, Vedanta Aluminium), Subir Verma (ED & CHRO, Power Business, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group), S Parthasarathy (iMeT, EVP, L&T Technology Services), Rupesh Tripathi (Head-People and Culture, KPMG), Saba Adil (CHRO, Edelweiss), and Pooja Manocha (CHRO, Bata India).
Over two weeks, this distinguished panel evaluated cases with surgical precision. The margins proved razor-thin—often separated by a mere 0.2 to 0.5 points. At times, the difference between finalist and winner was negligible in numerical terms.
Sandip Ghose, MD & CEO, Birla Corps, articulated the jury’s philosophy, “As a jury, we weren’t just looking for good HR practices — we were looking for creativity that redefines value creation. It wasn’t about who had the most polished process or the biggest scale, but about who dared to think differently, who connected people and performance in a way that drove measurable business impact. What stood out for us were those entries that showed HR not as a support function, but as a co-creator of strategy, innovation, and growh.”
Praveen Purohit, CHRO, Vedanta Aluminium, expanded on the evaluation criteria, “While evaluating the case studies, what truly impressed us were the initiatives that went beyond policies and processes to create real business value. We looked for stories where HR wasn’t working in isolation but driving innovation hand-in-hand with business leaders. The best entries demonstrated how people practices can fuel performance, build agility, and create an ecosystem where both talent and organisation grow together.”
Rupesh Tripathi, Head-People and Culture, KPMG, captured the jury’s sentiment, “I thoroughly enjoyed reading the entries and case studies. Some very good work. Thank you for providing these young professionals a platform to showcase their work.”
Rajorshi Ganguli, President & Group Head-HR, Alkem Laboratories, said, “The experience was good. The work done by different applicants were good. It’s good to know so many innovative work being done by different people in different organisations and especially the hard work behind it.”
The Winners
|
Sn No.
|
Name
|
Designation
|
Company
|
Status of win
|
Category
|
|
1
|
Anil Kumar Sagiraju
|
Dy Manager Business HR
|
Amara Raja Energy & Mobility
|
Winner
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
2
|
Meenakshi Thakur
|
AGM - HR
|
Bharat Aluminium Company
|
Winner
|
Culture Bridge Builder
|
|
3
|
Chintala Siva Sankar
|
AM-HR
|
Amara Raja Energy & Mobility
|
Winner
|
Experience Wizard
|
|
4
|
Mandeep Patter
|
Senior Manager - Employee Experience
|
Axis Max Life Insurance
|
Winner
|
Happiness Ambassador
|
|
5
|
Varun Jain
|
AVP HR
|
HSBC
|
Winner
|
HR Technovator
|
|
6
|
Lionel Paul David
|
CHRO
|
Watertec India
|
Winner
|
HR Trailblazer
|
|
7
|
Gaurav Modak
|
Rewards Manager
|
HEMPEL A/S
|
Winner
|
Rewards Guru
|
|
8
|
Akhilesh Rai
|
Deputy General Manager
|
Maruti Suzuki India
|
Winner
|
Shop Floor Diplomat
|
|
9
|
Sumit Rastogi
|
DGM-HR
|
HyFun Foods
|
Winner
|
Talent Magnet
|
|
10
|
Richa Alagh
|
Chief Manager - HR Operations Head
|
Axis Max Life Insurance
|
Winner
|
Transformation Titan
|
|
11
|
Deepanjan Sinha
|
Manager - HR
|
Uflex
|
Winner
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
12
|
Soumavo Chatterjee
|
Assistant Vice President
|
Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail
|
First Runner Up
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
13
|
Riddhi Bhupendra Sonavia
|
Senior HR Executive
|
Draeger India Private Limited
|
First Runner Up
|
Culture Bridge Builder
|
|
14
|
Sonal Manilal Harsiddhe
|
Assistant Manager
|
EPL Limited
|
First Runner Up
|
Happiness Ambassador
|
|
15
|
Amit Kaul
|
Head HR
|
ONGC Petro Additions
|
First Runner Up
|
HR Trailblazer
|
|
16
|
G Suresh Kumar
|
Executive, AI Business TA
|
Amara Raja Infra
|
First Runner Up
|
Talent Magnet
|
|
17
|
Vineeta Pandey
|
Senior Manager
|
Century Enka Limited
|
First Runner Up
|
Transformation Titan
|
|
18
|
Himanshu Gupta
|
AVP Performance & Rewards
|
HSBC
|
First Runner Up
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
19
|
Shiv Shankar Khandelwal
|
Sr. Manager (HR)
|
IFFCO/ IFFCO eBazar Ltd.
|
Second Runner Up
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
20
|
Hevin Verghese C
|
MANAGER (HR & ADMIN.)
|
Petronet LNG
|
Second Runner Up
|
Happiness Ambassador
|
|
21
|
Subrata Kr Saha
|
Sr. General Manager - HRD
|
Ambuja Neotia
|
Second Runner Up
|
HR Trailblazer
|
|
22
|
Aaron Dsouza
|
Head - HR
|
Dr. Reddy's & Nestle Health Science
|
Second Runner Up
|
HR Trailblazer
|
|
23
|
Janvi Ashar
|
General Manager - HR & Admin
|
Unipath Specialty Laboratories
|
Second Runner Up
|
Transformation Titan
|
|
24
|
Ramratan Yadav
|
Manager
|
Maruti Suzuki India
|
Second Runner Up
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
25
|
Amiit Kumar
|
Lead - Business HR
|
Aditya Birla Money
|
Finalist
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
26
|
Kashmira Sharma
|
Director - HR Business Partners, India
|
Marvell Semiconductors
|
Finalist
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
27
|
Hiral Patel
|
Senior Manager - Human Resources
|
Reliance Industries
|
Finalist
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
28
|
Sujata Phukan
|
HR Partner Associate Manager
|
Accenture Solutions
|
Finalist
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
29
|
Sri Deepti Kocherlakota
|
People and Culture Business Partner
|
Vendavo
|
Finalist
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
30
|
Jagannathan U
|
Deputy Manager‚ AI Biz HR
|
Mangal Industries
|
Finalist
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
31
|
Ankit Dangi
|
Chief Operating Officer
|
SenseHR
|
Finalist
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
32
|
Anubrata Chatterjee
|
GM HR
|
Rupa & Co
|
Finalist
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
33
|
K R Ramakrishnan
|
Lead - Center of Excellence
|
Reliance Retail
|
Finalist
|
Business Catalyst
|
|
34
|
Ishita Agghi
|
Co-Founder
|
CLiKD.ai
|
Finalist
|
HR Technovator
|
|
35
|
Dakshdeep Singh
|
Senior Vice President
|
PeopleStrong Technologies
|
Finalist
|
HR Trailblazer
|
|
36
|
Jitendra Kumar Rajpurohit
|
Sr Manager HR
|
UltraTech Cement
|
Finalist
|
HR Trailblazer
|
|
37
|
Ruben Arun Kumar
|
Senior Manager, HR
|
Quest Diagnostics HTAS India
|
Finalist
|
HR Trailblazer
|
|
38
|
G Harikrishnama Raju
|
Assistant General Manager
|
JSW Cement
|
Finalist
|
HR Trailblazer
|
|
39
|
Chinhita Bose
|
Assistant Director- Human Resources
|
Parul University
|
Finalist
|
HR Trailblazer
|
|
40
|
T K Bharath Kumar
|
Regional Rewards Lead Americas
|
Novartis
|
Finalist
|
HR Trailblazer
|
|
41
|
Shreysa Gardner
|
Senior Officer
|
JK Cement
|
Finalist
|
Talent Magnet
|
|
42
|
Vandana Saxena
|
HR Professional
|
Voyage Ahead Solutions LLP
|
Finalist
|
Transformation Titan
|
|
43
|
Adithiya Venkataraman
|
CHRO
|
Hinduja Renewables Energy
|
Finalist
|
Transformation Titan
|
|
44
|
P Padmaja
|
Assistant Manager
|
Amara Raja Energy and Mobility
|
Finalist
|
Transformation Titan
|
|
45
|
Keerthi Narayanan
|
Manager
|
Aspire Systens
|
Finalist
|
Transformation Titan
|
|
46
|
K R Ramakrishnan
|
Lead - HR Center of Excellence
|
Reliance Retail
|
Finalist
|
Transformation Titan
|
|
47
|
Shukla Asitkumar Niranjanbhai
|
Senior Manager
|
Zydus Lifesciences
|
Finalist
|
Transformation Titan
|
|
48
|
Kirti Poddar
|
Head -Human Resources
|
Mintifi Finserv
|
Finalist
|
Transformation Titan
|
|
49
|
S S Mythraye
|
Senior Manager
|
Intas Pharmaceuticals
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
50
|
Bharath Kumar M
|
Sr. Executive – Business HR
|
Amara Raja Energy C Mobility
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
51
|
Prasanth PP
|
Assistant Manager, Group OD and L&D
|
Amara Raja Energy C Mobility
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
52
|
Vedansh Dubey
|
Assistant Manager Business Catalyst
|
Wipro
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
53
|
Divay Bhardwaj
|
Chief Manager - Human Resources
|
Axis Max Life Insurance
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
54
|
Chinmay Jha
|
Deputy Manager
|
DS Foods
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
55
|
P NAGESWARA RAO
|
Senior Manager - HR & Admin
|
SEIL Energy India
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
56
|
Hevin Verghese C
|
Manager HR & Admin
|
Petronet LNG
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
57
|
Tushar Kanti
|
Asst. Manager - HR
|
Wipro
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
58
|
Mugdha Mahambrey
|
GM HR
|
Chalet Hotels
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
|
59
|
S Sunil Kamath
|
Senior HR Business Partner
|
Microsoft
|
Finalist
|
Young HR Turk
|
Beyond recognition
The event’s intimate format—deliberately boutique rather than expansive—enabled depth impossible in larger ceremonies. Panel discussions explored ideas thoroughly rather than rushing through talking points. Winners engaged in substantive conversations with jury members about implementation challenges and measurable outcomes.
Lionel Paul David, CHRO, Watertec, reflected on the significance, “I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the event and am truly grateful to HRKatha for this recognition. It’s encouraging to see platforms like these celebrating meaningful HR innovations and the people behind them.”
Sumit Rastogi, Deputy General Manager at HyFun Foods, found particular value in the intellectual exchange: “I truly enjoyed the panel discussions — they were so thought-provoking and insightful. I’m deeply grateful for the recognition and the opportunity to be part of such a wonderful celebration. The entire setup was beautiful, and the evening couldn’t have been better to honour young HR talent alongside their mentors and guides.”
Jaya Suri, CHRO at Kimbal, who spoke at the event, praised the approach, “The content was really insightful and full of learning. I also loved the idea of keeping it a boutique, small event focused on meaningful content rather than size.”
Dwarakanath noted the quality of exchange, “The quality of speakers was outstanding, and the discussions were truly in-depth and to the point. You rarely come across such closed-door events with this level of meaningful exchange — and that’s exactly what HRKatha has built. I thoroughly enjoyed being part of it and look forward to seeing more such events in the future.”
Jaikrishna B, President Group HR at Amara Raja Group, who served as both speaker and awards presenter, captured the event’s potential, “Everything about the event was wonderful — from the discussions to the overall energy. It would be exciting to see it grow even bigger next time. It truly has the potential to become one of the most anticipated events of the year.”
The inaugural HRKatha Rising Star Leadership Awards didn’t just recognise emerging talent—it validated that the future of HR leadership in India is already here, challenging convention and redefining what it means to build organisations where both people and performance thrive.
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