Mumbai, India – October 07, 2024 - Gaja Capital, India’s leading growth-stage private equity firm, announced the shortlist for the 6th edition of the Gaja Capital Business Book Prize 2024. The award, honouring business literature, captures the essence of entrepreneurship, leadership, and innovation in India. This year’s shortlist covers a diverse range of themes including innovation, business leadership, resilience, and the triumph of entrepreneurship in overcoming personal struggles and adversity.
This year’s shortlist comprises of 5 must-read books: “Entrepreneurs Who Built India- Lala Shri Ram: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow” by Sonu Bhasin, which captures the pioneering spirit of Sir Lala Shri Ram who left an indelible mark across business, organisational management and higher education, “Fintech for Billions: Simple | Human | Ubiquitous” by Bhagwan Chowdhry and Anas Ahmed which explores the transformative power of financial technology, highlighting its potential to drive financial inclusion and economic empowerment on a national scale, “Middle of Diamond India: National Renaissance through Participation and Enterprise” by Shashank Mani, which presents a compelling narrative on collective growth and national development focusing on citizens in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, “Silver Lining: Overcoming Adversity to Build NephroPlus – India’s Largest Dialysis Provider” by Kamal Shah, describing his personal story of resilience and innovation in healthcare and the building of NephroPlus, and “Swadeshi Steam: V.O Chidambaram Pillai and the Battle against the British Maritime Empire” by A.R. Venkatachalapathy which sheds light on the protagonist’s courageous fight against the British maritime monopoly, showcasing the power of entrepreneurial spirit in the face of adversity.
Manish Sabharwal, Chairman of the Gaja Capital Business Book Prize Jury, stated, “This year’s shortlist captures a slice of the revolution in corporate India’s DNA, ambition, and performance. The evolution of candidates for our prizes over the last few years augurs well for the future. In a world of soundbites, these books demonstrate the power of compounding.”
The winner of the 2024 Gaja Capital Business Book Prize will be announced later this year, continuing the tradition of celebrating the compelling stories that fuel India's entrepreneurial spirit and economic growth and will receive an enhanced cash prize of INR 20 lakhs.
Gopal Jain, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Gaja Capital, said “The 2024 shortlist delves into the themes of financial inclusion, resilience, and national development with a focus on solutions for all levels of the economic pyramid. Whether it be the bravery of V.O Chidambaram Pillai, to build a naval company in direct competition with the British naval monopoly, or Kamal Shah’s resilience to build Asia’s largest dialysis chain while himself being diagnosed with kidney failure, these stories highlight both the entrepreneurial journeys as well as their courage in overcoming personal adversities to create impactful outcomes.”
The jury for the sixth edition includes eminent figures from industry, investments, public policy, and governance: Manish Sabharwal, Vice-Chairman at TeamLease (Chairman, Jury), Imran Jafar, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Gaja Capital, Aarthi Subramanian, Group Chief Digital Officer at Tata Sons, Arindam Bhattacharya, Senior Advisor and Emeritus Partner at Boston Consulting Group, Dr. Lakshmi Venu, MD of Sundaram-Clayton (SCL), Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint MD of Apollo Hospitals, Neelkanth Mishra, Chief Economist, Head of Global Research and Board member at Axis Capital, Prithvi Haldea, Founder Chairman of Praxis Consulting, Shailesh Haribhakti, Founder and Managing Partner of Shailesh Haribhakti & Associates, and UK Sinha, Former Head of the RBI Expert Committee on MSMEs and Former Chairman of SEBI.
Past winners include “Against All Odds: The IT Story of India” by Kris Gopalakrishnan, N. Dayasindhu, and Krishnan Narayanan and “Winning Middle India: The Story of India’s New-Age Entrepreneurs” by T.N Hari and Bala Srinivasa (2023), journalist and author Harish Damodaran’s “Broke to Breakthrough” (2022), a detailed and perceptive account of the rise of dairy company Hatsun Agro and its founder R.G. Chandramogan; Amrit Raj's book "Indian Icon: A Cult Called Royal Enfield," (2021) a gripping account of how a strong Indian brand became global; Mint journalist Mihir Dalal’s debut book, “Big Billion Startup: The Untold Flipkart Story” (2020) and “The Tatas: How a Family Built a Business and a Nation” (2019) co-authored by Girish Kuber and Vikrant Pande.
One of India’s premier mid-market focused private equity firms, Gaja Capital provides growth capital to ambitious entrepreneurs to build the future champions of the Indian economy. Through its specific, methodical, and consistent investment strategy, Gaja has an established track record of delivering strong performance since inception and has positioned itself as a partner of choice for emerging companies and leading global investors in India. Gaja Capital was founded in 2004 by Gopal Jain, Ranjit Shah, and Imran Jafar — a group of seasoned indigenous professionals with an established track record of investing and operational management in India. The high calibre of leadership, investment, and operating expertise within Gaja's core team has enabled it to deliver tangible value beyond capital to the entrepreneurs and businesses it has invested in.
The Gaja Capital Business Book Prize was established in 2019 and carries a purse of INR 20 lakhs for the winner. It honours authors and their works which celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and business leadership in India.
