Tata Chemicals wins ‘Gold’ at the Asian Innovation Awards 2010
Winners honoured at ceremony in Hong Kong on October 26, 2010
Tata Chemicals (TCL) has been awarded the ‘Gold' award at the Asian Innovation Awards 2010, presented by The Wall Street Journal Asia in partnership with Credit Suisse AG. The winners were announced at a gala ceremony in Hong Kong, where finalists from around the Asia Pacific region gathered as part of a ‘Conversations with Innovators of the World’ event. The event was organised by Credit Suisse at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong on October 26, 2010.
The Asian Innovation Awards, which attracted nearly 300 entries from 13 countries and territories throughout Asia Pacific, are committed to finding the next big technological ideas in Asia.
TCL won the ‘Gold' award for its development of the Tata Swach nanotech water purifier that has a low-cost, portable "bulb" to purify untreated water with paddy husks and nano-silver particles. The bulb indicates when its purifying capacity has been exhausted, a safety measure designed to keep unsafe water from being accidentally consumed.
Speaking at the occasion, Ashvini Hiren, COO, consumer products business, TCL, said: “It is a great honor to be a recipient of this top innovation award. This serves as pleasant encouragement to our efforts and we hope that with this Tata Swach continues to scale greater heights”.
"We are privileged to be working in this space," said Sabaleel Nandy, head of TCL’s water-purifier business. "The demand in India is very huge. There are over 250 million households, and we would like to make sure that they have a purifier that will save them from waterborne diseases."
“Technological innovation is essential for stimulating and driving growth and creative ideas in every type of organisation,” said Almar Latour, editor-in-chief, Asia, The Wall Street Journal. "All the winners in this year’s awards have demonstrated that their innovations can push boundaries and change people’s lives, and we're proud to be providing a platform to help foster and shape future ideas.”
The judging panel for this year’s awards included Steven J DeKrey, associate dean, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School, and founding director of the Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA program; Anil K Gupta, Kasturbhai Lalbhai, chair professor of entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; Rosemary Tan, chief executive officer, Veredus Laboratories, Singapore, and 2006 Asian Innovation Awards Gold winner; Kenny Tang, founder and chief executive officer, Oxbridge Capital, London; and Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing, founder, Limkokwing University College of Creative Technology and president of the college's professional arm, the Malaysia Design Innovation Centre.