NewsVoir
New Delhi [India], November 4: HRKatha Rising Star Leadership Awards, designed to recognise and celebrate the exceptional talent shaping the future of HR in India, concluded the inaugural edition on 31st October 2025, honouring the emerging HR leaders from the corporate word. The event aims to spotlight individuals poised to redefine HR practices and honour those making significant contributions to their organizations and the industry as a whole. By providing a stage for these rising stars, the awards foster a culture of excellence and innovation within the HR profession.
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-thinoften 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
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