OREANDA-NEWS. At its 34th annual function, the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) conferred its highest honour of 'Man of Appliances' award for 2013 upon Pradeep Bakshi, president and COO, Voltas Unitary Products Business Group. The award was in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian appliances industry, and more specifically his triumphant turnaround of the Voltas AC brand, transforming it into a national success story crowned by its rise to the No1 position in the market.

Present on the occasion were RN Dhoot, Member of Parliament; Dr Srini Srinivasan, managing director, Arthur D Little; other leading members of the governing body of CEAMA; Ravi Zutshi, deputy MD, Samsung Electronics India; Eric Braganza, president, Haier India; Aniruddh Dhoot, director, Videocon Industries; and many other eminent industry leaders.

In the citation accompanying the award, Mr Bakshi was characterised as 'a triumphant professional in the competitive Indian white goods landscape', as well as an 'enthusiastic, confident leader who understands the dynamics of a tightly competitive, global industry and knows how to be successful in it'.

Summing up his accomplishments at Voltas, the citation stated: 'Under his able leadership, Voltas's unitary products have consistently grown in revenue and profitability, well ahead of the industry, in spite of a challenging economic environment. In fact, Voltas AC achieved leadership position by volume sales and also scores high in terms of brand equity in comparison to rival multinational brands.'

The awarding body, CEAMA, is an all-India apex organisation of 100 plus members comprising small, medium and large-scale companies and businesses in the consumer electronics and durables sector, both domestic and multinational. Over the past 33 years, CEAMA has proactively looked after the interests of the industry, taken up important industry issues at appropriate forums of the government, carried out industrial promotional activities within the government, furthered the cause of sustainable growth in the sector, and also acknowledged distinguished work in this domain, such as Pradeep Bakshi's.