Vedanta Founder Receives Global Indian Award In Canada
Founder of Vedanta Anil Agarwal honoured with the Global Indian Award by the Canada-India Foundation at its 15th annual gala.
Anil Agarwal, Founder – Vedanta, honoured with the Global Indian Award worth 50,000 dollars by the Canada-India Foundation at its 15th annual gala last week.
The entire award money was donated by Agarwal to a Canadian health charity working for the welfare of native Indians.
The mining tycoon praised the achievements of the 1.6 million-strong Indo-Canadian community in Canada. He said, “I have gone all over the world, but I have not seen the kind of bonding in the Indian diaspora anywhere that I see in Canada. Take your businesses to the skies and make Canada proud. You live in the best country in the world.”
The Vedanta founder said India has been a poor country, however times has changed. He said, “The 3-trillion dollars economy is going to be a 30 trillion dollars economy in the coming years. The middle class that is 20 per cent today is going to be 80 per cent in the next six-seven years.”
India and Canada are quite similar and they complement each other in various areas. “Together, the two countries can do phenomenal work,” said Anil.
The star-studded gala event was graced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, ministers and Indian consul general Apoorva Srivastava.
Praising the Indian tycoon for this charity, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, “Anil Agarwal is the more deserving person for the award and his generosity has improved the lives of many people. You are a role model and an inspiration, Anil.”
Canada India Foundation chairman, Satish Thakkar on welcoming Agarwal to the gala event said, “Mr Agarwal’s life story should inspire every youngster growing up, to dream big and persevere to fulfil the dream. Mr. Agarwal is also a philanthropic role model all for as he has pledged to give 75 percent of his wealth to charity. On behalf of CIF and all present, I extend a very warm welcome to Mr Agarwal.”
Ratan Tata, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Deepak Chopra have been the past recipients of the Global Indian Award. This was started by this premier Indo-Canadian organization back in 2007.