HRKatha Rising Star Leadership Awards Honours the Next Generation of HR Leaders at its Inaugural Edition

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.

HRKatha Rising Star Leadership Awards

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-thin—often 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

Sn No.	Name	Designation	Company	Status of win	Category
1	Anil Kumar Sagiraju	Dy Manager Business HR	Amara Raja Energy & Mobility	Winner	Business Catalyst
2	Meenakshi Thakur	AGM – HR	Bharat Aluminium Company	Winner	Culture Bridge Builder
3	Chintala Siva Sankar	AM-HR	Amara Raja Energy & Mobility	Winner	Experience Wizard
4	Mandeep Patter	Senior Manager – Employee Experience	Axis Max Life Insurance	Winner	Happiness Ambassador
5	Varun Jain	AVP HR	HSBC	Winner	HR Technovator
6	Lionel Paul David	CHRO	Watertec India	Winner	HR Trailblazer
7	Gaurav Modak	Rewards Manager	HEMPEL A/S	Winner	Rewards Guru
8	Akhilesh Rai	Deputy General Manager	Maruti Suzuki India	Winner	Shop Floor Diplomat
9	Sumit Rastogi	DGM-HR	HyFun Foods	Winner	Talent Magnet
10	Richa Alagh	Chief Manager – HR Operations Head	Axis Max Life Insurance	Winner	Transformation Titan
11	Deepanjan Sinha	Manager – HR	Uflex	Winner	Young HR Turk
12	Soumavo Chatterjee	Assistant Vice President	Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail	First Runner Up	Business Catalyst
13	Riddhi Bhupendra Sonavia	Senior HR Executive	Draeger India Private Limited	First Runner Up	Culture Bridge Builder
14	Sonal Manilal Harsiddhe	Assistant Manager	EPL Limited	First Runner Up	Happiness Ambassador
15	Amit Kaul	Head HR	ONGC Petro Additions	First Runner Up	HR Trailblazer
16	G Suresh Kumar	Executive, AI Business TA	Amara Raja Infra	First Runner Up	Talent Magnet
17	Vineeta Pandey	Senior Manager	Century Enka Limited	First Runner Up	Transformation Titan
18	Himanshu Gupta	AVP Performance & Rewards	HSBC	First Runner Up	Young HR Turk
19	Shiv Shankar Khandelwal	Sr. Manager (HR)	IFFCO/ IFFCO eBazar Ltd.	Second Runner Up	Business Catalyst
20	Hevin Verghese C	MANAGER (HR & ADMIN.)	Petronet LNG	Second Runner Up	Happiness Ambassador
21	Subrata Kr Saha	Sr. General Manager – HRD	Ambuja Neotia	Second Runner Up	HR Trailblazer
22	Aaron Dsouza	Head – HR	Dr. Reddy’s & Nestle Health Science	Second Runner Up	HR Trailblazer
23	Janvi Ashar	General Manager – HR & Admin	Unipath Specialty Laboratories	Second Runner Up	Transformation Titan
24	Ramratan Yadav	Manager	Maruti Suzuki India	Second Runner Up	Young HR Turk
25	Amiit Kumar	Lead – Business HR	Aditya Birla Money	Finalist	Business Catalyst
26	Kashmira Sharma	Director – HR Business Partners, India	Marvell Semiconductors	Finalist	Business Catalyst
27	Hiral Patel	Senior Manager – Human Resources	Reliance Industries	Finalist	Business Catalyst
28	Sujata Phukan	HR Partner Associate Manager	Accenture Solutions	Finalist	Business Catalyst
29	Sri Deepti Kocherlakota	People and Culture Business Partner	Vendavo	Finalist	Business Catalyst
30	Jagannathan U	Deputy Manager‚ AI Biz HR	Mangal Industries	Finalist	Business Catalyst
31	Ankit Dangi	Chief Operating Officer	SenseHR	Finalist	Business Catalyst
32	Anubrata Chatterjee	GM HR	Rupa & Co	Finalist	Business Catalyst
33	K R Ramakrishnan	Lead – Center of Excellence	Reliance Retail	Finalist	Business Catalyst
34	Ishita Agghi	Co-Founder	CLiKD.ai	Finalist	HR Technovator
35	Dakshdeep Singh	Senior Vice President	PeopleStrong Technologies	Finalist	HR Trailblazer
36	Jitendra Kumar Rajpurohit	Sr Manager HR	UltraTech Cement	Finalist	HR Trailblazer
37	Ruben Arun Kumar	Senior Manager, HR	Quest Diagnostics HTAS India	Finalist	HR Trailblazer
38	G Harikrishnama Raju	Assistant General Manager	JSW Cement	Finalist	HR Trailblazer
39	Chinhita Bose	Assistant Director- Human Resources	Parul University	Finalist	HR Trailblazer
40	T K Bharath Kumar	Regional Rewards Lead Americas	Novartis	Finalist	HR Trailblazer
41	Shreysa Gardner	Senior Officer	JK Cement	Finalist	Talent Magnet
42	Vandana Saxena	HR Professional	Voyage Ahead Solutions LLP	Finalist	Transformation Titan
43	Adithiya Venkataraman	CHRO	Hinduja Renewables Energy	Finalist	Transformation Titan
44	P Padmaja	Assistant Manager	Amara Raja Energy and Mobility	Finalist	Transformation Titan
45	Keerthi Narayanan	Manager	Aspire Systens	Finalist	Transformation Titan
46	K R Ramakrishnan	Lead – HR Center of Excellence	Reliance Retail	Finalist	Transformation Titan
47	Shukla Asitkumar Niranjanbhai	Senior Manager	Zydus Lifesciences	Finalist	Transformation Titan
48	Kirti Poddar	Head -Human Resources	Mintifi Finserv	Finalist	Transformation Titan
49	S S Mythraye	Senior Manager	Intas Pharmaceuticals	Finalist	Young HR Turk
50	Bharath Kumar M	Sr. Executive ‚Äì Business HR	Amara Raja Energy C Mobility	Finalist	Young HR Turk
51	Prasanth PP	Assistant Manager, Group OD and L&D	Amara Raja Energy C Mobility	Finalist	Young HR Turk
52	Vedansh Dubey	Assistant Manager Business Catalyst	Wipro	Finalist	Young HR Turk
53	Divay Bhardwaj	Chief Manager – Human Resources	Axis Max Life Insurance	Finalist	Young HR Turk
54	Chinmay Jha	Deputy Manager	DS Foods	Finalist	Young HR Turk
55	P NAGESWARA RAO	Senior Manager – HR & Admin	SEIL Energy India	Finalist	Young HR Turk
56	Hevin Verghese C	Manager HR & Admin	Petronet LNG	Finalist	Young HR Turk
57	Tushar Kanti	Asst. Manager – HR	Wipro	Finalist	Young HR Turk
58	Mugdha Mahambrey	GM HR	Chalet Hotels	Finalist	Young HR Turk
59	S Sunil Kamath	Senior HR Business Partner	Microsoft	Finalist	Young HR Turk

Beyond recognition

The event’s intimate format—deliberately boutique rather than expansive—enabled depth impossible in larger ceremonies. Panel discussions explored ideas thoroughly rather than rushing through talking points. Winners engaged in substantive conversations with jury members about implementation challenges and measurable outcomes.

Lionel Paul David, CHRO, Watertec, reflected on the significance, “I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the event and am truly grateful to HRKatha for this recognition. It’s encouraging to see platforms like these celebrating meaningful HR innovations and the people behind them.”

Sumit Rastogi, Deputy General Manager at HyFun Foods, found particular value in the intellectual exchange: “I truly enjoyed the panel discussions — they were so thought-provoking and insightful. I’m deeply grateful for the recognition and the opportunity to be part of such a wonderful celebration. The entire setup was beautiful, and the evening couldn’t have been better to honour young HR talent alongside their mentors and guides.”

Jaya Suri, CHRO at Kimbal, who spoke at the event, praised the approach, “The content was really insightful and full of learning. I also loved the idea of keeping it a boutique, small event focused on meaningful content rather than size.”

Dwarakanath noted the quality of exchange, “The quality of speakers was outstanding, and the discussions were truly in-depth and to the point. You rarely come across such closed-door events with this level of meaningful exchange — and that’s exactly what HRKatha has built. I thoroughly enjoyed being part of it and look forward to seeing more such events in the future.”

Jaikrishna B, President Group HR at Amara Raja Group, who served as both speaker and awards presenter, captured the event’s potential, “Everything about the event was wonderful — from the discussions to the overall energy. It would be exciting to see it grow even bigger next time. It truly has the potential to become one of the most anticipated events of the year.”

The inaugural HRKatha Rising Star Leadership Awards didn’t just recognise emerging talent—it validated that the future of HR leadership in India is already here, challenging convention and redefining what it means to build organisations where both people and performance thrive.