MUMBAI: CNBC-TV18 and ICICI Bank have tied-up with CRISIL to shortlist the nominees for 'Emerging India Awards', an initiative to recognise the the contribution of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the growth of the Indian economy.

CRISIL, the credit rating agency for designing and executing, evaluated the process for the awards. In a statement, the SMEs in the country having a net worth of a maximum of Rs 50 crore (RS 5 million) were eligible for 'Emerging India Awards'.

The awards was declared open for entries from the SME sector on 7 December, 2004. For this particular awards, over 5,000 entries from all over the country from ten different sectors. Twenty-five nominees were shortlisted in each category based on value creation parameters of financial data provided by the entities.

The awards will be given away on a countrywide basis targeting 10 different categories like auto, engineering and ancillaries, pharma and chemicals, FMCG, food and agri-business, gems and jewellery, textiles and apparel, information technology, communications and entertainment (ICE), IT enabled Services (ITeS), infrastructure, travel and tourism, retail trade and commodity traders and others.

The second round of screening will involve a review of financial statements of the nominees by CRISIL to shortlist three entries per category. Each of the three shortlisted entities per category will have to make a final round of offsite presentations about their respective businesses. The awards will be presented to winners as well as runners-up in each category.

As a part of this initiative, ICICI Bank and CNBC TV-18 had also organised forums in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad to discuss the various issues and opportunities for SMEs in various industries. The panelists represented experts and eminent personalities from different industries/SMEs and ICICI Bank's top management.