Indian-born fertiliser tycoon Pankaj Oswal was last night named among the six regional winners of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
Mr Oswal took out the young entrepreneur category, with the judges citing the success of his Burrup Fertilisers, the only petrochemical business to successfully build a major presence on the Burrup Peninsula.
John Borsoff, head of uranium miner Paladin Energy, won the listed category, witht he other western region winners made up of footwear company Betts Group's Danny Breckler (products category), diving technology company Divex's Doug Austin (technology and emerging industries), Sadleirs Transport's Ian Cook (services) and Tom Rudas of waste technology group AnaeCo.
Last weeek, Andrew and Nicola Forrest were named as the regional Social Entrepreneurs of the Year for assisting underprivileged children through their Australian Children's Trust, while Kerry Stokes was awarded the Champion of Entrepreneurship in recognition of his business achievements.
The category winners and the Forrests will compete for the national awards in November, with the Australian Entrepreneur of the Year to represent the country at the world awards in Monte Carlo. Other local winners of the national award include Austal boss John Rothwell in 2002 and Navitas chief Rod Jones last year.
SEAN SMITH