Mihir Dalal’s book on Flipkart wins Gaja Capital’s book prize

Mint journalist Mihir Dalal won the Gaja Capital Business Book Prize 2020 for his debut book, Big Billion Startup: The Untold Flipkart Story.

He was chosen from a shortlist of six books, including works by Sunil Munjal, Rahul Chandra, Tamal Bandyopadhyay, T.N. Hari, M.S. Subramanian and Katherine Eban.

Established by the equity firm Gaja Capital last year, the Gaja Business Book Prize seeks to recognize business writing. With prize money of ₹15 lakh for the winner, it is the biggest business book prize in the country.

Announcing the 2020 winner virtually, Gopal Jain, co-founder and managing partner of Gaja Capital, spoke of the need to chronicle India’s growth story for the world. “The Gaja Capital Business Book Prize was instituted in 2019 to encourage Indian writers, journalists and entrepreneurs to tell our stories and tell them well,” he added.

The jury for the second edition featured leaders from the world of industry, investments, academia, public policy, and governance, with Manish Sabharwal, chairman of TeamLease, acting as the chairman of the jury. Others in the jury included Imran Jafar, managing partner and co-founder of Gaja Capital, and U.K. Sinha, a former chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India.

The jury praised the broader ambitions of Dalal’s work beyond simply profiling the fortunes of one company. “Through this incisive and deeply researched book, Mihir Dalal aims to answer the critical question: What will the internet economy in India look like?” they said in their citation. “The Flipkart story reminds us that Indian entrepreneurs will forge their own independent paths of innovation, serving a diverse and very demanding Indian consumer.”

Mihir Dalal is an editor with Mint, where he has covered internet businesses for more than five years. He has worked at Reuters and CNBC TV18 previously. A leading production house is adapting the book into a web series.

Last year the inaugural Gaja Capital Business Book Prize was awarded to writers Girish Kuber and Vikrant Pande for their book Tatas: How A Family Built A Business And A Nation.