Lakshmi Mittal gets Forbes lifetime achievement award

American business magazine Forbes said on Monday that India-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is being conferred the third Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award, which honours heroes of entrepreneurial capitalism and free enterprise.

Mittal will get the award tonight at Forbes Global CEO Conference, being held in Singapore and expected to be attended by more than 450 business leaders with a combined net worth of more than $160 billion from across the world.

Earlier in March this year, Forbes had named Mittal as fourth richest with a net worth of $45 billion in its annual ranking of the world's richest billionaires.

"Mittal will receive the third Malcolm S Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening dinner tonight from Steve Forbes, Chairman & CEO of Forbes, and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine," Forbes said in a statement.

"The award honours heroes of entrepreneurial capitalism and those who embody and exemplify the ideals of free enterprise," it added.

Born in Rajasthan, Mittal founded Mittal Steel Company (formerly LNM Group) in 1976. It later acquired numerous steel companies around the world, including the International Steel Group in the US, to become the world's largest steel producer following merger with Arcelor in 2006.

Forbes said that this year's theme at the three-day conference is "The Winning Hand" and would discuss strategies in dealing with the global uncertainty and issues such as US elections, real estate, China, India and entrepreneurship.

Those speaking at the conference include TCS CEO and MD S Ramadorai, Sajjan Jindal, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Steel, Tulsi Tanti, Chairman and Managing Director of Suzlon Energy.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will deliver the keynote address.