According to the MTV poll results, the person to impact or influence the youth the most in the last calendar year is Anil Ambani, who was nominated in the Business category. He emerged as a winner from a star-studded line-up including A P J Abdul Kalam, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Maneka Gandhi, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan and Smriti Malhotra. Anil Ambani was felicitated at his Alma Mater, K C College yesterday, with attendance from MTV VJ Cyrus Broacha and Sophia.

As the MTV Youth Icon of the Year, Anil Ambani will be invited to speak to the youth of India through a one-hour special, which will air on MTV.

A company release claims that Anil Ambani is in many ways a representation of the new India. Young, successful and ambitious, his vision is not restricted to building a great Indian enterprise but an Indian enterprise that can compete with the rest of the world. According to the release, the Indian youth have voted Anil Ambani for his success, business acumen, risk-taking attitude, honesty and simplicity.

Presented by LML Freedom in association with LG CDMA, Domino's Pizza, Anchor Gel and Arena Multimedia, and powered by Indiatimes.com, Viacom's Indian music arm had launched The MTV Youth Icon to decipher youth psyche. It is an attempt to identify the role models for today's youth and thus understand the values they cherish.

MTV India had commissioned Indian Marketing Research Bureau to conduct a study among the youth in eight cities, including Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and New Delhi, and identify their Icons in May this year.

The study revealed seven Indian nominees from different walks of life, who were then profiled on MTV. The channel invited viewers to vote for their Youth Icon. The votes were collected online through mtvindia.com and indiatimes.com, post, fax and also through voting slips with collection boxes across the country at youth hangouts.

According to the man of the moment Anil Ambani, "I cherish being voted as the MTV Youth Icon of the Year as it has come from the youth of India. They are the future of our nation and give me the strength to carry forward the vision of my late father, Dhirubhai Ambani - of making India a successful, super reliant power house."

MTV Networks India managing director Alex Kuruvilla said, "By choosing Anil Ambani as the MTV Youth Icon of the Year, the Indian youth have clearly indicated that they admire a person who can compete with the best and win. Anil Ambani is symbolic of the young Indian's aspiration - a young, dynamic, successful entrepreneur."