SUBSCRIBER’S COPY NOT FOR RESALE I RNI NO. 39847/81 I 21 FEBRUARY 2026INSIDE: SUSTAINABILITY OUTCOMESSOCIAL IMPACT LEADERSChirag Bhandari, Hemendra K. Singh, HP Singh, Ketan Deshpande, Kruti Bharucha, Madan Chawla, Mallikarjuna Iytha, Meera Shenoy, Neelam Pandita, Prasanna Khemariya, Rajesh Krishnan, Rajiv Mehta, Ruby Ahluwalia, Sajid Ali, Samaya Chauhan, Samina Bano, Santanu Chakraborty, Santanu Mishra, Sarika Panda Bhatt, Saumya Lashkari, Shveta Lall, Siddharth Chaturvedi, Smriti Joshi, Sriram V., Urvashi Prasad, Zaheer Adenwala, Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj, Sanjana SanghiTHE RISE OF SOCIAL IMPACT ECONOMYInside India’s 2 MILLIONsocial enterprises,$5 BILLIONimpact investments and the shift from grants to revenue-led growthRs 200www.businessworld.in
Ensure Your Brand’s Presence in this Special Issue!!!BW AI 100Identifying top AI leaders from India who are making a global impactIndia’s AI moment: How enterprises are moving from pilots to AI-led transformationICYMI: Top Takeaways from India AI Impact Summit 2026Global AI leaders: The strategies, investments and shifts defining the next phase of AIAI-first companies: How Indian firms are building, scaling and competing globallyAparna Sengupta, [email protected], +91 9958000128Anjeet Trivedi, [email protected], +91 9818122217 Ravi Khatri, [email protected], +91 9891315715Somyajit Sengupta, [email protected], +91 9818247444Kiran Dedhia, [email protected], +91 9833399009fifffflffiflfflffifflfffflflflffFor Editorial:Noor Fathima Warsia,[email protected] AI EDGE EDITIONMaterial Deadline:February 25March 7, 2026Blockyourpages...
4 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026FOR LONG, SOCIAL IMPACT was driven by philanthropic individuals and sustained by purpose. What we are witnessing today is a clear and positive shift. Social impact is no longer operating at the margins of the economy but moving steadily toward the centre of business thinking to command capital allocation and institutional design. In many ways, this moment marks the corporatisation of social ethos. This is not corporatisation in the conventional sense of profit-first thinking. Instead, it reflects the emergence of structure, discipline and scale in a sector that was once fragmented. With over two million social enterprises operating across the country and nearly $5 billion in impact investments flowing into Indian enterprises in recent years, the contours of a social impact economy are becoming increasingly visible. The lingo in this sector has evolved from “grants” and “programmes” to “models”, “outcomes” and “sustainability”.What began with citizens and grassroots leaders responding to gaps in education, healthcare, livelihoods and inclusion, has now found resonance within institutions. Corporate India, through CSR, ESG mandates and responsible business frameworks, has begun integrating social impact into strategy instead of treating it as an adjunct. Today, capital markets, investors and policymakers are also part of this ecosystem. The result is a convergence. Social entrepreneurs are building organisations that think like enterprises. Corporates are investing in social impact with the same rigour as in business. Technology, particularly AI and digital public infrastructure, is enabling scale and precision that were once unimaginable. And yet, at the heart of this transformation remains a simple truth: action is meaningful only when it impacts lives on the ground.This issue reflects that transition. Across our cover story on the rise of the social impact economy and the profiles that follow, there is a clear movement from ambition to action. The questions are no longer about whether change is needed, but about how it is delivered, measured and sustained. BW Businessworld is celebrating leaders who are shaping this shift, not as isolated actors, but as part of a larger movement that is redefining how India approaches development. This thinking also finds resonance in our special package on sustainability. Increasingly, sustainability and social impact are converging around a common principle: outcomes matter. Whether it is climate action, inclusive growth or community development, the emphasis is shifting from announcements to measurable progress.India’s growth story will ultimately be defined not just by economic expansion, but by how inclusive, resilient and equitable that growth is. The rise of the social impact economy and its gradual corporatisation, offers a pathway to achieve exactly that. ANNURAG BATRA [email protected] ECONOMY AROUND ETHOSEDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE
Priya Saraf | [email protected] | 9732247222 | 9832386269Biren Singho | [email protected] | 8700166424 For QueriesEVENT PARTNERS#BWEducation40under40awards2026In association with5th EditionCelebratingChangemakersin Education!Honoring Excellence, Innovation & Impact in EducationNominate NowTaj MG Road Bangalore MARCH 2, 2026Scan to NominateJury MembersDr Annurag BatraChairman & Editor-in-ChiefBW Businessworld andFounder, exchange4mediaDr Pawan SinghDirectorIIM TrichySwaroop SampatRawalActress Educator ChairpersonCommittee for Inclusive Educationfor CBSE (Former)Mukesh SharmaFounding ChairmanPrometheus SchoolRupa ChakrabortyDirectorSuncity SchoolProf D P GoyalDirector and DeanLM Thapar School of ManagementP. DwarakanathPresidentDr. Pritam Singh Foundation
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in association withCONCLAVE & AWARDS202625 MARCH 2026, EROS HOTEL, NEHRU PLACE, NEW DELHIREGISTER NOWfifffflffiflSpeakersDr. Annurag BatraChairman & Editor-in-Chief BW Businessworld and Founder, exchange4mediaShri Kuldip SarmaCo-Founder & Pro-Chancellor Medhavi Skills UniversityProf. (Dr.) TankeshwarKumarVice-Chancellor Central University of HaryanaSyed Adnan AkhtarAdditional Pro Chancellor,Integral UniversityProf. Kamal KishorePantDirector, IIT RoorkeeTarun AnandChancellor & Founder Universal AI UniversityDr. ASIT KUMARBARMADirector & Professor Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM), Tiruchirapalli, IndiaDr. Aman MittalVice PresidentLovely Professional UniversityKunwar Shekhar VijendraCo-founder & Chancellor, Shobhit University; Chairman, National Education Council, ASSOCHAM Shobhit UniversityHimani SoodPro Chancellor Chandigarh UniversityJoutishman DuttaManaging Trustee/Vice President Assam down town University Payal Jindal KhannaAssociate Director and Head Centre for Leadership Coaching Shoolini University Prof. (Dr.) Hemant VermaVice-Chancellor, SGT UniversityProf. Raghuvir SinghVice ChancellorKR Mangalam UniversityProf (Dr Parsanjeet Kumar)Vice ChancellorSDGI Global UniversityProf. (Dr) PadmakaliBanerjee FRSADirector General - KIIT KIIT Deemed to be University BhuvaneshwarInstitution of EminenceFor Speakership: Ravi Khatri, +91 9891315715, [email protected] Verma, +91 7999267076, [email protected] Nominations: Nibedita Dey, +91 9871162274, [email protected] PARTNERS
8 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026MAILBOXYOUR COMMENTSTALK BACKwww.businessworld.inUNION BUDGET 2026-27EMPOWERINGGROWTHWith Rs 53.5 lakh crore spending, Rs 12.2 lakh crore capex and a 4.3 per cent fiscal deficit, Budget signals stabilityINDIA-EU FTA SLICED & DICEDINSIDE: INDIA-US INTERIM DEAL LOWERS TARIFFSRs 200RNI NO. 39847/81 I 07 FEBRUARY 2026 A SYSTEM-FIRST STRATEGY This refers to the editorial (“India’s Healthcare Reset Gains Depth As Spending, Science And Skills Move In Tandem,” BW February 7). The author highlights that the Union Budget 2026-27 outlines a system-first healthcare strategy where spending, innovation, mental health, digital intelligence and affordability advance together. India’s healthcare allocation marks a decisive shift—from fragmented interventions to system-level thinking. The benefits are clear: stronger infrastructure, biopharma momentum, digital scale and workforce growth. Yet, experts caution that federal coordination, rural deployment and execution speed will determine real-world impact. While execution will determine outcomes, the direction is clear: India’s healthcare future is being shaped not just by new medicines, but by stronger institutions and smarter systems that serve patients more equitably. AMITA SEN, EMAILTOWARDS CREATING CHAMPION SMEsThis refers to the editorial (“Keeping The Reform Express Fuelled”, BW, February 7). By recognising MSMEs as a critical engine of innovation and employment, the Budget lays out a structured approach to help them evolve into ‘Champions’. It is good to know that at the heart of this effort is equity support through a proposed Rs 10,000 crore SME Growth Fund and the proposed Rs 2,000 crore top-up to the Self-Reliant India Fund, designed to back select enterprises. This expands the pool of growth capital available beyond traditional VC channels, particularly for startups transitioning from early revenue to expansion stages. SHALINI APTE, EMAILBLIPP THIS PAGE TO GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK INSTANTLYSubmissions to BW |Businessworldshould include the writer’s name and address and be sent by email to the editor at [email protected] or by mail to 74-75, Scindia House, Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001
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10 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026CONTENTSCover design by DINESH S. BANDUNIDoing Good Means Business NowHow India’s development landscape is seeing a clear structural shift from purely grant-funded interventions toward revenue-generating social enterprise models, ensuring social good can pay for itself44 12 JottingsArtificial intelligence & the great marketing migration; India’s AI Jamboree; Global confidence in India’s AI infrastructure; Pricing risk, not comfort, and much more 14ColumnsVikas Singh (p. 14); Amit Kapoor & Ananya Khurana (p. 16); Srinath Sridharan (p. 20); Krishan Kalra (p. 22); Kiran Karnik (p. 24); Kaushik Prasad (p. 26); Srinath Sridharan & Steve Correa (p. 28) 32 ImpromptuK Ganapathy Subramaniam of LT Foods on what it will take to win the battle for consumer mindshare in 202640 Double GameHow Rothschild & Co, with deep links to Pakistan, is now shaping National Stock Exchange’s IPO, reviving concerns for IndiaPROFILES OF SOCIAL IMPACT LEADERS50 Chirag Bhandari, Ennoble Social Innovation Foundation50 Hemendra K. Singh, Axis Max Life Insurance51 HP Singh, Satin Creditcare Network51 Ketan Deshpande, Friends Union for Energising Lives52 Kruti Bharucha, Peepul52 Mallikarjuna Iytha, Inclusive Divyangjan Entrepreneur AssociationVOLUME 45, ISSUE 09 21 FEBRUARY 2026SOCIAL IMPACT
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 11The pages in BW Businessworld that are labelled BWi or Promotions contain sponsored content. They are entirely generated by an advertiser or the marketing department of BW Businessworld. Also, the inserts being distributed along with some copies of the magazine are advertorials /advertisements.These pages should not be confused with BW Businessworld’s editorial content. TOTAL NO. OF PAGES INCLUDING COVER 11253 Meera Shenoy, Youth4Jobs Foundation53 Neelam Pandita, Blacksoil Capital 54 Prasanna Khemariya, Self Reliant Initiatives through Joint Action (SRIJAN)54 Rajesh Krishnan, United Way Bengaluru 55 Rajiv Mehta, Ratnanidhi Charitable Trust55 Ruby Ahluwalia, Sanjeevani - Life Beyond Cancer56 Sajid Ali, Tech Mahindra Foundation56 Samina Bano, RightWalk 57 Santanu Mishra, Smile Foundation57 Sarika Panda Bhatt, Raahgiri Foundation58 Saumya Lashkari, 360 One Foundation58 Shveta Lall, Language & Learning Foundation59 Siddharth Chaturvedi, AISECT Group59 Smriti Joshi, Wysa60 Sriram V., The/Nudge Institute60 Urvashi Prasad, ALK Positive India62 Zaheer Adenwala, Ketto Online Ventures62 Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj, Journalist & Social Activist62 Sanjana Sanghi, Actor63 Madan Chawla, GIFT - Globally Integrated Foundation for Thalassaemia63 Santanu Chakraborty, Bal Raksha Bharat63 Samaya Chauhan, Policy Leadership Advocacy Action Network for Youth (PLAN Y)82 Action Begins2026 is the year when India’s sustainability ambition met accountability, and when the real work began96 In ConversationFrom boundary-rider to brand builder, how the former England captain Kevin Pietersen is betting on India, whisky and the long game104 BookmarkA review of financial planner Sharan Hegde’s book Rise to the 1%: The Smart Indian’s Playbook for Wealth and Early Retirement100 After HoursCo-founder Shivam Bajaj on his vision for Evolve, a wellness club exclusively for women 110LAST WORDSAP’s Simon Davies on the India market, artificial intelligence and more
12 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026JOTTINGSAS ARTIFICIALi n t e l l i g e n c e fundamentally recalibrates the marketing ecosystem, multinational enterprises a r e r e a s s e s s i n g n o t merely the semantics of communication, but the very architecture through which that communication is conceived, engineered a n d d i s s e m i n a t e d . The much anticipated decision by Barclays to relocate parts of its marketing operations from London to India underscores a far more profound structural realignment unfolding within global corporate frameworks.Barclays is reportedly preparing to replace several London-based roles with a larger marketing content team in India, powered by AI tools that can generate highly targeted advertising and personalised digital copy at scale. Concurrently, the bank is also targeting £2 billion in cost reductions over the next three years as it expands its use of AI across operations. This isn’t simply a cost-arbitrage play. It reflects how AI is transforming marketing from intuitionled storytelling to datai n f o r m e d p r e c i s i o n . To d a y ’ s A I s y s t e m s can analyse customer behaviour in real time, identify micro-segments, test multiple creative variations instantly, and optimise messaging across channels. The result is faster turnaround, sharper targeting and campaigns that evolve dynamically based on performance.For brands, this shift is creating new trends: distributed global teams augmented by AI, content factories that balance human creativity with machine efficiency and hyperpersonalised engagement that feels bespoke rather than broadcast. The future of marketing isn’t just digital-first. It’s AI-assisted, globally distributed and relentlessly data-driven. — Soumya BhutaniAT THE INDIA AI Impact Summit 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pitch was calibrated and consistent: artificial intelligence (AI) must be “human-centric,” democratic and inclusive. New Delhi is trying to script a new chapter in the global AI story, not as a bystander, but as a rule-shaper. India aims to position itself between two dominant poles, the state-heavy Chinese model and the market-led US ecosystem. The third pathway will be rooted in scale, openness and a digital public infrastructure. The numbers are intentionally bold. Ministers have spoken of up to $200 billion in potential AI-linked investments over the next two years. More than $100 billion in commitments have been referenced at the summit, spanning data centres, cloud infrastructure and applications. The presence of global technology leaders alongside domestic conglomerates lent hope to India’s aim for capital, compute and credibility.India’s AI JamboreeArtificial Intelligence & the Great Marketing MigrationThe energy at the summit was high, at times overwhelming. On the first day, overcrowded halls and logistical bottlenecks underlined the appetite and the strain of hosting what is being billed as a flagship AI gathering of the Global South. India’s AI push is anchored in real strategic concerns: compute sovereignty, defence applications, semiconductor access and the need to move beyond IT services into foundational innovation. The pledges were headline-grabbing, but the pipelines will prove harder work.If India is able to convert investor enthusiasm into sustained research depth, reliable infrastructure and globally competitive products, its democratic AI proposition will gain weight. If not, the gap between promise and performance will widen. For now, the story is less about declarations and more about delivery. — Abhishek SharmaPhotograph by Philopenshaw
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 13Photograph by ImagedbTHE RESERVE BANK of India’s (RBI)Risk-Based Premium framework marks a long overdue reset in deposit insurance pricing, aimed squarely at banks, not consumers. Depositors face no change in coverage or cost. The shift links insurance premiums to risk rather than treating institutions alike.Under the framework, the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation classifies banks into four risk buckets, A, B, C and D, using supervisory assessments, c a p i t a l a d e q u a c y , asset qualit y, liquidit y, profitability, and potential loss to the insurance fund. Banks in the strongest A category will pay as low as 8 paise per Rs 100 of insured deposits, while weaker banks move up the scale to the existing ceiling of 12 paise per Rs 100. In plain Pricing Risk, Not Comfort terms, safety earns a discount, fragility attracts a surcharge.For banks, the signal is unmistakable. Deposit insurance is no longer a flat statutory levy but a performance linked cost. Strong balance sheets, conservative underwriting, and consistent governance translate into lower expenses, while fragile institutions lose the comfort of being subsidised by better run peers. Over time, this should sharpen risk discipline and curb moral hazard.Globally, the framework aligns India with best practices in the US and parts of Europe, where risk-based pricing protects i n s u r a n c e f u n d s a n d reinforces market discipline. The warning is simple. As stress rises and metrics deteriorate, premiums climb when banks can least afford them. Can the RBI ensure that the framework penalises recklessness without becoming procyclical when the banking cycle turns? —Ashish Sinha Global Confidence in India’s AI InfrastructureTHE PROJECTION by Union IT & Electronics Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw that India could attract over $200 billion in AI infrastructure and related investment over the next two years is not hyperbole but perhaps evidence of accelerating global confidence in India’s AI opportunity. Government figures quoted at the India AI Impact Summit show roughly $70 billion already committed and about $90 billion recently announced, with tax incentives like a 21-year cloud services holiday expected to further catalyse capital flows.Major corporate initiatives are concretely expanding compute capacity: Indian data centre developer Yotta is committing $2 billion to build a Blackwell-chip AI hub and institutional capital (e.g., Blackstone’s $1.2 billion backing for domestic AI compute) points to investor conviction in local infrastructure bottleneck resolution. Private sector commitments also point to longer-term ecosystem formation. The Adani Group’s planned $100 billion investment in renewable-powered AI data centres by 2035, expected to catalyse an additional $150 billion in AI ecosystem capital, works out well for the sovereign infrastructure push flagged by the government.While India clearly lags the US and China in foundational AI model development and AI R&D spending, these investment trends signal a structural pivot toward building physical AI capability that could redefine its position in the global AI space.— Rohit ChintapaliPhotograph by PIBPhotograph by Satheesh Nair
14 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026Periodic Labour Force Survey places headline unemployment at a manageable 3.2 per cent. Yet among urban graduates aged 22 to 32, joblessness remains in double digits. This contradiction is not statistical noise; it is structural. By conventional measures, the economy appears healthy. Growth ranks among the fastest globally. Corporate profits have rebounded, equity markets are buoyant, manufacturing output is rising, and services continue to expand. Labour-force participation has improved. Yet employment outcomes lag. Regular salaried jobs, the backbone of middle-class stability, have grown too slowly to absorb a swelling working-age population.Recent job creation has shifted towards insecure, informal arrangements lacking stability.The Compression of Entry-Level Work: For decades, output and employment moved together. Firms hired more people to produce more goods. That link is weakening. Across industries, productivity is being prioritised over labour intensity. Manufacturing shows this most clearly. Automation allows output to scale while headcount stagnates. Competitiveness improves. Employment does not. Services are following a similar path. In information technology, labour-heavy models that once absorbed thousands of graduates are being replaced by AI-enabled systems. Routine coding, testing and customer support are increasingly automated. Revenues rise. Hiring flattens.The damage is concentrated at the entry level. These roles were not merely jobs; they were training grounds where workers acquired skills, discipline and networks. As automation compresses the bottom rung, the ladder itself shortens. A labour market that bypasses beginners does not just reduce headcount. It restricts mobility. Growth becomes less inclusive because access narrows.COLUMN By Vikas SinghINDIA’S GROWTH REFLECTSjobless productivity: output and profits rise, but employment and progression lag, fuelling economic unease.Growth Without Ladders: A young engineering graduate in Hyderabad describes his job search with weary precision. “There is work,” he says, “but not a career.” After months of applications, he has two offers: a short-term contract in logistics and a commission-based role selling financial products. Neither offers structured training, stability, or a credible path upward. “My parents had fewer options,” he says, “but more certainty.” The economy is expanding. His future feels provisional.India does not lack work. It lacks work that accumulates skills, security and progression. That is the jobs problem rarely named in public debate.When Strong Numbers Hide Weak Jobs: Public discussion oscillates between unemployment rates and headline growth, as if the two moved in tandem. But India’s challenge is not simply how many people are employed. It is what kind of jobs are being created, at what scale, and with what prospects. The latest The author is an economist and columnistTHE JOB PROBLEM WE REFUSE TO NAMEPhotograph by Rangizzz
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 15lectively. In India, where both remain thin, it is absorbed by households. The question is not whether new forms of work exist, but whether they can sustain a mass middle class in the way salaried, skill-accumulating jobs once did. So far, the evidence is unconvincing.If India continues to produce output faster than livelihoods, job creation must move from the realm of social grievance to that of macroeconomic strategy. This requires re-centering policy on the “missing middle”: firms capable of scaling employment if institutional frictions are reduced.Three shifts follow. First, a graduation buffer. A time-bound compliance holiday as enterprises cross size thresholds would shift the state’s role from enforcer to facilitator during the most fragile phase of expansion. Second, cash-flow reform. Allowing GST to be paid on receipt and expanding receivables discounting would unlock working capital for stable hiring. Third, portable social security. Benefits tied to workers rather than employers would lower the formality tax on hiring without weakening protection.India’s tiger is running fast; it would be a pity if it ran alone: India’s next phase may be its fastest yet. But growth that fails to generate broad-based livelihoods carries political risks that numbers alone cannot absorb. A workforce that feels surplus to progress eventually turns sceptical of the system producing it; if India’s tiger runs too fast for its people to keep up with, it will eventually find itself running alone. In the next phase, success will not be judged by how fast the economy grows, but by how long an elite-designed growth model can endure without the participation of those expected to sustain it. Capital Wins, Labour Waits: The deeper shift is towards capital-intensive growth. The capital required to generate one unit of manufacturing output in India has risen sharply, reflecting heavier investment in automation, plant and technology relative to labour. Output can now be scaled without a corresponding expansion in payrolls. Investment increasingly favours size, technology and balance-sheet strength over headcount, weakening the traditional link between growth and employment.This shift weighs most heavily on small and medium enterprises, India’s main job creators. These firms face persistent constraints in access to credit, land availability, cash-flow predictability and contract enforcement. As compliance costs rise with scale, growing into formality becomes risky rather than rewarding. The outcome is a growth model that privileges ownership over employment. Profits rise. Labour demand lags. In an economy where informality remains widespread and reskilling systems thin, adjustment costs fall on households rather than institutions. Despite accounting for nearly 45 per cent of manufacturing output and over 60 per cent of non-farm employment, India’s MSMEs receive a disproportionately small share of formal credit and policy attention, leaving the employment engine underpowered.A contrast is instructive. Germany’s Mittelstand is immune to automation pressures yet preserves the employment ladder. Mid-sized firms are supported by credit and vocational training systems that channel school-leavers into stable, skill-accumulating jobs. Productivity rises without hollowing out entry-level employment. India’s institutional design offers no such buffer. Optimists advance two counter-arguments. Optimists argue India’s experience is global. Technology is decoupling output from employment. Others suggest missing jobs are invisible. Both claims contain truth. Neither resolves the central problem.Growth That Carries: Platform work can expand opportunity for a minority with skills, capital and networks. For most workers, however, flexibility without security is not a substitute for mobility. In economies with strong safety nets and training systems, technological change is absorbed colIndia’s headline growth hides a deeper flaw. Productivity and profits rise, output scales, yet jobs grow precarious. Fewer offer stability or progression, shrinking opportunity even as the economy expandsPhotograph by JulsIst
16 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026 HE UNION BUDGETof 2026–27 deserves credit for recognising a simple truth that India cannot build a globally competitive economy without a resilient farm sector. The latest Budget signals a forwardlooking shift from an overemphasis on staples to a broader rural growth strategy anchored in high-value agriculture, integrated value chains, and technology-enabled decision-making. The explicit focus on tree crops such as coconut, cashew, cocoa, sandalwood and nuts, and the push for allied sectors of fisheries, livestock and dairy mark an important policy acknowledgement that the next jump in farm incomes will come from diversification and value addition, and not merely from producing more grain. This shift is not accidental, and the data shows why. The past decade (FY2016–FY2025) registered a 4.45 per cent growth in agriculture and allied sectors, the highest in decades. It was driven primarily by fisheries (8.8 per cent) and livestock (7.1 per cent), with crops trailing at 3.5 per cent. Evidently, India’s agricultural growth engine has already tilted toward the allied sector, and the Budget is now aligning policy with this reality.A standout feature of the Budget is its effort to widen the opportunity set for farmers by backing tree crops and plantation-linked value chains, which have longer-term income potential and export relevance. Such crops have the potential to create more jobs per hectare through processing, grading, packaging, and branding. These are precisely the kind of higher-quality employment that rural and peri-urban India needs.This year’s Budget is nudging the farm economy away from subsistence complementarity and towards market-oriented, scalable livelihood systems. It has placed significant emphasis on animal husbandry entrepreneurship through provisions for credit-linked support, modernisation of livestock enterprises, integrated dairy and poultry value chains, and a push for Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs). Its focus, thus, is not only on farm diversification; it is on creating rural enterprises that can absorb labour and raise household incomes. Similarly, the intent to strengthen fisheries value chains, especially in coastal regions, by linking markets with startups, women-led groups, and Fish FPOs reflects a more contemporary approach to sectoral development. It recognises that agricultural growth in 2026 would be driven not just by production, but by institutions, aggregation and market access. But perhaps the Budget’s most underappreciated farm intervention lies outside the farm gate.Even when the Budget is not “agricultural” on paper, it can be agricultural in impact. This year’s Budget pushes for infrastructure and connectivity in the form of freight corridors, waterways, and coastal shipping. Logistical improvements matter enormously for farm incomes because agriculture is a time-sensitive, loss-prone business. When transit time reduces, and reliability improves, farmers gain price realisation, processors gain predictability, and exporters gain credibility. In a world shaped by geopolitical disruptions and shipping shocks, strengthening delivery performance becomes just as critical as production itself for maintaining agricultural competitiveness. This makes the Budget’s logistics push a quiet but decisive agricultural intervention. Seen through this supplychain lens, agricultural competitiveness is built as much in ports and cold chains ARTHSASTRA By Amit Kapoor & Ananya KhuranaTThe Silent Agricultural Revolution Hidden in Budget FY 2027Clockwise from the left : Amit Kapoor & Ananya Khurana
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 17as in fields.So, as India aims to be a dependable global supplier of food, marine products and processed agri-goods, logistics is not just an enabler; it is the strategy. It is also one of the cleanest ways to raise farm incomes without distorting markets. Lesser spoilage, better grading, and faster port movement all mean one thing: more value returning to farmers and rural enterprises.Yet the agricultural value-chain narrative will not fully land unless water, the farm’s basic stabiliser, is strengthened. If there is one area where the Budget narrative could have been more muscular, it is water resilience. Diversification cannot succeed when farms still depend on erratic rainfall. Particularly, the Budget’s push to modernise agriculture will hit the ceiling if assured irrigation does not expand faster, especially for regions where yield variability undermines both incomes and creditworthiness. Value chains matter, but nothing anchors agriculture more than water security. While Budget 2026 does not outline a dedicated push for climate-resilient, water-saving crops, there is ample scope within existing schemes to begin nudging farmers toward water-smart choices that build long-term resilience without straining the fiscal envelope.The Budget’s digital leap is equally significant, marked by the rollout of Bharat VISTAAR, the multilingual AI advisory platform that integrates AgriStack and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) knowledge systems. Credible, localised guidance on seeds, pests, markets and climate risks can meaningfully cut losses and improve on-farm decisions. But digital advice is only as strong as the science behind it. For this model to endure, the Budget’s push for knowledge dissemination must be matched by sustained investment in knowledge creation through agricultural research and education. After all, climate volatility and pest evolution are moving targets that demand constant innovation. The opportunity is clear: India should build a pipeline where R&D produces new solutions, and AI platforms rapidly take those solutions to farmers at scale.Undoubtedly, the Budget’s continued commitment to food and fertiliser support signals continuity and reassurance in uncertain times, for farmers and consumers alike. However, the future challenge is not whether support should exist, but how support should be delivered for maximum impact. This is where India’s successful Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) infrastructure offers a policy frontier. A gradual rebalancing toward income support and outcome-based investments in storage, processing, extension, and climate resilience can reduce inefficiencies By Amit Kapoor & Ananya KhuranaThis year’s Budget is nudging the farm economy away from subsistence complementarity and towards market-oriented, scalable livelihood systems. It has placed significant emphasis on animal husbandry entrepreneurship through provisions for credit-linked support, modernisation of livestock enterprises, integrated dairy and poultry value chains, and a push for Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs)Photograph by Budabar
18 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026Amit Kapoor is Chair, Institute for CompetitivenessAnanya Khurana is a researcher at the Institute for Competitivenessand improve farmer welfare. This makes a case for designing welfare in a manner that improves choice, predictability, and transparency, while preserving the core intent of public support. Primarily, smarter targeting, outcome-linked spending, and a calibrated pivot from open-ended input subsidies to productivity and resilience-enhancing investments can reduce wastage while preserving protection for the vulnerable. Fiscal prudence is not a retreat from welfare; it is a redesign of welfare. In effect, agriculture is no longer just a social sector; it deserves a strategic economic policy. In a period of supply-chain realignment, food systems are becoming instruments of national resilience. This is where the Budget’s momentum for structural reform matters. Competitiveness is built over years, not quarters. It depends on predictable rules for exporters, credible quality systems for global buyers, and infrastructure that allows perishable goods to travel with minimal loss. Budget 2026–27 has firmly stepped in this direction. A stronger farm sector can strengthen the country’s overall competitiveness. Higher rural purchasing power supports demand for manufacturing and services, better value chains generate rural enterprises, improved export readiness earns foreign exchange, and a resilient farm economy stabilises food inflation. In other words, agricultural competitiveness is a key contributor to national competitiveness.While the signals are promising, the next task is execution and deepening. Budget 2026–27 has made several meaningful moves, such as prioritising high-value crops, backing livestock and fisheries entrepreneurship, building digital advisory systems, and strengthening the logistics spine of the economy. Now, the opportunity lies in deepening these signals by reinforcing irrigation momentum where risk remains high, strengthening the research backbone that powers productivity, and ensuring states have the institutional capacity to convert infrastructure into export readiness. Some states have already piloted initiatives for irrigation management, better extension, crop diversification nudges, and procurement reforms to improve agricultural efficiency. However, India’s productivity and export performance cannot just be concentrated in a handful of states. The next reform wave must help every agrarian state build the basics of agricultural productivity and export readiness in terms of quality testing, traceability, cold-chain access, aggregation platforms, and predictable market rules so that competitiveness scales nationally, not regionally.If India sustains this direction, it can build an agricultural sector that is not merely supported, but genuinely empowered, competitive, resilient, and globally confident. ARTHSASTRA By Amit Kapoor & Ananya KhuranaWhile the signals are promising, the next task is execution and deepening. Budget 2026–27 has made several meaningful moves, such as prioritising high-value crops, backing livestock and fisheries entrepreneurship, building digital advisory systems, and strengthening the logistics spine of the economyPhotograph by Kinwun
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20 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026HERE WAS A TIME w h e n t r u t h a r r i v e d slowly, through newspapers folded at breakfast, through the evening TV news, through the patient process of verification and delay. Truth had weight because it had friction. It took effort to manufacture, and effort to consume, and that effort created a certain respect for the real.Today, truth has lost that friction. We live in an era where information is instant, abundant, and increasingly indifferent to whether it is accurate. A falsehood no longer needs to be convincing. It only needs to be contagious. It only needs to trigger something human, outrage, fear, vanity, belonging. The age of fake news has quietly evolved into something deeper and more dangerous. It has become the decade of misinformation, not as accident, but as atmosphere.We often speak about this as if it is primarily a technological problem. We blame algorithms, platforms, bots, foreign interference, deepfakes. All of these matter. But the harder truth is that misinformation is not thriving because machines are clever. It is thriving because humans are predictable.When Citizens Can’t Agree on What is RealThe modern misinformation economy runs on the oldest human instincts: our hunger to be first, our need to feel right, our desire to belong to a tribe, our weakness for drama over nuance, our willingness to forward something not because it is true, but because it is satisfying. The most dangerous lies are not the ones that deceive us. They are the ones that flatter us.The tragedy of this era is that truth is no longer simply discovered. It is competed against. A fact must now fight for attention against a thousand more emotionally appealing versions of itself. In such a world, reality becomes negotiable, and once reality becomes negotiable, trust becomes fragile. What happens to a society where citizens cannot agree on what is real? What happens to democracies where facts are treated as opinions? What happens to institutions when every decision is immediately submerged in suspicion, conspiracy, and viral distortion? We are beginning to see the answer, not in dramatic collapse, but in daily corrosion. Public trust erodes slowly. People stop believing not only the TThe Decade Where Truth Became Negotiable(A)muse & Musings By Srinath Sridharan
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21reality comforts them most. Truth then becomes not a public good, but a private preference.This is where human weakness becomes central. Because misinformation is not only about manipulation. It is about participation. Every forwarded rumour is a small abdication of responsibility. Every unverified claim shared in haste is a quiet contribution to the fog. Every time we outsource judgment to virality, we become not victims, but vectors. The uncomfortable fact is that the misinformation crisis cannot be solved only by regulation, or platform policy, or technological countermeasures. It requires something more demanding. It requires personal accountability. In an age where information is infinite, awareness becomes a duty. To pause is a duty. To question is a duty. To resist the dopamine of instant certainty is a duty. This is not easy. It cuts against the grain of modern life. We are all living with cognitive overload. We are all busy. We are all tempted by the comfort of quick conclusions. But the cost of not doing this is far greater.When Truth CollapsesWhen truth collapses, everything else becomes harder. Governance becomes harder. Markets become harder. Social cohesion becomes harder. Even leadership becomes harder, because leadership depends on trust, and trust depends on shared reality. Perhaps the most sobering thought is that misinformation does not only distort facts. It distorts the human spirit. It breeds perpetual outrage. It exhausts empathy. It turns citizens into spectators of endless scandal rather than participants in serious society. It replaces wisdom with noise, and in that noise, the most dangerous actors thrive, those who understand that confusion is power.The question of our time is not whether misinformation will exist. It will. The question is whether we will become the kind of people, and the kind of institutions, that allow truth to remain sacred. The future will not be shaped only by smarter machines. It will be shaped by whether humans choose discernment over impulse, integrity over virality, reality over convenience. Because if truth becomes negotiable, then everything becomes negotiable, and a civilisation that cannot protect truth cannot protect itself. news, but the possibility of knowing. This is not merely a media crisis. It is a cognitive crisis, and in many ways, a civilisational one.AI Perfected MisinformationThe coming years will sharpen this further. Artificial intelligence will not just amplify misinformation. It will industrialise it. The next wave of deception will not look crude or ridiculous. It will look polished. It will sound authoritative. It will arrive with fabricated evidence, synthetic voices, credible faces, and perfectly tailored emotional triggers. We Will Stop BelievingThe line between authentic and artificial will blur beyond the comfort of ordinary discernment. In that world, misinformation will not feel like an intrusion. It will feel like the default. The danger is not only that we will believe lies, but that we will stop believing anything. We risk entering an age where people retreat into whichever version of The writer is a corporate advisor and the author of Family and Dhanda Photograph by KillyflyIn the age of AI and misinformation, reality itself is under pressure
22 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026R AIYAR – better known for his expert views on the economy – recently chose to write about our forgotten heritage. He was writing particularly about the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya and Nalanda – the great ancient Buddhist university. For multiple reasons – including Muslim invaders and Hindu-Buddhist clashes – both these great places of learning – that once took India to the forefront of global learning – were forgotten and later sank to ground and from memory. Ironically, these were rediscovered not by Indians but by the British colonial archeologists. A couple of years ago the government did try to revive the ancient university and even appointed the very distinguished Amartya Sen (Nobel laureate 1998, Bharat Ratna 1999) as chancellor but allegations of nepotism and corruption scuttled the ambitious project. Anyway, the subject of my story is to point out how many of our ancient Hindu temples are being virtually ignored – or at least receiving much less attention than what is needed to tell the world about their great architecture that has stood the test of time; unbelievable construction that was done long before any machinery was discovered and how these grandiose structures still stand after centuries. Successive governments have promoted only a few places of worship, mostly in North India. Varanasi, Prayagraj, Ayodhya During the last few years the ‘Varanasi, Prayagraj and Ayodhya Corridor’ has received great attention – and rightly so – leading to massive footfalls, both domestic and foreign, consequent development of the area and boost to the economy of the region. However, a very large number of gorgeous temples all over the country get huge crowds solely due to word-of-mouth publicity, mostly through the Indian community all over the world. India’s Neglected HeritageWere the Government of India (GOI) to take a serious note of some of these, our international tourism would get a massive boost. Many of the temples are already listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites and some more are shortlisted for the same honour. Tourism creates jobs across sectors – like transportation, hospitality, qualified guides, regional economy, development of the areas around and many others. Number of ancient temples in the country could well run into tens of thousands as, I read somewhere, Kerala alone has 2,000 Hindu Temples! Let me mention just some of these neglected gems – without being irreverent – more for their incredible architectural excellence that needs to be propagated widely. Starting from MTemples OfIndia –Some Forgotten, SomeIgnored SUSTAINABILITY By Krishan KalraColumn
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 23North India, the temples at Khajuraho – both Lakshmana and Kandaliya Mahadeo – have incredibly intricate 3D carvings in solid stone, possibly from monolithic rocks. Rock-cut CarvingsIn many ways, I would put the work here a shade above that at the highly acclaimed Taj Mahal – arguably a controversial comment in view of massive promotion of the Taj and perhaps the largest number of visitors the awesome place draws – if we consider that almost all work at the Taj is two-dimensional in relatively softer marble whereas Khajuraho displays three dimensional carvings in solid harder stone. North also has magnificent white marble Jain Temples at Ranakpur, Palitana and Mount Abu. There are more in Gujarat – Shambhaji; 11th Century Sun Temple at Modhera with the massive stepped water tank (Surya Kund). The precise carvings in Modhera ensure that every equinox the sun shines directly into the central shrine (sanctum sanctorum). Not to forget the astonishing monolithic rock cut carvings in the Kailasa temple at Ellora and the 30 Buddhist temples at Ajanta – both near Aurangabad in Maharashtra. Ellora and Ajanta are often recognised as the ‘greatest achievement in architecture’! There’s also the Mundeshwari (Durga) temple in Bihar, known as the oldest Hindu shrine in the world. Treasure Trove of TemplesEast and North East of the country too have great ancient temples like the 9th Century Kamakhya near Guwahati; Siddharth Mahadev in Burdwan district, with a tall curving shikhar and exquisite terracotta temples at Bishnupur in West Bengal; the glorious Sun Temple at Konark, Odisha with twelve pairs of enormous wheels in sandstone, each intricately sculpted with spokes and hub representing the Sun god’s chariot driven by seven horses and the much revered Jagannath Temple in Puri, with its legendary annual procession which itself is a spectacle definitely worth talking about.And in the south– the treasure trove of temples with great architecture and mind boggling gravity defying construction. Stunning Meenakshi in Madurai; Brihadeeswaran in Tanjore; Virupaksha in Hampi; Shravanabelagola, with the imposing Gomateshwara statue, in Karnataka; Shore temple at Mahabalipuram (8th Century rock cut construction) overlooking the Bay of Bengal; Ramanathaswamy in Rameshwaram; Sree Padmanabhaswamy in Thiruvantapuram (Trivandrum); Tirumala Venkateswara in Tirupati Andhra; Guruvayur and Sabarimala both in Kerala … there are really too many to count. Many of the temples in South India have magnificent structures, are visited by millions of domestic devotees annually and are bound to attract foreigners in large numbers if only we can present these to audiences in the West and East. Notwithstanding the reported financial mess at several of these gorgeous places, they have the potential of becoming a major draw for the tourists. We will, of course, need to ensure easy access from all mega metros and suitable accommodation – not necessarily Five Star but clean and well-maintained hotels and also some ‘Varanasi model’ sprucing up of the surrounding areas. Inspired by a recent story about India’s forgotten monuments by a noted economist, I am tempted to expand the scope of this narrative to scores of our fabulous temples which – despite being a treasure trove of magnificent architecture – are not getting enough attentionThe author is a former president, AIMA and a former member, BoG, IIMCPhotograph by Erhardpix
24 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026T ONE TIME, it was each country having its own airline; in India, now it is each city having its own metro rail. Adding to these prestigious must-haves are book clubs and literary festivals: necessary evidence of the cultural attainments of the city. Proof of this, by negation, comes from my city, Gurgaon, where the only “culture” was agriculture: it doesn’t yet have a LitFest of its own! To make up, it has – like a few other cities – now taken to the latest to-beflaunted event: artisanal markets.OPEN-AIR POP-UP MARKETSFarmers markets were once a means of providing a direct connect between growers and consumers, eliminating traders and middlemen. Like the flowers markets that blossomed seasonally, along with their product, these make-shift markets came up for a few hours a day and sometimes only for a day a week. As pioneering D2C (direct to consumer) marketing platforms, they potentially provided greater returns to the growers. Even in these days Aof Q-commerce (I prefer to call it convenience commerce), when some promise “farm fresh” produce picked up directly from the growers and conveniently delivered at your doorstep in hours (if not minutes), these markets continue to thrive. Most of them have now transitioned to so-called artisanal markets.These artisanal D2C platforms are open-air pop-up markets, functioning mostly in winter when the sunshine is welcome, rather than amidst the hot summer months or the wet and rainy monsoon season. Also, fresh fruit and vegetables have a special taste – especially in the North – in winter. However, these possibly take up hardly a tenth of the space; there are a wide range of other offerings (all artisanal): cheeses, preserves and pickles, honey, freshly-made cakes and bakes, handicrafts, and a great deal more. Being artisanal is their distinguishing common feature.THE “IN PLACE” TO BUY FROM AND BE SEEN INAs in any such gathering, food and beverages are inevitably dominant. After all, how many can resist the temptation of a freshly-made brunch or, at least, a steaming hot coffee in warm sunshine on a cold winter day? Therefore, most have a few benches and tables to eat and chat comfortably with friends and family. Such is their allure that many neighbourhood markets, operating for but few hours on a weekend and only in winter, draw people from afar too. Some even have live music to add to their attractiveness and buzz. In upmarket areas, these are now the “in” place to buy from, and to be seen in. Buying these unique products is like procuring a limited-edition luxury product: hosts now announce with pride that the “grazing table” is composed of hand-made cheeses, home-made dips, crackers and pitta bread, organically-grown fruit: all artisanal, from a city-friendturned-farmer. This last is now a fashionable trend: for long-time urbanites to own a place with a “small” farm in the hills and take up horticulture, farming, and home-produce cheeses, preserves, etc. These gentlemen (and lady) farmers, often personally manning their stall in the artisanal market, are widely prevalent in North India. Doubtless, they have equivalents elsewhere too: artisan gin makers in Goa, cocoa farmers in Kerala, or coffee growers in Coorg and Araku. For a change, an upmarket fashion that does some good! Gentlemen Growers, Artisanal AttractionsThe writer loves to think in tongue-in-cheek ways, with no maliciousness or offence intended. At other times, he is a public policy analyst and author. Among his books is Decisive Decade: India 2030 Gazelle or Hippo (Rupa, 2021)KIRAN’S KONTRARIAN KORNER n By KIRAN KARNIK n Digital illustration : Dinesh Banduni
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26 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026us seem incompetent. In organisations leaders often continue funding struggling projects to save face rather than admit mistakes. There are some techniques to avoid falling into a sunk cost thinking. l Future Versus Past test. Ask if I hadn’t invested anything yet, would I still make this investment? If the answer is no, then it’s time to cut your losses and walk away.l Setting milestones and exit criterion. Before starting the project set up clear milestones with deliverables and exit criterion. l Reframing losses. Reframing investments as learning helps reduce the emotional burden to make the more rational decision to pause. Long Term VisionReliance offers a modern corporate example of avoiding sunk cost thinking. In 2018 the company launched Reliance Health Insurance, but when the business failed to gain sufficient traction, they shuttered it within two years instead of pouring more money into a struggling business. The company’s philosophy of ‘disrupt, not create’ guides decisions, if they are unable to disrupt a business, they exit quickly. Whether its disinvestment of shale gas assets or writing off a $200 million investment for Dunzo, Reliance avoids sunk cost thinking with their focus on long-term vision, ruthless portfolio management against specific goals and focus on future cash flow. The M247 Sergent York saga holds lessons for organisations and individuals. While there’s no doubt that persistence yields success, but in the face of change if you continue defending yesterday’s decisions you will end up sacrificing future opportunities. Paradoxical as it may sound, agility and persistence need to coexist, success lies in having the discipline to walk away when reality demands it. T O PROTECT ABRAMS and Bradley tanks from helicopters armed with antitank missiles, the US Army commissioned a new mobile anti-aircraft system. Ford Aerospace won the contract and, in 1981 began producing the M247 Sergeant York. The M247’s dud automatic targeting system was the cause of many embarrassments; it struggled to distinguish helicopters from trees and often locked on random ground-based objects. In one notorious instance, it targeted a nearby latrine’s exhaust fan and even worse, during a high-profile demonstration for senior military officials and VIPs the M247 locked on to spectator stands, resulting in chaos as people scrambled to get out of its way.$2 Billion Later Despite problems, the Army persisted and continued to pump money, convinced that the project could be salvaged. Two billion dollars later, after having produced only a few dozen units, none of them capable of distinguishing between a toilet vent fan and a jet, they finally gave up. By then advances in enemy weaponry had made the system obsolete anyways.This story illustrates sunk cost fallacy, the tendency to continue investing in a failing project just because we’ve already spent so much time, money and effort on it, even when cutting loses would be the wiser choice.Sunk cost fallacy is a cognitive bias, which means that we don’t notice us falling into it and hence decisions feel rational in that moment. We suffer from it because our brains are wired to value past investments. It also stems from emotional attachment that comes with time and effort spent and our desire to justify past decisions, backing out means admitting we were wrong making When Persistence Becomes a TrapThe author is General Manager - Digital and eCommerce, International Markets Group at FordCOLUMN KAUSHIK PRASADSunk cost fallacy is a cognitive bias, which means that we don’t notice us falling into it and hence decisions feel rational in that moment. We suffer from it because our brains are wired to value past investments
For Nominations Opportunity:Rakhi Pathak+91 9870405465,[email protected] Speaking Opportunity:Sanjana Deb+91 8910172015, [email protected] Sponsorship Opportunities::Harbinder Narula+91 [email protected] BY EVENT PARTNERSChairman & Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld, & Founder, exchange4mediaDr. AnnuragBatraChairman Department of Peaeditrics & Director Peadiatric Hemato-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, DelhiDr AnupamSachdevaQIMPRO 2024 platinum Awardees under Health care, Lead Man of India, Medical diagnostic IndiaDr Thuppil VenkateshDeputy Director General, Association of Healthcare Providers (India) - AHPIDr. Sunil KhetarpalProf of Surgery & Head of Colo Proctology, Dept - SBH Govt Med College Dhule, Chairman IMA NAT Health SchemeProf Dr Ravi WankhedkarPresident Delhi Medical Council (2015-2025), Founder Medical Negligence Chambers & National vice president of Legal cell Indian Medical associationDr Arun GuptaCEO,BW Healthcare World, BW Wellbeing World & BW Pharma WorldHarbinder NarulaJURY PANEL9thINSTITUTIONALEXCELLENCESummit & Awards 2026POWERED BYMARCH 2026NOMINATE NOW#BWHealthcareExcellenceSummit&Awards
28 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026The main danger is automated poor judgment. When flawed systems are paired with powerful tools, errors rise. A biased assumption in a model doesn’t stay local; it becomes widespread. A flawed prompt not only causes a small mistake but also produces a confident reply at machine speed. Organisations already facing superficial decision-making now have tools that make shallow choices faster and harder to scrutinise.One of the most subtle shifts AI introduces is deference. Dashboards seem authoritative. The outputs sound certain. Over time, people cease asking “Is this right?” and begin asking only “Is this ready?” Judgment is not replaced overnight. It erodes quietly. First, humans validate the machine. Then they trust it. Eventually, they absolve themselves from responsibility because “the system recommended it.” This is not a technological failure. It is a human one. Responsibility cannot be delegated. When an algorithm causes harm, accountability does not disappear into the cloud. AI becomes the perfect excuse for intellectual laziness.The second threat is cognitive decline. Intelligence, like muscle, weakens when not exercised. When writing is outsourced to tools, thinking becomes shallower. When analysis is produced instantly, the discipline of grappling with complexity diminishes. When answers are always accessible, questions lose their sharpness. This is not about nostalgia for a pre-digital era; it is about recognising that convenience carries a cognitive cost.Intelligence is not a fixed asset. When neglected, it weakens. When thinking is outsourced, reasoning diminishes. When answers arrive instantly, questions lose their depth. This is not nostalgia for a slower past; it is an understanding that friction has cognitive value. Struggle fosters understanding. Deliberation develops HE WORLD IS PREOCCUPIEDT with debating artificial intelligence as if intelligence itself were the issue. Panels warn of a dystopian future where machines take over jobs, out-think humans, or quietly run the world while we sleep. Yet, the more immediate and less discussed danger is not artificial intelligence alone. It is what might be called natural foolishness. The clash of the two is where the true threat resides. Natural stupidity is not the lack of intelligence; it is the deliberate suppression of it. It manifests as apathy, lazy reasoning, herd mentality, and the comforting belief that someone else has already considered the issues. It flourishes in environments where speed is valued more than reflection, outrage over understanding, and certainty over humility. It is intensified when institutions emphasise compliance instead of judgment and slogans rather than substance. Natural stupidity is fundamentally about intellectual laziness, which is the real, immediate concern. Artificial intelligence, which is currently facing negative publicity, is neither moral nor immoral. It does not think. It predicts. It optimises based on patterns it is fed. When used responsibly, this can improve human abilities, reduce repetitive tasks, and reveal previously hidden insights. However, in the hands of the unthinking, without a manual override, it becomes a powerful tool for error, bias, and mediocrity. Artificial intelligence enters this environment not as a villain, but as an accelerant.Why Bad Judgment — Not Artificial Intelligence — Will Break OrganisationsPEOPLE TALK By Srinath Sridharan & Steve CorreaPhotograph by Siraanamwong
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 29hance human intelligence rather than replace it. It can reveal counterarguments, challenge assumptions, and broaden access to knowledge. But this requires cultures that value thinking over merely appearing intelligent.It takes leaders willing to say “I don’t know.” Institutions that value judgment over just outcomes. And professionals who treat AI as a thinking partner to question, not an oracle to obey. The coming decade will not be shaped by how clever machines get. It will depend on whether humans stay willing to think.If natural ignorance remains unchecked, artificial intelligence will not save us. It will just make our worst instincts more efficient. But if human intelligence is taken seriously again – as effort, responsibility, and discipline – then artificial intelligence can become what it should have always been: a tool, not a crutch; a mirror, not a master.The future fractures not when machines think for us, but when we decide not to think at all. discernment. When systems eliminate all friction, they also remove the conditions needed for judgment to mature.Natural stupidity favours frictionless systems. Artificial intelligence is highly effective at lowering friction. That combination is dangerous. It creates professionals who can operate tools but cannot scrutinise them. Leaders who can quote insights but cannot trace their logic. Citizens who consume conclusions without understanding the assumptions behind them.There is also a moral dimension that is being overlooked. Responsibility cannot be automated. When an algorithm makes a harmful decision, the blame does not vanish into the cloud. Someone chose the objective function. Someone accepted the output without examination. Natural stupidity provides the perfect excuse. The machine did it.The coming years will not be defined by how intelligent machines become. They will be defined by how reluctant humans are to stay ignorant. The real arms race isn’t between humans and machines; it’s between curiosity and complacency.Used wisely, artificial intelligence could en- Srinath Sridharan is a corporate advisor and author of Family and Dhanda.Steve Correa is an executive coach, an OD consultant and an authorThe real danger is not smarter machines, but incurious humans outsourcing judgment
POWERED BY EVENT PARTNERSOUR JURY MEMBERSDr. Annurag BatraChairman & Editor-in-Chief BW Businessworld and Founder, exchange4mediaJyotsna Nanda AVP, Corporate Communications, DS GroupShonali Chakravarty Head, Enterprise Tech Comms, (ISG & SSG), Lenovo Asia PacificHimanshu RajVice President, Marketing & Communications, Juniper Green EnergyAkanksha JainAVP, PR & Comms, SwiggyRahul Gossain Chief Strategy & Brand Officer, JSAAjey MaharajSenior Vice President and Group Head – Corporate Communication & PR, Fortis HealthcareBhaskar Majumdar Senior Communication ConsultantTehseen ZaidiCommunications expert-Syngenta Group - IT DigitalDr Rajiv ChhibberPhD – Vice President External Affairs, Sahajanand Medical TechnologiesMadhurima Bhatia Head PR & Media Engagement & Partnership, India & APEC, IpsosMou Chakravorty Director Marketing Communication, DeloitteApeksha MishraVP, Head Corporate Comms & Content, Policybazaar.comNoor Fathima Warsia Group Editorial Director, BW BusinessworldEna Chakravorty Communications & CSR Director, India ROADISNikhil BharadwajVice President & Head Corporate Communication, Bajaj General InsuranceBratin RoyDirector Corporate Communication, AB InBev IndiaRuhail AminSenior Editor, BW BusinessworldShilpashreeMuniswamappa Director - ESG & Communications, Colgate-Palmolive IndiaArun Mittal Director, Communication & PR, boAtwww.bwmarketingworld.comfi fffifflfiffifffifflfflfiflfffiflffflffflflfiflfififl#EXCELAWARDMARCH 2026 | NEW DELHINOMINATE NOWPOWERED BY#BWCOMMS40U40MARCH 2026NEW DELHINOMINATE NOW AWARDS 2026fifffflfflffiPOWERED BYOUR JURY MEMBERSDr. Annurag BatraChairman & Editor-in-Chief BW Businessworld and Founder, exchange4mediaAbhishek GulyaniManaging Director, India & Head Corporate Affairs, Asia Pacific – Zeno GroupAman DhallFounder,CommsCredibleAniruddha Atul BhagwatCo-Founder & CEO, IdeosphereArchana JainCEO, Pr Pundit Havas RedKiran Ray ChaudhuryCo-founder & Joint Managing Director, 80 dB CommunicationsPranav KumarManaging Director, Allison+PartnerDr. Samir KapurDirector, Adfactors PRChetan MahajanFounder & CEO, MaverickSarvesh TiwariFounder & MD, PRP Group, Chairman, Public Relations SocietyShivani GuptaManaging Partner, SPAG FINN PartnersLovina GujralCOO, Candour CommunicationsRuby SinhaFounder & Managing Director, Kommune Brand CommunicationManisha ChaudharyExecutive Director, Value 360 CommunicationsNikhil PavithranCOO, KaizzenFor Nominations: Chetan Mehra:+91 98117 02464, [email protected]
POWERED BY EVENT PARTNERSOUR JURY MEMBERSDr. Annurag BatraChairman & Editor-in-Chief BW Businessworld and Founder, exchange4mediaJyotsna Nanda AVP, Corporate Communications, DS GroupShonali Chakravarty Head, Enterprise Tech Comms, (ISG & SSG), Lenovo Asia PacificHimanshu RajVice President, Marketing & Communications, Juniper Green EnergyAkanksha JainAVP, PR & Comms, SwiggyRahul Gossain Chief Strategy & Brand Officer, JSAAjey MaharajSenior Vice President and Group Head – Corporate Communication & PR, Fortis HealthcareBhaskar Majumdar Senior Communication ConsultantTehseen ZaidiCommunications expert-Syngenta Group - IT DigitalDr Rajiv ChhibberPhD – Vice President External Affairs, Sahajanand Medical TechnologiesMadhurima Bhatia Head PR & Media Engagement & Partnership, India & APEC, IpsosMou Chakravorty Director Marketing Communication, DeloitteApeksha MishraVP, Head Corporate Comms & Content, Policybazaar.comNoor Fathima Warsia Group Editorial Director, BW BusinessworldEna Chakravorty Communications & CSR Director, India ROADISNikhil BharadwajVice President & Head Corporate Communication, Bajaj General InsuranceBratin RoyDirector Corporate Communication, AB InBev IndiaRuhail AminSenior Editor, BW BusinessworldShilpashreeMuniswamappa Director - ESG & Communications, Colgate-Palmolive IndiaArun Mittal Director, Communication & PR, boAtwww.bwmarketingworld.comfi fffifflfiffifffifflfflfiflfffiflffflffflflfiflfififl#EXCELAWARDMARCH 2026 | NEW DELHINOMINATE NOWPOWERED BY#BWCOMMS40U40MARCH 2026NEW DELHINOMINATE NOW AWARDS 2026fifffflfflffiPOWERED BYOUR JURY MEMBERSDr. Annurag BatraChairman & Editor-in-Chief BW Businessworld and Founder, exchange4mediaAbhishek GulyaniManaging Director, India & Head Corporate Affairs, Asia Pacific – Zeno GroupAman DhallFounder,CommsCredibleAniruddha Atul BhagwatCo-Founder & CEO, IdeosphereArchana JainCEO, Pr Pundit Havas RedKiran Ray ChaudhuryCo-founder & Joint Managing Director, 80 dB CommunicationsPranav KumarManaging Director, Allison+PartnerDr. Samir KapurDirector, Adfactors PRChetan MahajanFounder & CEO, MaverickSarvesh TiwariFounder & MD, PRP Group, Chairman, Public Relations SocietyShivani GuptaManaging Partner, SPAG FINN PartnersLovina GujralCOO, Candour CommunicationsRuby SinhaFounder & Managing Director, Kommune Brand CommunicationManisha ChaudharyExecutive Director, Value 360 CommunicationsNikhil PavithranCOO, KaizzenFor Nominations: Chetan Mehra:+91 98117 02464, [email protected]
32 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026MARKETING AND ADVERTISINGYou’re witnessing doub l e - d i g i t g r o w t h o n ecommerce and quick commerce platforms that are outpacing traditional retail. What led to this growth?Commerce is a very significant challenge today and one of the fastest-growing channels across all the verticals we are present in. And this is not just for us as a brand; it’s also for the industry at large.The rules of advertising or marketing on these channels have certainly seen an evolution, because you get defined time frames and the capability of operating in a dataenriched environment. All of this is available to us and we need to learn to leverage that. And I think we’ve done that fairly successfully in the past year.In 2025, we’ve seen the launch of Jasmine rice, the rice flour and the launch of the Daawat Thai Green Curry Kit, which is also an ecommerce product. All of these ecom-first products help in identifying the audience, because the ecosystem provides a better understanding of the consumer who comes in. Hence, we are able to tailor experiences on the platform far more sharply, and that is one critical reason for us growing faster.Our campaigns have also had a leg to strengthen their footprint on ecommerce and quick commerce in particular. Campaigns like Biryani Day and ‘Rice Your Awareness’, along with repositionIMPROMPTUing or positioning of the product portfolio through initiatives like the Daawat super festive campaigns, have been very instrumental in driving this.Our partnership with platforms on our properties and platforms’ properties has jointly helped us foster business at a mutually healthy rate of growth.How do influencer-led initiatives like ‘Rice Your Awareness’ campaign, alongside the aspiration for marquee celebrity endorsements fit into the company’s long-term brand-building strategy?We’ve given it serious thought when we had Shah Rukh endorse the brand. It’s a very complementary ecosystem. We ask them to endorse the brand because we identify certain values the celebrity brings on board — a certain quantum of scale, and with Shah Rukh, the scale is global.But having said that, the influencer ecosystem or the content creator ecosystem complements this. We’ve had a spectrum of people. About 3,000 people over a span of four weeks is a fairly large number for someone to activate.It’s about complementing the effort, with what Shah Rukh Khan brings at the top, which unites the whole world, and amplifying it through content creators who bring these experiences alive in your own ecosystem, the way you would want it to happen“It Always Starts From Our Reading Of The Consumer”As LT Foods’ premium brand, Daawat, doubles down on conscious consumption and digital-first innovation, K GANAPATHY SUBRAMANIAM, CMO, LT Foods, shares with BW Businessworld’s Reema Bhadurihow a 3,000-influencer army, AI tools data can win the battle for consumer mindshare in 2026. Excerpts
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 33By FY26, LT Foods is investing in ‘digital capabilities’? How do you anticipate this shift influencing your marketing strategy and future campaign executions?The shift is not engineered by us. It’s what we read from the consumers. Consumers start to consume certain types of media and see us as relevant in that media, and we should be present there.We started building our AI capability a couple of years back. Our first AI commercial is now two years old, and we brought it alive at a time when probably only a handful of brands in our category were leveraging it. We did it at full scale. We customised faces, names and brought in language customisation as well.Then we did the ‘Biryani GPT’, which is a completely different space. We wanted people to express, in their own words, where they wanted to experience or see themselves experiencing biryani. They simply had to type it on WhatsApp, and that was it, you got your creative the way you wanted it.When you look at evolution, it always starts from our reading of the consumer. We’ve been fairly good at reading our consumers, and, in turn, they’ve been fairly good at guiding us in the right direction. So our investments tend to flow in that direction.With the DPDP Act now coming into focus, how are you considering the responsible use of firstparty consumer data?The responsible usage of consumer data is the conversation for this year. We are very conscious about it, and I think this is something that a lot of brands are not yet.DPDP is exactly what I’m talking about, because once you start getting privy to first-party data, and as a lot more brands move towards direct-toconsumer (D2C), we will have to live with it, understand it and learn from it, for our own benefit, to decide where the line needs to be drawn. Where do you become a nuisance, and how do you handle responsibilitySo brands like ours are very careful about this. That’s why, when we talk about ‘Rice Your Awareness’, we are very careful about what information we seek from consumers and how we manage that information. We are not indiscriminate. Today, you walk into a store and the store guy asks for your phone number, house number, email ID, and that is a very important conversation.It’s not just about making a law; it’s also about seeking its implementation. That is a very important piece of the conversation that is starting now. We take this very seriously, and I think other brands should too. [email protected] responsible usage of consumer data is the conversation for this year. We are very conscious about it, and I think this is something that a lot of brands are not yet
34 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026MARKETING AND ADVERTISINGIn a world where brands are expected to feel global yet deeply personal, few categories face the tension as sharply as payments. Trust is not just a brand promise here, but a prerequisite. For Lavani Agarwal, VP, Marketing & Communications, South Asia, Mastercard, marketing is about navigating exactly this balance: scale and sensitivity, innovation and reassurance, global consistency and local meaning.“The goal is always to make sure Mastercard feels familiar to everyone around the world, but also locally very relevant—and that is the rope we have to walk,” she says. Built over decades, Mastercard’s identity rests on foundational pillars of inclusion, safety, security, trust, innovation and, of course, ‘Priceless’, which has been the ethos and backbone of the brand.Yet for Agarwal, global consistency cannot come at the cost of local relevance. Every market brings its own behaviours and vulnerabilities. “Every time we operationalise something in a market, we have to stay true to these global pillars while finding local nuance and relevance that matters to businesses and users on the ground,” she explains.This requires deep consumer insight, particularly in a category where trust is fragile. “We do a lot of insighting to understand deep-rooted behaviours and, at times, vulnerabilities—ensuring that even the most vulnerable users feel that payments are trustworthy, secure, and seamless.” One Market, Many IndiasIndia’s payments landscape STANDPOINTdefies a simple definition. “India is an incredibly complex and diverse market—users across socio-economic strata, geographies, languages, preferences, and generations,” Agarwal notes. With four to five generations transacting daily, usage patterns vary widely, but expectations converge. “At the end of the day, users expect payments to be trustworthy—trust is paramount. It’s their money,” she adds.Payments operate in a constant trilemma of privacy, trust and security, making reassurance as critical as innovation. “Trust begins with the feeling that your money is safe and the brand has your back,” Agarwal says.While the form factors may evolve (from cards to mobile), the emotional contract remains unchanged. For Agarwal, the core expectation remains the same: familiarity, security, safety, and innovation.For marketers, Agarwal informs, the task is clear: distil complexity into meaning. “There isn’t a one-line answer for what the Indian user is like, but there is always one universal human truth we work with: trust.”Payments IndustryJoining Mastercard was Agarwal’s first foray into the payments industry. “My number one priority was to understand how the industry operates—how the business model works, how money moves, and how a global, matrixed organisation functions,” she says.True insight came from the ecosystem. “Understanding how they perceived Mastercard—as users and as businesses—really sharpened my perspective,” he adds.Agarwal joined at a moWalking The Tightrope Between Global Scale And Local MeaningIn her first media interaction since joining Mastercard last year, LAVANI AGARWAL outlines how the company is building trust across markets, generations and moments BySoumya Bhutani
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 35ment of momentum, with partnerships like Eva Live opening up India’s concert economy, alongside mobile contactless rollouts and joint initiatives with issuing partners. But the real complexity lies in coordination. “Payments is an ecosystemdriven industry—no one can operate in isolation,” she says. From a storytelling perspective, partnerships amplify credibility. “Any proposition becomes stronger when communicated with a joint voice,” she asserts.Campaigns like ‘Tap Your Phone, Pay in Style’ gain scale and clarity when executed alongside Google Pay, PhonePe, and CRED. For her, users don’t see Mastercard in isolation. They experience us through their banks, wallets, and merchants.Purpose That’s LivedFor Mastercard, purpose is inseparable from adoption. “Our purpose is centred on inclusive growth,” Agarwal says, pointing to fintech’s role in enabling Digital Bharat.Through initiatives like ‘Mastercard Strive’, which has empowered over 600,000 micro and small enterprises—half of them led by women—the brand’s impact extends to the grassroots. “We build inclusive products and back this with strong communication so the impact is experienced, not just spoken about,” she tells.The most powerful narratives, she believes, come directly from beneficiaries. “People connect with real, human stories.”To reach its audience better, Mastercard follows a full-funnel approach that includes vernacular transcreation and local creators to cinema, OOH, and selective television. Leading With SimplicityLeadership philosophy is rooted in clarity and empathy. “I truly believe marketing is the best job in the world,” she says, one that allows marketers to be the voice of the user.Her guiding mantra is straightforward: “Start from the user, keep it simple, make it exciting—and have fun.” With strong female representation within her team, she remains committed to building solutions that serve women across the payments ecosystem.Because in payments, as in brand-building, trust isn’t built through technology alone. It’s built through understanding. “The goal is always to make Mastercard feel familiar and locally relevant” — LAVANI [email protected]
36 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026MARKETING AND ADVERTISINGHow has your role as a CMO evolved since AI became mainstream? Across marketing, sales, service and logistics, AI is evolving rapidly. We are actively experimenting across all these facets. Marketing, in particular, has evolved significantly. Honestly, throughout 2025, we have been exploring various things — testing, learning and trying something new. I won’t say we are mature enough yet, but the good thing is that we are experimenting. We are trying things on a smaller scale across different functions and aspects so that we learn from them, evolve and eventually identify what delivers the best effectiveness for us.We are looking at how to track the consumer lifecycle. Consumers today move across multiple channels before making a purchase — online, offline, social platforms and then eventually into PXL (Prestige Xclusive) stores. We are trying to track this journey across the buying cycle and understand how purchasing behaviour is changing.Another aspect is the creation of marketing assets. We are currently developing a lot of digital videos specifically for digital media. The third area is sales. We have evolved a sales tool for our territory sales officers. When a sales officer visits a retailer, the tool suggests orders should be taken based on the retailer’s past purchases, the category growth in that local area, and buying patterns. Similarly, in service, especially in our call centres, we are using AI-driven tools. We have created a centralised consumer data pool. IMPROMPTUYou spoke about consent-based data collection last time. Data and analytics have become the basic norm in marketing now. How is Prestige using consumer data responsibly, to sharpen product innovation and campaign effectiveness?In this world of AI, when you are taking consumer databases from various platforms, you touch consumers in many different ways. We have over 700-plus PXL stores, so we know the consumers purchasing from us and we have data on what they are purchasing and when. More than 1 lakh walkins are happening every month in our stores. We also have consumers coming to our website, so we have a database there. We have consumers interacting with our service centres as well.There is a lot of data that we are collating across touchpoints and creating a single pool so that all this data can speak to each other.Earlier, this data existed, but it was not speaking to each other. Now, we are actively using this data. But it is also a moral responsibility to use this data well. We strictly abide by all data privacy acts. We take consent wherever data is collected. Data is always taken only after the consumer opts in. There has to be clear consent before we collect anything.In this AI-driven world, data usage is going to become more sensitive as more people start using data more freely. But till now, at least, we have been abiding by all the relevant regulations, including ASCI guidelines and the Data Privacy Acts that Talking to BW Businessworld’s Reema Bhaduri, TTK Prestige CSMO ANIL GURNANI reveals how the brand is balancing digital-first marketing with traditional media for Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, using AI and consent-based data to track complex consumer journeys and more. Excerpts“In This AI-driven World, Data Usage Is Going To Become Even More Sensitive”
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 37have been laid down.What does your media mix looks like now? Are traditional platforms like television and print still effective for TTK Prestige, or is digital commanding a larger share of the pie?Between traditional and digital, it would be 60:40. Definitely, digital is growing at a faster pace. In the coming years, digital will surpass traditional. The 60 per cent allocation towards traditional is because of the campaigns that we run. Most of our campaigns are consumer-offer driven during seasonal periods.Print also plays a very big role, especially when we want to showcase new product innovations across geographies, particularly in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. TVCs play a major role there as well. So we follow a calendarised approach, deciding the geography, category and the media mix we want to use based on the acceptability of that media in that market.Digital, however, cuts across everything. In fact, we have an “always-on” strategy for digital. TVCs and print can be seasonbased, but digital is always on. Some category-led campaigns, in fact, remain live on digital media throughout the year.What do we expect in terms of marketing in 2026?For any campaign, the first thing is getting the product right. You can’t just have a campaign or storytelling without the right product and the right value-added initiatives for the consumer. On the innovation front, we are already strong, and we are scaling this up even further. You will see a lot of innovative products being launched, marketed and communicated in very innovative ways this year.That said, our regular campaigns will continue as well. Typically, we run three major campaigns. One is the AFA campaign in quarter one, which is an exchange mela campaign. Then we have the festive campaign during September, October and November, around the Diwali period. The third is the New Year Bonanza, which started around December–January.Alongside these, we are also planning an overarching, big brand campaign this year, anchored in new product innovations and aligned communication. [email protected] Print plays a very big role, especially when we want to showcase new product innovations across geographies, particularly in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities
38 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026I NDIA’S innovation policy landscape underwent a structural shift in early 2026 as the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) rolled out an updated Startup India framework. It has formally carved out deeptech startups as a distinct category, aligning policy support with the longer development and commercialisation cycles characteristic of science-led companies. Under the revised framework, eligible deeptech ventures can now retain recognised startup status for up to 20 years, double the earlier limit, with an enhanced turnover threshold of Rs 300 crore, compared with Rs 200 crore for other startups. The reform reflects a policy realignment with the realities of research-intensive innovation. Vishesh Rajaram, Founding Partner at Speciale Invest, states that the revised framework aligns public policy with the operating realities of science-driven enterprises. “This is a decisive and forward-looking move by the government. It sends a clear signal that the country is serious about building IPdriven deeptech companies from India for the world and gives founders and investors the confidence to commit longterm capital to that journey,” adds Rajaram.Backed By Fiscal CommitmentsThe government announced a Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme, aimed at catalysing private-sector investment in frontier technologies including semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing. Of this, Rs 20,000 crore has been earmarked specifically to crowd in private R&D investment through structured funding mechanisms. In parallel, the government has expanded its Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) with an additional Rs 10,000 crore, building on the original allocation announced in 2016. Official disclosures indicate that a significant portion of this expanded corpus is expected to support deeptech and innovation-intensive startups through Sebi-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), improving capital availability at early and MAKING A LONGER RUNWAY FOR DEEPTECHIN DEPTH / DEEPTECHgrowth stages. Amit Chand, Founder of BYT Capital, says, “India just gave deeptech a real policy home. A timely step that aligns policy with the realities of frontier innovation. This is a meaningful step toward making India more ‘fundable’ for frontier innovation because policy timelines now look closer to deeptech timelines.” Introduced in September 2025 with an initial commitment of $1 billion, the India Deep Tech Alliance was created to address funding gaps DPIIT’s revised Startup India framework extends recognition to 20 years for deeptech startups, aligning incentives with longer science-led innovation cycles By ANJALI KUMARI YADAVVISHESH RAJARAM,Founding Partner, Speciale Invest\" The revised framework sends a clear signal that the country is serious about building IP-driven deeptech companies from India for the world \"
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 39innovation output from academia. Rahul Garg, Founder and CEO of Moglix argues, “Meaningful breakthroughs need time, capital, and patient investment. For founders, this move builds confidence to scale, invest in R&D, and creates long-term value.”Clear Definitions, Stronger GuardrailsA key feature of the revised framework is the clearer articulation of what constitutes a deeptech startup. Srividya Kannan, Founder and CEO of Avaali Solutions, explains, “The revised startup framework reflects a far more nuanced and consultative approach to nurturing deeptech innovation in India. By clearly defining what constitutes a deeptech startup, anchored in scientific advancement, sustained R&D investment and creation of novel intellectual property, the government is sending a strong signal that long-term, knowledge-driven entrepreneurship matters.” Policy analysts note that longer recognition periods could unlock sustained access to tax exemptions, public procurement programmes and patient capital, critical enablers for companies building foundational technologies. As global competition in deeptech intensifies, India’s recalibrated startup framework signals a strategic shift: from prioritising rapid-scale digital models to supporting long-horizon, IP-driven innovation with global ambitions. [email protected] by research-driven startups in sectors such as semiconductors, AI, space and robotics. The alliance has since expanded, with fresh capital commitments now exceeding $850 million, according to reports. Institutional Ecosystem BuildingAccording to the NASSCOM-Zinnov ‘India’s DeepTech Dawn’ report, India is now home to over 3,600 deeptech startups, ranking sixth globally among deeptech ecosystems. Out of these, over 480 deeptech companies were established in 2023, nearly twice the number formed in 2022, and India’s deeptech startups raised around US$ 850 million in funding in that year. AIcentric ventures comprised around 74 per cent of newly founded startups. Companies such as ideaForge, Pixxel, Agnikul Cosmos and Digantara Research & Technologies illustrate the diversity of India’s deeptech landscape. Academic institutions, research parks and corporate incubation cells are also intensifying their participation. For example, IIT Madras’ Research Park has partnered with private investors to launch a deeptech fund of around Rs 600 crore with an additional greenshoe option to further scale investment capacity. Meanwhile, IIT Madras’ Incubation Cell recently reported incubating over 500 deeptech startups with a combined valuation of Rs 53,000 crore, having attracted 17,310 crore (US$ ≈2 billion) in venture capital and filed 700+ patents, a strong signal of deeptech Policy analysts note that longer recognition periods could unlock sustained access to tax exemptions, public procurement programmes and patient capitalPhotograph by Alisa Rut
40 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026 Echoes of De La Rue Scandal in the NSE Blueprint?The NSE is the exchange that sets the tone for foreign portfolio flows, anchors derivatives pricing and shapes India’s capital formation narrativeTHE ROTHSCHILD FAMILY’S Pakistan connection runs deep. In 1988, Benazir Bhutto’s newly elected government appointed British firm N. M. Rothschild as consultants to craft a privatisation strategy and shortlist candidates for sale. Their May 1989 report recommended a “widespread ownership” model to build Pakistan’s capital markets and flagged major state enterprises – including Habib Bank – for potential divestment. Though Bhutto’s term ended amid controversy before full rollout, the blueprint influenced subsequent privatisations.Fast-forward to 2023: As Pakistan teetered on sovereign default amid debt chaos and IMF brinkmanship, Rothschild & Co re-emerged to advise on debt restructuring under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Three years later, the same firm now holds the blueprint for India’s crown jewel – the National Stock Exchange (NSE) – as independent advisor for its Rs 20,000-crore-plus initial public offering (IPO). Rothschild will pick bankers and lawyers, shape the listing’s structure and share sale – control and influence.One, a mandate in the restructuring rooms of arch-rival Pakistan, a state long accused of bleeding India by a thousand cuts. The other, deep inside India’s financial architecture. As Dhurandhar revived the ghosts of Fake Currency Wars on screen, real-world echoes now play out in boardrooms – where Rothschild & Co. straddles Indo-Pak financial fault lines – with stakes dangerously highBy Palak ShahPhotograph courtesy: National Stock Exchange of India LtdBW EXCLUSIVEROTHSCHILD’S DOUBLE GAME:
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 41Both legitimate. Both professional. Both profoundly eyebrowraising.The pattern sharpens with ownership echoes: Habib Bank – privatised in phases after Rothschild’s early recommendations, with control eventually passing to the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) – shares a common major stakeholder with India’s DCB Bank, where AKFED holds a significant stake (around 15 per cent). Cross-border financial ties like these only heighten the unease when one global advisor gains privileged access to both nations’ most sensitive levers.India Has Seen This Movie BeforeWhen the British currency paper supplier De La Rue operated commercially across sensitive jurisdictions in the mid-2000s, the arrangement was perfectly lawful on paper. Yet allegations of counterfeit currency flows and subsequent investigations left a residue of distrust. There was no conclusive judicial finding that proved a grand design linking boardrooms to destabilisation. But the discomfort lingered because strategic infrastructure – currency – had intersected with cross-border commercial neutrality. The episode did not prove conspiracy. It proved that optics matter. Pakistan managed to bleed India with a multidecade-long fake currency racket that somehow originated from the use of De La Rue’s currency printing ecosystem.The De La Rue saga wasn’t abstract discomfort – it was a multi-decade-long haemorrhage. Pakistani intelligence, leveraging identical security papers supplied to both nations, allegedly orchestrated a “currency jihad” that pumped high-quality fakes into India, mimicking 95 per cent of genuine notes’ features like watermarks and threads. Smuggled via porous Nepal and Bangladesh borders, these counterfeits – often Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bills – swelled black money circulation pre-2016, costing billions in lost revenue and detection burdens. Worse, National Investigation Agency (NIA) probes tied the racket to terror financing, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks (26/11) and Kashmir insurgencies, with hawala networks laundering proceeds to bleed India by a thousand cuts. Street vendors, small traders, and rural economies bore the brunt as fakes infiltrated daily transactions.Indian intel flagged De La Rue’s dual supply as an enabler, not a culprit, but the optics scorched: Why depend on a firm servicing a rival state, when alternatives existed? India has paid a steep price for the political lapses under P. Chidambaram’s finance ministry, despite warnings.A stark lesson: Neutral commerce in sensitive arenas can mask pipelines for asymmetric warfare. The saga’s revival in the 2025 film Dhurandhar – dramatising CBI probes and terror links – underscores how such patterns linger in public psyche.That Memory Frames Today’s MomentThe NSE is not an ordinary corporate entity seeking liquidity. It is India’s price discovery engine – the exchange that anchors equity markets, derivatives volumes, institutional risk frameworks and retail participation. Its IPO is not just a capital event; it is a statement of institutional maturity. The advisor chosen to shepherd that process gains rare visibility into governance layers, ownership histories, structural sensitivities and valuation positioning. Advisory in such a context is not clerical. It is architectural.The NSE is not an ordinary corporate entity seeking liquidity. It is India’s price discovery engine – the exchange that anchors equity markets, derivatives volumes, institutional risk frameworks and retail participation. Its IPO is not just a capital event; it is a statement of institutional maturity. The advisor chosen to shepherd that process gains rare visibility into governance layers, ownership histories, structural sensitivities and valuation positioning
42 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026No evidence of wrongdoing in Rothschild’s dual mandates. Global advisory firms routinely work across borders, even among nations that do not see eye to eye. But from a nation’s security point of view, global finance does not operate in a vacuum. It operates in geographies with memory.Rothschild’s own legacy is steeped in cross-border statecraft. The family’s rise in Europe was built on financing governments and underwriting sovereign needs across rival powers even during times of war. Historians note their involvement in bond markets linked to the British war during the Napoleonic era and their proximity to imperial finance structures that underpinned the reach of the British East India Company that enslaved India for centuries. That is not scandal; it is history. The Rothschild model was never ideological. It is transactional – funding states even in times of wars and navigating from a distance that allows continuity regardless of who prevailed.That historical pattern explains their modern posture. Sovereign advisory in Pakistan. Exchange architecture in India. Corporate restructuring elsewhere. From a global banker’s perspective, these are separate revenue lines. From a national security lens for India, it is a question to ponder upon.Because India and Pakistan are not merely adjacent markets. They are rival states separated by deep political mistrust. When a single advisory house moves comfortably between their most sensitive financial chambers, it may not be unlawful – but it is symbolically potent.The NSE mandate amplifies that symbolism. This is the exchange that sets the tone for foreign portfolio flows, anchors derivatives pricing and shapes India’s capital formation narrative. By appointing a globally recognised advisory house, India signals openness and confidence. Yet it also reinforces a recurring pattern: when milestones are monumental, the instinct is to import credibility rather than rely solely on domestic expertise.Supporters will argue that this is precisely how mature markets function. International advisory brings comparative perspective, global placement reach and valuation discipline. They will say that confidence means not fearing overlap. That integration, not insulation, defines modern capital markets.Critics will counter that strategic infrastructure demands strategic sensitivity. That perception is itself a form of capital. That the same firm advising sovereign fragility across the border should not simultaneously draft the blueprint of India’s financial flagship – not because it cannot, but because it sends a message.Neither Side Has Monopoly on LogicWhat cannot be denied is that influence in modern finance is subtle. It does not require ownership. It requires presence in rooms where information converges. Advisory mandates grant access to the plumbing of systems – debt structures here, exchange architecture there. Each engagement may be firewalled. Yet collectively they build vantage.Rothschild does not need to choose between India and Pakistan. Its business model has long transcended such binaries. But for India, the NSE IPO is more than a deal. It is a defining chapter for its capital markets. And when that chapter is being structured by a firm that has recently advised Pakistan, the narrative acquires weight.No Accusation But an AnatomyGlobal finance has always thrived on proximity to power, not allegiance to it. The same house can finance wars and later underwrite peace. It can advise distressed sovereigns and booming exchanges within the same quarter. That continuity is its strength. But the question is whether India views that continuity as sophistication – or as déjà vu to its currency scandal?Because history rarely repeats itself as scandal. It repeats itself as a pattern. And in the shadow of De La Rue, as the NSE prepares its mega listing, one truth lingers: in the great game of capital, those who draft the blueprint seldom appear in the spotlight – yet they shape the architecture long after the headlines fade. BW EXCLUSIVEBecause India and Pakistan are not merely adjacent markets. They are rival states separated by deep political mistrust. When a single advisory house moves comfortably between their most sensitive financial chambers, it may not be unlawful – but it is symbolically potentPhotographs byAKLS
3fifffflffffiflffiNOMINATE NOWFacilities 4.0:Innovation, Integration & ImpactMAR 2026, DELHIFacilityManagementCONFERENCE AND EXCELLENCE AWARDS#BWFMExcellencePOWERED BYFor Speakership & Partnership:Shilpa Chandel, + 91 9958 [email protected] Nominations:Jyoti, + 91 [email protected] BY EVENT PARTNERSEMINENT JURYNOOR FATHIMA WARSIAGroup Editorial Director,BW BusinessworldDR. ANNURAGBATRAChairman & Editor- in-Chief,BW Businessworld andFounder, exchange4mediaJAGVINDER PINNY MANNCorporate Services Real Estate Project & DevelopmentCOL NAVINDER NARANGHead Infrastructure Facilities & ESG, ICICI Home FinanceSAMIR PATILHead of Real Estate-ISC & APAC, Philips AsiaNEELAM CHHABRANeelam Chhabra, AVP-Facilities & Travel, Centre of Excellence India, Axis Max Life insuranceASHA PATHANIASr. Vice President - Housekeeping(FM & Hospitality)PVR INOXMOHIT SUDGroup President - Unitary Cooling ProductsBlue Star LimitedSWAMINATH ROYAVP-AdministrationTata CapitalDHEERAJ MANCHANDAHead-Operations & Channel Management, Roche PharmaBHARTIKALAPPAHead-FacilitiesNoida International AirportDR SHAKTI CHAUHANFormer Executive Director, ISS Facility ServicesSr Vice President, Administration, JSW SteelSUNIL RALPH
44 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026India’s grassroots enterprises are moving from grant dependence to market discipline, but turning purpose into predictable revenue remains an uneven journeyN THE OUTSKIRTS of Ranchi, a vocational training centre once buzzed with young people learning employable skills. Donor logos still adorn the signboard. Inside, dust sits on empty furniture. When the grant cycle ended, so did the programme.Such images repeat across India’s development landscape—locked up libraries; stalled production units; abandoned digital platforms. “Ghost projects like these are not failures of intent but symptoms of a funding model that runs on grant cycles,” says Neeraj Ahuja, Associate Director at Transform Rural India. “The question quietly reshaping boardroom conversations is: can social impact pay for itself?”The question Ahuja raises matters in a country with more than two million social enterprises working against poverty alleviation, healthcare, education and livelihoods. As ambition scales, increasingly demand for funding models beyond periodic philanthropy has grown. Impact investing has grown rapidly in response. Cumulative investments crossed $9 billion between 2018 and 2019 mark, and rebounded strongly postCovid, with nearly $5 billion flowing into 438 impact enterprises in 2024 alone. But experts say the shift is not merely financial, it marks a deeper transition from beneficiaries to market participants, from projects to enterprises.“There is a clear structural shift from purely grant-funded interventions toward revenue-generating social enterprise models,” says Smita Roy, Co-founder of Peepal Tree Foundation. “But it’s context-specific rather than universal.”Hybrid Models EmergeAcross rural India, farmer cooperatives once reliant on subsidy-supported aggregation are experimenting with branded product sales. Community health initiatives are layering lowcost subscriptions onto donor-supported outreach. Education providers are blending affordable fees with CSR-backed expansion.Sushanta Kumar Bhuyan, Senior Director at Smile Foundation, sees this as ecosystem maturing. “Many MSMEs and community-led enterprises are moving beyond grants to models that align social impact with commercial viability,” he says.Policy announcements reinforce the shift. The government’s second tranche of Rs 10,000 crore under the Startup India Fund points to a push for impact entrepreneurship. Credit flows under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana have crossed Rs 27 THE BUSINESS OF DOING GOODCOVER STORY SOCIAL IMPACTBy Abhishek Sharma
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 45lakh crore cumulatively as of 2025, widening formal access to capital.Yet the change is uneven. Roy estimates only 20 to 30 per cent of impact-led MSMEs can sustain themselves purely through market revenues of Rs 1-5 crore and above. Another 40 to 50 per cent cover operating costs but rely on grants for innovation or expansion. The rest struggle without CSR support.“Margins remain thin in sectors like healthcare and education,” Bhuyan adds. The emerging consensus is: revenue models work for a minority, hybrid structures for many, and donor support remains indispensable for the most vulnerable.The Double Bottom Line“Running a social enterprise is twice action costs and broadened market access. Data from the National Payments Corporation of India shows UPI transactions crossed 15 billion a month in 2025. But digital rails lower costs; they do not guarantee viability.ESG Opens DoorsCorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) mandates are reshaping procurement. Under Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting norms, large companies must India’s digital public infrastructure including Aadhaar-linked identity, UPI payments etc. has reduced transaction costs and broadened market THE BUSINESS OF DOING GOODNEERAJ AHUJA, Associate Director, Transform Rural India“Social enterprises need to navigate the double bottom line: balancing financial sustainability with social impact”as hard as running a traditional business,” Ahuja says, adding, “These enterprises need to navigate the double bottom line: balancing financial sustainability with social impact.”Limited disposable incomes constrain pricing power, forcing many enterprises towards cross-subsidisation models, charging those who can pay to support those who can’t.Market access remains the biggest bottleneck. Weak distribution, high branding costs, opaque procurement cycles and lack of managerial depth come in the way of scale. “Poor market access leads to low sales, weak cash-flow and working capital woes,” Roy says.India’s digital public infrastructure including Aadhaar-linked identity, UPI payments etc. has reduced trans-
46 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026access. Data from the National Payments Corporation of India shows UPI transactions crossed 15 billion a month in 2025. But digital rails lower costs; they do not guarantee viability.ESG Opens DoorsCorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) mandates are reshaping procurement. Under Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting norms, large companies must disclose supply-chain sustainability metrics.For community enterprises, this cuts both ways. “Companies today are increasingly seeking suppliers that align with their ESG commitments, creating meaningful opportunities for community enterprises,” Bhuyan says. “However, adopting and operationalising ESG norms can involve upfront costs and compliance complexities.”Without phased implementation and technical assistance, ESG risks becoming a barrier. If done well, it can professionalise grassroots enterprises, and stabilise revenues.Rethinking CapitalA deeper issue capital design. Grants are unpredictable, making long-term planning difficult. Debt can be risky for low-income markets. Equity often demands growth that conflicts with mission.Debate is not grants versus enterprises, Ahuja argues, but smarter capital. “Early-stage grassroots enterprises often require patient capital to build capabilities and absorb initial risk before profits stabilise,” he says, advocating micro equity, revenue-sharing instruments and first-loss structures that de-risk private investors.Blended finance, combining public, philanthropic and private capital, is gaining traction globally. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that blended finance mobilised over $200 billion globally between 2012 and 2024. India has been one of the largest recipients in the Asia-Pacific region.Policy frameworks are slowly evolving. Startup India, Stand-Up India and Mudra loans aim to formalise and scale entrepreneurship. Yet India lacks a distinct legal identity for hybrid social enterprises, forcing them to register either as NGOs or for-profit companies, neither an exact fit. Roy warns that celebrating social entrepreneurship without building robust revenue pipelines risks creating a “bubble mentality where enthusiasm outpaces viability”.SMITA ROY, Co-founder, Peepal Tree Foundation“If a pitch doesn’t make me want to have another conversation the next day, then it’s not for me”COVER STORY SOCIAL IMPACT
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 47SUSHANTA KUMAR BHUYAN, Senior Director, Smile Foundation“Many MSMEs and community-led enterprises are moving beyond grants to models that align social impact with commercial viability”Risk of Over-romanticisingAt a national level, the narrative around social enterprise is often celebratory. Conferences spotlight mission-driven founders. Awards recognise grassroots innovation. Impact metrics fill annual CSR reports. But beneath the optimism lies fragility.“Yes, at a national and ecosystem level, there’s a real risk in India of over-romanticising social enterprises without sufficiently building viable, sustainable revenue models and commercial infrastructure around them,” Roy says.The talent challenge compounds the problem. Social enterprises require leaders fluent in both commercial strategy and community engagement, a rare combination. Retaining such talent in semi-urban or rural markets remains difficult.Ahuja warns against overmarketisation. “Markets reward efficiency, not equity,” he says. Enterprises may gravitate toward easier-to-serve communities, leaving behind those facing extreme vulnerability. Mission drift is a persistent risk when revenue pressures dominate decision-making.Bhuyan, however, envisions a gradual institutional correction. “The national landscape is steadily evolving from sentiment-based small initiatives toward institutional formalisation,” he says, pointing to structured financial and policy frameworks embedding entrepreneurial aspirations within formal systems.A Deliberate TransitionIf the shift toward revenue-generating social enterprise is inevitable, its success hinges on design. The role of ecosystem builders, incubators, accelerators and non-profit mentors becomes crucial.“Non-profit incubators and ecosystem builders can play a catalytic role in enabling MSMEs to transition from beneficiary-led approaches to commercially scalable models,” Bhuyan says, emphasising capacitybuilding, technology integration and strategic market linkages.Roy adds that incubators must “stop treating MSMEs as beneficiaries of support and start treating them as builders of viable enterprises”, redesigning capital, prioritising market access and enforcing financial literacy.The macro environment offers both tailwinds and headwinds. India’s GDP growth is projected at around 6.5 per cent for 2026 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), creating consumption demand. Simultaneously, rural wage growth remains uneven, limiting purchasing power in some regions.For impact-led MSMEs, the challenge is whether social value can be embedded into market transactions without pricing out intended beneficiaries. The faded signboard outside the Ranchi training centre symbolises the end of an outdated model. The emerging paradigm aspires to ensure that when donor logos fade, the enterprise should remain.The critical question is no longer whether social good can be monetised—a minority already do. It is whether India can build the financial, regulatory and market architecture that allows many more to follow, without sacrificing equity at the altar of efficiency. If impact is to become a revenue model rather than a slogan, the transition must be deliberate, disciplined and designed for durability. [email protected] by Arief Dwi Sahputra
48 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026SOCIAL IMPACT OPENING ESSAYREIMAGINING IMPACT IN THE AI ERAFrom grassroots interventions to intelligent systems, a new generation of leaders is redefining how change scales By Team BWAS artificial intelligence, digital ecosystems and data-driven public infrastructure continue to reshape economies and communities, social change itself is undergoing a shift.Once driven by outreach, field mobilisation and delivery, social change is now increasingly supported by intelligent systems that enable scale, precision and deeper insight. Yet, social progress remains rooted in human intent, empathy and ethical leadership.BW Disrupt Social Impact 2025 places this synergy at the centre of its narrative, recognising changemakers who show that technology achieves its true purpose only when it amplifies dignity, participation and opportunity for all.The occasion brings together a cross-section of India’s most influential and purpose-driven leaders, including social entrepreneurs, nonprofits, corporate CSR leaders, foundations, policymakers, AI innovators and impact investors. The Evaluation ProcessThe Social Impact Awards recognise organisations and leaders whose work reflects measurable outcomes, long-term relevance and a deep commitment to community-centric progress. Nominations undergo a multistage evaluation focused on authentic impact, ethical design, governance, scalable solutions and the use of technology as an enabler not an end in itself.Shortlisted entries undergo an impact-led review assessing inclusion, ecosystem strengthening and sustainable models of change. Winners for 20205 are chosen during jury deliberations held in the second week of December, after detailed crosscategory discussions led by sector experts.The Jury PanelThe awards were adjudicated by a distinguished jury panel comprising leaders from policy, development, technology, corporate citizenship and social innovation. The jury included Annurag Batra, Editor-in-Chief and Chairman, BW Businessworld and Founder, exchange4media; Jyotsna Sitling, former Indian Forest Service Officer and Member of the Advisory Committee at SEBI; and Mathew Cherian, Global Ambassador, HelpAge International.The panel also included Sameer Kanwar, Director for Digital Health, AI and Med Tech at Path, and Ashwajit Singh, Founder and Managing Director, IPE Global. Also on the jury were Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman of 5F World, GTT Data Solutions and Honeywell Automation India; Akhila Sivadas, Executive Director, Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR); Pratima Harite, Head - Asia Pacific Photograph by Jirsark
21 February 2026 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 49SOCIAL IMPACTName Designation SectorChirag Bhandari Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Ennoble Social Innovation Foundation EducationHemendra K. Singh Corporate Vice President, Axis Max Life Insurance Defence AffinityHP Singh Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), Satin Creditcare Network NBFC-MFI, Financial & Economic InclusionKetan Deshpande Founder Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Friends Union for Energising Lives (FUEL) Education & SkillingKruti Bharucha Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Peepul EducationMadan Chawla Founder & Director, GIFT - Globally Integrated Foundation for Thalassaemia HealthcareMallikarjuna Iytha Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Inclusive Divyangjan Entrepreneur Association (IDEA) Disability LivelihoodsMeera Shenoy Founder-Chief Executive Officer, Youth4Jobs Foundation Disability InclusionNeelam Pandita Vice President - ESG and Investor Relations, Blacksoil Capital Impact InvestingPrasanna Khemariya Chief Executive Officer, Self Reliant Initiatives through Joint Action (SRIJAN) Rural LivelihoodsRajesh Krishnan Chief Executive Officer, United Way Bengaluru Community DevelopmentRajiv Mehta Managing Trustee, Ratnanidhi Charitable Trust Humanitarian AidRuby Ahluwalia Founder & Chairperson, Sanjeevani - Life Beyond Cancer HealthcareSajid Ali Chief Operating Officer, Tech Mahindra Foundation Skills & EmployabilitySamaya Chauhan Founder, Policy Leadership Advocacy Action Network for Youth (PLAN Y) Youth Mental HealthSamina Bano Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, RightWalk Livelihoods & SkillingSantanu Chakraborty Chief Executive Officer, Bal Raksha Bharat Child DevelopmentSantanu Mishra Co-founder & Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation Community DevelopmentSarika Panda Bhatt Director, Nagarro & Co-founder Trustee, Raahgiri Foundation Road SafetySaumya Lashkari Director & Board Member, 360 One Foundation Financial InclusionShveta Lall Associate Director (CPD), Language & Learning Foundation EducationSiddharth Chaturvedi Executive Vice President, AISECT Group Skill Development, Education, Livelihood Smriti Joshi Chief of Clinical Services & Ops, Wysa Digital Mental HealthSriram V. Managing Director, The/Nudge Institute Poverty AlleviationUrvashi Prasad Executive Director, ALK Positive India; Public Health & Policy Leader Public Health PolicyZaheer Adenwala Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer, Ketto Online Ventures Healthcare FundraisingSPECIAL AWARDS CITATIONDeepika Narayan Bhardwaj Journalist, Documentary Filmmaker & Social Activist Gender Justice Impact Leader of the YearSanjana Sanghi Actor and UNDP Youth Champion Youth Impact Icon of the YearCorporate Citizenship, Lenovo; and Madan Padaki, Managing Trustee, Head Held High Foundation.As the sector enters an era shaped by artificial intelligence, blended capital and outcomedriven models, the leaders recognised this year reflect a broader transition—from isolated interventions to systemic change. Their work signals a future where technology, capital and compassion converge to build solutions that are not only scalable, but also just, inclusive and enduring. SOCIAL IMPACT LEADERS
50 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21 February 2026SOCIAL IMPACTREBUILDING THE PUBLIC SCHOOLFor Bhandari, enrolment is only the starting point. “Access does not create opportunity, capability does,” he says, pointing to the gap between attendance and readiness. Ennoble focuses on foundational literacy and numeracy, hands-on and STEMdriven learning, and platforms that build confidence and leadership, so as to move education beyond memorisation to applied skills and agency.Bhandari is clear that “large-scale school transformation cannot be achieved by one organisation alone.” Government, industry and civil society each bring different strengths. The emphasis is on co-ownership, so schools continue to improve even without constant external support.TEAM BWWhen Chirag Bhandari founded Ennoble Social Innovation Foundation, the aim was to strengthen the institution of the school. The early insight was simple but often missed. “Government schools were being treated as isolated problems. In reality, schools fail or succeed as systems,” Bhandari says. Infrastructure, teachers and community ownership are closely linked; ignoring any one element weakens the whole.This insight shaped Ennoble’s mission — to strengthen schools as complete ecosystems, not as a collection of projects. “Large-scale change happens when schools are strengthened through dignified infrastructure, strong teacher leadership, and active community ownership.”Drawing on his work with Army families and institutions, Singh says, “Inclusion works when it is consistent, predictable, and respectful, not when it is occasional.” In financial services, that means supporting the entire journey and not just selling products. “Financial stress often follows injury or loss. Institutions that simplify processes and train staff well earn lifelong trust,” Singh notes.For him, inclusive growth is measured by who remains supported when things go wrong, and leadership is defined by systems that stand by people in their most difficult moments. TEAM BWFor Hemendra K. Singh, accessibility is a lived experience. A former Army officer who took early release after a service-related injury, Singh says perspective came from his own life, not policy. “I understood it when a physical disability changed how I moved, worked, and lived after years in uniform,” he says. That outlook now shapes his leadership at Axis Max Life Insurance, where he works closely with disabled veterans, war widows and defence families.Singh argues that accessibility must be treated as an organisational responsibility, not a compliance checklist. “When leaders treat it as a responsibility, they build systems that allow people to contribute with dignity,” he says.LEADERSHIP WITH ACCESSIBILITYCHIRAG BHANDARI, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Ennoble Social Innovation FoundationSector: EducationHEMENDRA K. SINGHCorporate Vice President, Axis Max Life InsuranceSector: Defence Affinity Photograph by Naval Kishor