NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2026: All About It

The NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2026 will be held on Sunday, July 26, to honour some of India's top business leaders, companies, and entrepreneurs. The awards recognise those who have excelled in leadership and business growth.

The awards will be judged by an independent jury led by Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises.

Categories

The awards recognise achievements across 12 categories, with winners selected through a two-step process.

Some of the data-driven categories, where winners are selected based on financial performance and business metrics, include Business Leader of the Year, New Economy Leader of the Year, Financial Powerhouse, Wealth Creator of the Year, AI Champion of the Year, IPO of the Year, Green Champion and CEO of the Year.

The awards also feature editorial recognition categories, which include Reformer of the Year, Philanthropist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, Trailblazer of the Year, Atmanirbharata Champion and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Winner Selection Process

The winners are not chosen through public voting. Instead, they are selected through a two-step process.

In the first stage, companies are shortlisted based on their financial and business performance. This includes factors such as revenue growth, profits, and other business indicators. In the second stage, an independent jury reviews the shortlisted nominees, considering both quantitative performance and qualitative factors.

Who Is On The Jury

The jury is chaired by Sunil Bharti Mittal and includes:

Noel N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Trusts
Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Biocon Group
U.K. Sinha, Former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
Jayant Sinha, President, Everstone Group; Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics; Former Union Minister of Finance and Civil Aviation
Ramesh Damani, Value Investor and Member, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)
C.S. Setty, Chairperson, State Bank of India (SBI)
The panel also has two non-voting members:
Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson, PwC India
Rahul Kanwal, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, NDTV Group

Nominees

Business Leader of the Year

This is one of the biggest awards of the event.

Private Sector:
Anish Shah (Mahindra Group)
K.N. Radhakrishnan (TVS Motor)
P. Venkatesalu (Trent - A Tata Enterprise)
Inder T. Jaisinghani (Polycab India)
Vinita Gupta (Lupin)
Rajiv Bajaj (Bajaj Auto)
Hisashi Takeuchi (Maruti Suzuki India)
S.N. Subrahmanyan (Larsen & Toubro)
Public Sector:
Capt. Jagmohan, IN (Retd.) (Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders)
Manoj Jain (Bharat Electronics Limited)
K. Sadashiv Murthy (BHEL)
Gurdeep Singh (NTPC)
Arun Kumar Singh (ONGC)

IPO of the Year

This award recognises companies that made a strong debut in the stock market.

The seven nominees are:
Meesho
Billionbrains Garage Ventures (Groww)
ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company
LG Electronics India
Lenskart Solutions
HDB Financial Services
Tata Capital

AI Champion of the Year

This category honours companies that are helping build India's artificial intelligence ecosystem.
The six nominees are:
Sarvam
Neysa
Fractal
Qure.ai
Karya
Emergent

Wealth Creator of the Year

This award recognises listed companies that have consistently created value for shareholders over several years.
The nominees are:
BSE
Transformers & Rectifiers India
MCX India
Himadri Speciality Chemical
Gallantt Ispat
Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers
Neuland Laboratories

New Economy Leader of the Year

This category recognises new-age companies that were listed on the stock market between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2023.
The five nominees are:
Delhivery
CarTrade Tech
Nykaa
PB Fintech
Eternal

Philanthropist of the Year

The jury considers the impact of nominees' work in areas such as:
Education
Healthcare
Climate action
Civil society
Public welfare

How is CEO of the Year chosen?

The CEO of the Year award has separate categories for private and public companies.

To be eligible, a company must be among the top 100 listed companies in India by market value as of April 30, 2026. Companies that recently changed their CEO and those from the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector are not considered for these categories.

The winners are selected based on a company's performance over the last three years. The evaluation considers revenue growth, profit growth, share price growth, average revenue, and average profit. Each of these factors carries equal weight, with each accounting for 20% of the final assessment.