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Business Today MindRush returns to Mumbai, spotlight on India’s edge in a fractured world
Policymakers and corporate heavyweights gather to map supply chains, energy security and markets
MUMBAI: As fault lines widen across global trade and geopolitics, Business Today is doubling down on India’s moment. The 14th edition of Business Today MindRush & Best CEOs Awards lands in Mumbai on March 28, pitching India’s strategic edge at the centre of a fragmenting world.
The day-long summit, presented by PwC, will bring together a tight mix of policymakers, industry leaders and market voices to decode shifting supply chains, maritime strategy, defence priorities, energy security and capital markets—sectors now deeply entangled with geopolitics.
M Nagaraju, secretary, department of financial services, ministry of finance, will headline the event, setting the tone for discussions that aim to track how India is repositioning itself amid disrupted trade routes and volatile energy dynamics.
The speaker slate reads like a cross-section of India Inc’s command centre. Krishna Swaminathan will zero in on sea lanes and supply chains, while Prashant Ruia is set to push the case for self-reliance in oil and gas. Ashish Chauhan will weigh in on capital markets at a pivotal juncture, as a panel featuring Vibha Padalkar, Sanjiv Mehta, Amish Mehta and Sanjeev Krishan debates navigating economic uncertainty.
Leadership under pressure will be another running theme. Madhavkrishna Singhania, Sharvil Patel, Karan Bhagat and Anurag Choudhary will unpack how businesses are steering through disruption. Arun Alagappan will turn the spotlight on fertilisers, Arundhati Bhattacharya will reflect on leadership transitions, while Anish Shah and S Vellayan will outline blueprints for building future-ready conglomerates.
The event will close with Aroon Purie setting the broader editorial lens, before the Best CEOs Awards recognise standout corporate leadership across sectors.
At a time when the global order looks increasingly splintered, MindRush 2026 is positioning itself as more than a conference—it is a signal that India intends not just to navigate the churn, but to shape it.
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India at 100: self-reliance must power the next leap, says Vineet Jain
Times Group MD calls for strategic depth across AI, energy, defence and data as India eyes developed status by 2047
NEW DELHI: India’s next act will not be written by growth alone but by grit, capacity and hard-edged self-reliance, Vineet Jain said, setting the tone at the Times Now Summit as the network marked 20 years and turned its gaze to the republic at 100.
Opening the summit, Jain framed the moment as a rare convergence of economic momentum, demographic heft, digital muscle and geopolitical weight. The question, he argued, is no longer what India has become—but what it must still build to meet its 2047 ambition.
The answer, he said, lies in a broader, sharper doctrine of Aatmanirbhar Bharat—one that rejects isolation but demands strength in the sectors that define sovereignty and competitiveness. Self-reliance must stretch well beyond factories into the commanding heights of the century: artificial intelligence, data governance, education, defence, energy, critical minerals, frontier technologies and digital platforms.
Control over data will shape the architecture of the future, Jain noted, while AI will drive productivity, security and knowledge. Energy dependence, he warned, leaves economies hostage to volatile supply chains; access to critical minerals will decide the winners of the green and tech transitions.
India must also stop “importing capability” and invest deeply in human capital, he said, arguing that strategic autonomy is credible only when backed by indigenous strength across defence and technology.
For decades, India was tagged as a nation of promise. That era must give way to execution—reform, institution-building and sustained national focus. The window is finite. “We must grow rich before we grow old,” Jain said, calling it a civilisational urgency as the country seeks to convert its demographic dividend into jobs, skills and productivity gains.
Hitting developed-nation status by 2047 will demand second-generation reforms, more competitive institutions, faster urbanisation and heavier bets on research and innovation, alongside a public discourse that rewards long-term thinking over short-term reaction.
Jain cast the summit as a platform not just to question power but to elevate national purpose—moving from commentary to solutions in what he described as a shared project spanning government, industry and citizens.
The message was blunt and forward-leaning: anniversaries don’t transform nations—ambition and execution do. India’s century mark is in sight; the harder task is building the muscle to meet it.
