The wait is over as all roads are leading up to Manthan—the annual thought leaders’ summit hosted by Business Standard. With the third edition of Business Standard Manthan taking off on Tuesday, we are returning to the same venue where it had all started in 2024.
Bharat Mandapam, the ultimate destination for top-notch summits in New Delhi, will witness a unique interplay of energy and intellect as 40 leaders from diverse fields engage in fireside chats and panel discussions over the next two days. Spanning close to 25 sessions, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Manthan 2026 promises to be a window for a ‘future-ready India’—the central theme of the two-day summit against the backdrop of fast-moving developments in artificial intelligence (AI).
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan are sure to keep the discerning audience glued to their seats as they offer perspective on pertinent policy issues on day one of the summit. On Wednesday, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union New and Renewable Energy and Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi will light up the show with their insights, at a time when uncertainty is turning out to be the biggest geopolitical reality.
While the senior ministers will indeed have their pride of place, there would be many show stoppers through the summit. On Tuesday, Suman Bery, vice-chairperson of NITI Aayog, will speak on ‘A Path to Modern India’ in a conversation that’s expected to spark new ideas that will be relevant to make the country future-ready. From policy to the corporate world, the stage is ready for ITC chairman and managing director Sanjiv Puri. His conversation on reimagining FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) to make India future-ready will no doubt provide enough food for thought.
Market watchers and savvy investors are assured of a great time as the summit kicks off with a lively firside on Tuesday. On stage will be Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, and Nilesh Shah, managing director at Kotak Mutual Fund, with their words of wisdom on the impact of AI on markets.There will be plenty more on AI—a powerful panel discussion on day one around data centres and another conversation on AI in India on day two are some of those. The concluding fireside chat, on day two, with Shekhar Kapur, renowned film director and creator of unforgettable movies such as Masoom, Mr India, Bandit Queen and Elizabeth, will go deep into AI—a topic that’s become even more relevant after India hosted the AI Impact Summit last week.
The enriching conversations and dialogues at Business Standard Manthan on the opening day will have illustrious names like Professor S Mahendra Dev, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. On the corporate side, there will be Atul Lall, vice-chairman and managing director, Dixon Technologies, and Tarun Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Ather Energy, among others, to talk about India’s future.
Setting the tone for the second day of the summit will be noted former bureaucrat, ex-G20 Sherpa and the man behind the line ‘God’s Own Country’ to promote Kerala tourism: Amitabh Kant. Next in the lineup on day two, and just ahead of the finance minister, will be Competition Commission of India chairperson Ravneet Kaur, who will speak on data and dominance. Soon after, Sumant Sinha, founder, chairman and CEO of ReNew, will take us on a journey defined by clean energy.
The closing day will have many panel discussions including one that’s seeking to find an answer to the question—can India be the world’s food factory? Providing answers to that question will be NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand, Professor Ashok Gulati and Laveesh Bhandari, president and senior fellow at Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP).
Other power packed conversations will be on social infrastructure with high-profile speakers such as Convergence Foundation founder and CEO Ashish Dhawan, founder and chairperson of Sampark and former CEO of HCL Tech Vineet Nayar, country director (India) of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Archna Vyas. The one on high-tech manufacturing will feature Midwest CEO Kollareddy Ramachandra, Mashreq Bank CEO Tushar Vikram and senior vice-president, Defence (India and South East Asia) Rolls Royce Abhishek Singh.
The conversation on electric vehicle (EV) transition will be with VinFast India CEO Tapan Ghosh, Zypp Electric co-founder and CEO Akash Gupta, Bolt.earth CEO Raghav Bharadwaj, Olectra Greentech managing director Mahesh Babu and Euler Motors founder and CEO Saurav Kumar. The panel on maintaining strategic autonomy in defence and geopolitics will have prominent speakers including Ambassador Sujan Chinoy, director general at Manohar Parikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, Lt Gen Deependra Singh Hooda (retd), distinguished fellow, Delhi Policy Group, and Rajinder Singh Bhatia, chairman, Kalyani Strategic Systems.
The audience, across two auditoriums at Bharat Mandapam as well as online, have much to look forward to as the third edition of Business Standard Manthan will take the narrative on India’s future to a new level.
 "BS Manthan kicks off today with top voices convening for 2 days of insight")
