The CEO Magazine is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2026 Executive of the Year Awards – India, recognizing outstanding leadership across the country’s most influential organizations.

Now in its second year in India, the program celebrates senior executives who are redefining leadership through performance, innovation and impact across business and society.

Winners will be announced on 7 August 2026 via an exclusive online announcement.

Recognizing leadership at the highest level

The Executive of the Year Awards – India, presented by The CEO Magazine, honors CEOs, managing directors and senior executives driving measurable impact across their organizations and industries.

The program recognizes leaders who demonstrate excellence in:

• Visionary leadership and transformation
• Financial performance and sustainable growth
• Employee engagement and organizational culture
• Customer impact and value creation
• Community and environmental responsibility
• Innovation and problem-solving

These criteria reflect a focus on both commercial success and long-term societal contribution.

CEO of the Year 

The flagship category recognizes India’s most influential chief executives.

Rahul Mehra – AWL India

Rupal Gupta – Oriana Power

Abhay Kimmatkar – CS Tech Ai

Abhishek Gambhir – Swam Pneumatics

Ashok Kapur – Krishna Group

Sangeet Kumar – Addverb

Mohit Dubey – Chalo Mobility

Sundararaman Ramamurthy – BSE

Sandeep Jain – Akums Drugs & Pharmaceuticals

Rajkumar Upadhyay – Centre for Development of Telematics

Visionary Leadership

Recognizing leaders shaping long-term direction and transformation.

Tyronne Nunes – Yasho Industries

Sudhir Gurtoo – Leadec India

S Chandrashekaran – Vipragen Biosciences

Uttam Singhal – TWI Group of Companies

Financial Performance

Recognizing executives delivering strong, sustainable financial outcomes.

Shallu Arora – Sirca Paints India

Prem Kumar Thakur – Jagson International

Shubham Jain – Arfin India

Arvind Talan – Energy Efficiency Services

Employee Engagement

Recognizing leaders building high-performance, people-first cultures.

Rizwana Shaikh – Acme Group

Harsh Nath Mishra – Central Coalfields

Sonu Gupta – CodersBrain Technology

Rupesh Chandra Vaish – Dwarikesh Sugar Industries

Customer Impact

Recognizing executives delivering exceptional customer value and trust.

Jaspreet Singh – TP

Rohit Bhateja – Suntec Web Services

Kousik Bhattacharya – Clickseek Digital

Aayush Arora – Providence

Community Impact

Recognizing leaders contributing meaningfully to society and sustainability.

Manju Gupta – Power Grid Corporation of India

Ashwani Singhal – Vayudoot Road Carriers

Sachin Mutha – Reliance Jio

Bhairaw Mandal – Enerture Technologies

Innovation

Recognizing executives driving meaningful innovation and problem-solving.

Sivakumar G – Lamrin Tech Skills University

Vimal Roy Manhotra – SNGT Group

Chirag Katira – SNGT Group

Neeraj Bansal – BeSpoke AI Stylist

Independent judging panel

Finalists were assessed by an independent panel of senior business leaders with deep expertise across industry, strategy and leadership.

The judging process ensures a rigorous, balanced evaluation based on measurable performance, leadership capability and long-term impact.

The panel will now determine winners across all categories.

Looking ahead

The Executive of the Year Awards – India continues to celebrate the role of leadership in shaping the future of business.

These finalists represent the highest standard of executive achievement in India today.

Winners will be announced on 7 August 2026.