Apr 13 2026 to Apr 13 2026 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Geopolitical realignments. Technological disruptions. The mounting urgency of the climate crisis. 

As the world undergoes multiple, simultaneous transformations, India is faced with charting its own course.

Rajiv Kumar, Kamal Bali, Manish Sabharwal, Nitin Pai, and Mohandas Pai bring together perspectives from policy, industry, and innovation to examine what it will take to navigate this era of uncertainty. As India navigates frontier technologies like AI, strengthening strategic autonomy, addressing climate imperatives and fostering inclusive growth, the choices are critical.

How can we become a developed nation in the coming decades?

In collaboration with:

Speakers

Rajiv Kumar
Author & Former Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog
Dr. Rajiv Kumar, former Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, recently resumed his chairmanship of Pahle India Foundation, a not-for-profit policy think tank, established by him in 2013. Dr. Kumar’s career has spanned academics to government to corporate chambers and multilateral institutions. The wide range of experience, combined with his intellectual depth, as reflected in his substantial publication record, gives him a unique multi-dimensional perspective on the Indian economy.

He served in the government as Economic Advisor with the Department of Economic Affairs (Ministry of Finance) during 1991-1995 and took over as Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog in September 2017, with the rank of Cabinet Minister and served until April 2022.

His stints with the corporate sector include serving as Chief Economist of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) from 2004-2006 and later as Secretary General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), 2011-2013.

Dr. Kumar holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Lucknow University (1978) and a D.Phil. from Oxford University (1982). Several universities have honored him with an honorary D.Litt. degree. On April 29, 2023, Dr. Kumar was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star of Japan during the 2023 Spring Conferment of Decorations. This prestigious honor was bestowed in recognition of his significant contributions to enhancing economic ties between Japan and India.

Kamal Bali
President & MD, Volvo Group India
Mr. Kamal Bali, President & MD of Volvo Group India, has nearly 40 years of experience in the automotive industry. An IIT graduate, he began his career with Eicher Group in 1981 and later held senior roles at Escorts, SAME Deutz-Fahr, and LeeBoy.

He was awarded Sweden’s Royal Order of the Polar Star (Commander) in 2019 for supporting Swedish industry in India. He also received the 2019 Machinist Lifetime Achievement Award and the Economic Times Inspiring CEO 2021 honor.

Kamal serves in key leadership roles across industry and academia, including Chairman of CII Southern Region, Chairman of SCCI, and board positions with ISRO’s commercial arm, IIT Gandhinagar, XIMB, and SDM-IMD.

Manish Sabharwal
Chairman & Co-Founder, Teamlease Services
Manish is Chairman and co-founder of Teamlease Services, India’s largest staffing and human capital firm. Teamlease has over 140,000 employees in 5000 cities and is implementing India’s first vocational university and national PPP apprenticeship program. The company has hired 16 lac employees over the last 14 years.

In 1996 he co-founded India Life, an HR outsourcing company that was acquired in 2002 by a listed US company called Hewitt Associates. Consequently, he was CEO of Hewitt Outsourcing (Asia) based in Singapore for two years.

Manish is a member of the National Skill Mission, Central Advisory Board of Education and has served on various policy committees for education, employment and employability. He serves as a Director on the Board of the Reserve Bank of India, is a trustee of the New India Foundation that offers fellowships for writing books about post-1947 India, and is a columnist for Indian Express. He got his MBA from The Wharton School and is an alumnus of Shriram College, Delhi and Mayo College, Ajmer.

Nitin Pai
Co-Founder & Director, Takshashila Institution
Nitin Pai is co-founder and director of the Takshashila Institution, an independent think tank and school of public policy based in Bangalore. He teaches international relations and public policy at Takshashila’s graduate programmes. He writes a fortnightly column in The Mint called The Intersection.

Nitin was a gold medalist from the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, an undergraduate scholar at Nanyang Technological University, and an alum of National College, Bangalore. He spent more than a decade at the Singapore government as a policymaker in the technology sector.

He is currently a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore; and serves on board of Jal Seva Foundation (WaterAid India) and the Government of Karnataka’s Vision Group on Higher Education.

T V Mohandas Pai
Chairman, Aarin Capital & Manipal Global Education
Mohandas Pai is a Padma Shri Awardee and former CFO and Board Member at Infosys. He is also the co-founder of Akshaya Patra, the world’s largest midday meal program, and works actively with government and regulators on policy recommendations and guidelines. Mohan has served as the Chairman of the Board of SEBI, and is now a Board Member of the National Stock Exchange in India. He has emerged as one of India’s most prolific angel investors. He has helped start over 10 different funds in venture, growth, and public markets. He also leads a private equity fund, Aarin Capital, along with Manipal Group Chairman Ranjan Pai that invests in life sciences and education companies. A selection of the companies include Byju’s, Counsyl, ZoomCar, Praxify, YourStory, and Licious.