Business Today – 12 April 2026

Summary

Vellayan Subbiah was named Business Icon of the Year and Arundhati Bhattacharya received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Business Today's 2026 Best CEOs ranking in partnership with PwC — the April 12, 2026 issue (Vol 35 No 8) profiles the leaders who are steering India's largest companies through energy shocks, technological disruption, and governance demands. The cover package includes the full list of winners across categories.

The BT-PwC survey evaluated CEOs on revenue growth, profitability, market capitalisation increase, ESG scores, and employee satisfaction. The issue profiles the top 10 CEOs across sectors including banking, IT, pharma, energy, and consumer goods. Vellayan Subbiah, who led Murugappa Group's digital transformation, is featured as the cover subject. Arundhati Bhattacharya, former SBI chairperson, received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Indian banking.

The issue also covers India's energy security challenges and the ongoing conflict-driven uncertainty in global markets.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story / Leadership

p.0 · India's Best CEOs 2026 — BT-PwC Survey
The survey evaluated CEOs on 5 weighted parameters: revenue growth (25 percent), profitability (20 percent), market capitalisation increase (25 percent), ESG performance (15 percent), and employee satisfaction scores (15 percent). Vellayan Subbiah scored highest on the digital transformation parameter for his work at Coromandel International and the wider Murugappa Group. Executive search consultants can use the 5-parameter framework in their candidate assessment methodologies.

p.0 · Business Icon of the Year: Vellayan Subbiah
Subbiah led Murugappa Group's entry into new-age agriculture through precision farming and digital supply chain. Under his leadership, Coromandel International's revenue grew from 12,000 crore to 22,000 crore rupees over 5 years. He is credited with building a leadership pipeline that reduced average top-team age by 8 years. CHROs planning succession processes can study Subbiah's age-diversity metric.

p.0 · Lifetime Achievement: Arundhati Bhattacharya
The former SBI chairperson is recognised for her 4-decade career during which she led India's largest bank through its biggest merger (SBI with 5 associate banks) and managed the NPA clean-up. She now chairs the board of 2 technology companies and serves on SWIFT's global board. Women-in-leadership advocates can use her career arc as a case study.

▸ Economy / Energy

p.0 · Powering Through Another Shock
The editor's note frames India Inc's resilience through the West Asia energy crisis. The article cites that India's GDP growth held at 6.7 percent despite crude price volatility, suggesting that economic fundamentals are more diversified than during the 2022 energy shock. Macro analysts can use the 6.7 percent growth figure in their India-risk presentations.

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Editor's Take

The Best CEOs ranking is a well-constructed annual feature — the 5-parameter methodology is transparent, and the Vellayan Subbiah cover story gives readers a concrete leadership case study rather than a generic list. Arundhati Bhattacharya's Lifetime Achievement recognition is well-deserved and adds gravitas. The issue's problem is that outside the CEO ranking and the short energy piece, there is very little editorial content. Subscribers expecting the usual 40-plus pages of features will find a thin book padded with CEO profiles that vary significantly in detail — some profiles run 2 pages, others barely half a page. The heavy advertising from financial institutions and consulting firms is expected for a ranking issue but reduces the editorial-to-ad ratio noticeably.

Strengths
• CEO ranking methodology is transparent and repeatable
• Vellayan Subbiah profile with measurable transformation data
• Bhattacharya lifetime achievement adds institutional credibility

Weaknesses
• Editorial content is thin outside the CEO package
• Profile depth varies significantly across winners

Verdict: Selective read — Buy if you or your CEO is in the ranking; otherwise the limited editorial outside the cover package reduces general interest value.