Polycrisis is not a threat. It is a geopolitical opening. In this opening address, the speaker unveils the strategic blueprint behind this year’s agenda, moving beyond crisis management to a new operating model for Permanent Volatility. The address argues that the defining question for enterprises today is not how to survive disruption, but how to build organizations that are structurally designed to thrive within it. India should pursue supply chain sovereignty as a foreign policy instrument, not just an economic one. The session will provide a comprehensive pulse-check on India’s Infrastructure & Logistics landscape, examining how the nation can leverage its Viksit Bharat infrastructure and “China+2” positioning to replace an outdated global gameplan with a resilient, AI-orchestrated value chain and how technology is emerging as the permanent enabler in solving challenges that are no longer episodic, but chronic.
Key takeaway: Gain a visionary roadmap for steering the “triple threat” of geopolitical shifts, trade volatility, and carbon mandates and understand how enterprises can harness technology as the foundational layer for operating in a world of Permanent Volatility, setting the tone for two days of reimagining India as the world’s primary resilience anchor.”
Speaker:
Arvind Bhandhari, Chairman & MD, Goodyear India
This address explores the intersection of corporate operational excellence and civic duty, framing the supply chain as a critical pillar of India’s economic sovereignty. It calls on leaders to view logistics not just as a business function, but as a national responsibility essential to the Republic’s growth and resilience.
As manufacturing and supply chains evolve in response to automation, AI, and changing market demands, industrial infrastructure is emerging as a critical business enabler rather than just a physical asset. This session will explore how organizations are moving beyond traditional warehousing and manufacturing facilities towards integrated, customer-centric industrial ecosystems that enhance operational efficiency, scalability, resilience and growth. The discussion will examine the shift from “space” to “solutions” and how future-
ready infrastructure is helping businesses across sectors build more agile, connected and competitive supply chains.
This session will explore how India is reshaping its trade architecture through strategic FTAs, emerging export corridors, and shifting global trade routes. It will examine how these developments are redefining market access, competitiveness, and India’s position in global commerce.
Key takeaway: Insights into leveraging evolving trade frameworks and corridors to unlock new growth and global market opportunities.
Report Brief by Knowledge Partner – PwC India
As global businesses face rising geopolitical tensions, shifting trade routes, regulatory changes, and rapid advances in AI and automation, CEOs are increasingly challenged to manage two powerful forces at the same time. This discussion explores whether organizations can afford to prioritize one over the other—or whether success now depends on building capabilities to navigate both simultaneously
Key Discussion Points:
Speakers:
Shashank Chaudhary (IAS), Additional Chief Executive Officer, Invest UP
Talking Points:
M. Rajeshwar Rao, Former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
Dr Vikram Aggarwal, Vice President & Facility Director, Fortis Escorts Hospital and Joginder Singh, Ambulance Driver
This session examines the transition from mere automation to Agentic AI, where autonomous systems and humans co-create a self-healing, responsive supply chain. It focuses on the leadership and cultural shifts required to manage a workforce where AI acts as a strategic decision-making partner while also looking at challenges of developing talent to operate such facilities that could host advanced tech supported logistics
Talking Points:
Speakers:
Ujjwala Mishra, Director Global Supply Chain Planning, GE Healthcare
Tanmay Saksena, Chief Operating Officer, TATA 1mg
Ruchir Shrivastava, Director – Procurement & Supply Chain, Vedanta
This session explores the transition to high-spec Grade-A warehousing, focusing on how can advanced automation solutions meet real estate infrastructure to maximize cubic capacity across entire value chain including national, regional, zonal & in city hubs. It examines how these modern assets are being strategically scaled across large clusters fast developing alongside the freight infrastructure (ports, road, rail alike) to facilitate India’s manufacturing-led growth and $5 trillion economic target.
Talking points:
A high-impact tribute video showcasing how supply chains drive the world — with fast cuts, dynamic visuals, and dramatic voiceover
ET Edge
A candid conversation with the SCM Awards jury as they share what stood out during the evaluation process, the innovations, mindsets, and models that are setting new benchmarks in the industry
This address explores the intersection of corporate operational excellence and civic duty, framing the supply chain as a critical pillar of India’s economic sovereignty. It calls on leaders to view logistics not just as a business function, but as a national responsibility essential to the Republic’s growth and resilience.
This address steps back from the operational noise of 2026 and makes a long-horizon argument about what the FMCG supply chain will be optimising for in a decade. Not cost. Not efficiency. Not even sustainability. But speed, the ability to respond to consumer demand in real time; trust, the supply chain as a guarantor of product authenticity, safety, and ethical sourcing; and abundance, the chain’s capacity to make quality accessible to every Indian regardless of income or geography.
Key takeaway: Learn how to reimagine FMCG supply chains around speed, trust, and accessibility to stay relevant in a demand-driven, consumer-centric future.
Speakers:
Dr Gyanendra Shukla, CEO, Board Member & Advisor, Rallis India
This topic explores how FMCG and agri product companies are moving beyond traditional forecasting to real-time demand sensing using AI/ML. It focuses on using high-frequency data like sales, weather, and channel signals to predict demand with greater precision. The shift extends further into demand shaping, where organisations actively influence demand through pricing, promotions, and distribution strategies.
Talking Points:
Speakers:
Tarun Rout, GM Warehouse & Logistics, Bombay Shaving Company
Vimal Raj Sharma, SCM Director South Asia & META, Glanbia Performance Nutrition
Speaker:
Senior Representative, Ramco
Moderator:
PwC India
This session will explore why the long-standing focus on cost optimisation is no longer sustainable in today’s volatile and complex supply chain environment. It will examine what comes next, prioritising resilience, agility, sustainability, and value creation over lowest cost.
Talking points:
John Varghese, Principal Solution Consultant, Infor India
Manish Rawat, Senior Vice President – Business Development, Indospace
India’s dairy cooperative model is one of the world’s most remarkable supply chain stories — built from the grassroots up, connecting millions of farmers to billions of consumers. Yet as India’s food economy accelerates toward quick commerce, modern retail, and global export ambitions, the infrastructure beneath it is being stress-tested like never before. This address draws on NDDB’s unparalleled vantage point across India’s agri and dairy ecosystem to make a compelling case for what the next generation of India’s food supply chain must look like — more connected, colder, and far more resilient. Talking Points: The Cooperative Advantage — India’s dairy cooperative model as the world’s most scalable farm-to-consumer blueprint and what modern FMCG chains must borrow from it Closing the Cold Chain Gap — 30% of India’s perishables lost to cold chain failure; where the infrastructure gaps are and what the national roadmap must prioritise Technology Meets Tradition — Layering digital traceability and AI-driven demand planning onto cooperative infrastructure to cut waste and improve farmer incomes The Export Ambition — What it takes for India to become a top 5 global dairy exporter by 2035 without compromising the domestic supply chain 1.4 billion depend
Speakers:
Dr V. Sridhar, Executive Director, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)
China controls the upstream API supply chain. West Asia controls the energy and petrochemical inputs that feed it. Together, they represent a double chokehold on India’s pharmaceutical manufacturing capability that no single policy initiative has yet fully addressed. The session is designed to address both pressures from operational experience and what should we do.
Key takeaway: Understand how to reduce critical dependencies and build a more self-reliant, resilient pharma supply chain through strategic diversification and policy-aligned action.
Speakers:
Manoharan Manoj, COO, Sika India
The manufcaturing industry is under pressure to deliver on two non-negotiable priorities simultaneously: achieving sustainability and ensuring uninterrupted patient safety. As companies work towards decarbonising operations, reducing emissions, and meeting increasingly stringent ESG expectations, they cannot compromise on product integrity, compliance, or supply continuity. This discussion will explore how technology, data, and resilient operating models are enabling pharmaceutical supply chains to become both greener and more precise Building green supply chains without compromising product quality and patient safety separate a supply chain that merely functions from one that never fails.
Talking points:
Speakers:
Dhananjay Prasad, Vice President- Business Development, V-Trans (India)
India’s healthcare demand patterns are among the most complex in the world, seasonal disease spikes, geographic dispersion, income heterogeneity, and the coexistence of branded and generic markets create a demand forecasting challenge that no standard supply chain analytics tool was designed to solve. Panellists will debate on how they are using data, AI, and demand sensing to build supply chains that are genuinely responsive to India’s healthcare demand reality, rather than the global demand templates their systems were built on.
Talking points:
Speakers:
Umesh Gaur, SVP Global Consulting, Blue Yonder
The chemical industry is navigating a uniquely complex transition—where feedstock volatility, energy intensity, regulatory pressure, and margin sensitivity are all converging at the same time. Unlike most sectors, decarbonisation in chemicals is not a parallel initiative—it directly impacts reaction processes, plant uptime, formulation stability, safety standards, and global customer approvals. This panel brings together senior leaders from chemical manufacturing, specialty chemicals, and global supply planning to discuss how organisations are re-engineering operations while maintaining yield, safety, and global competitiveness.
Talking points:
Speakers:
Umesh Gaur, SVP Global Consulting, Blue Yonder
As consumer expectations shift from next-day to near-instant delivery, supply chains are being redesigned around hyperlocal fulfilment, dark stores, and real-time inventory visibility. This session explores how brands, retailers, and logistics providers are balancing speed, profitability, and operational efficiency while building the next generation of last-mile delivery networks.
Talking Points:
Speakers:
Manoharan Manoj, COO, Sika India
*The agenda is work in progress and subject to change
Speakers:
Dr. Rajendra Kumar, Secretary, Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
Data shows that while global trade volumes are fluctuating, the value of goods moving through Indian air corridors is at an all-time high. The session emphasize that we are no longer just “carrying boxes”; we are “enabling high-value missions” for Global India.
Key takeaway: Understand how scaling air cargo infrastructure and innovation can position India as a hub for high-value, time-sensitive global trade.
Speakers:
K Selvakumar, CEO, AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company
This session explores how virtual replicas of end-to-end networks are evolving from experimental tools into a strategic safeguard, enabling Indian firms to simulate “what-if” geopolitical and climate scenarios in real time. It highlights the shift from reactive logistics to a proactive, stress-tested model that ensures business continuity despite the uncertainties shaping the 2026 market landscape.
Talking points:
Rajesh Mehta, Executive Director and CCSO, Liladhar Pasoo Group
This topic examines the trade-offs between cost, speed, and service levels in India’s last-mile delivery networks. It focuses on how e-commerce players can optimise fulfilment models to achieve scale without eroding margins.
Talking Points:
Rishi Mutreja, Head Supply Chain, Relaxo Footwears
Deepak Kumar Goel, Chief of Last Mile Operations, Shadowfax
As global businesses face rising geopolitical tensions, shifting trade routes, regulatory changes, and rapid advances in AI and automation, CEOs are increasingly challenged to manage two powerful forces at the same time. This discussion explores whether organizations can afford to prioritize one over the other—or whether success now depends on building capabilities to navigate both simultaneously
Key Discussion Points:
Speakers:
This topic explores the strategic migration of manufacturing to politically aligned nations (friend-shoring) as a safeguard against geopolitical volatility. It will highlight India’s emergence as a key “China+2” hub, where global corporations build redundant, anti-fragile supply chains to balance cost efficiency with long-term regional security.
Key takeaway: Understand how to leverage friend-shoring and the China+2 strategy to build resilient, diversified supply chains while positioning India as a key global manufacturing hub.
Moderator:
Sumit Agarwal Managing Director, Supply Chain & Operations, PwC India
This topic addresses the 2026 shift from analog chip shortages to a scarcity of high-end DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory ) and AI-processors, driven by the global competition for computing power. It explores how automotive CSCOs are navigating 70–100% price hikes and the need for “Quick-Redesign” cycles to ensure that software-defined vehicles remain producible amid AI-sector demand. This session focuses on the strategic decoupling of automotive silicon needs from volatile consumer-tech cycles to secure long-term production stability.
Talking points:
Moderator:
Abhisek Chatterjee, Managing Director, Supply Chain & Operations, PwC India
This topic addresses the critical need for the heavy engineering sector to move beyond its reliance on foreign-sourced precision components, specialized alloys, and long-lead spares. It explores strategic levers like “Deep-Tier” supplier mapping and industrial-scale 3D printing for critical parts to insulate project timelines from geopolitical shocks. This session focuses on transitioning from a “buyer” mindset to a “partner” model, fostering domestic innovation to secure India’s industrial sovereignty.
Talking points:
Ganesh Kini, Head SCM, L&T Electronics
Supply chains are currently migrating into Global Business Services (GBS), merging with Finance, HR, and IT. This keynote focuses on the “Bionic” model—where human intuition and AI agents collaborate to deliver a frictionless end-to-end journey.
Key takeaway: Understand how integrating AI with human decision-making can create a seamless, end-to-end supply chain that drives both superior experience and performance.
This address explores the intersection of corporate operational excellence and civic duty, framing the supply chain as a critical pillar of India’s economic sovereignty. It calls on leaders to view logistics not just as a business function, but as a national responsibility essential to the Republic’s growth and resilience.
Senior Representative, Cache Digital
Moderator: Arun Raychaudhari, Partner, Supply Chain And Operations, PwC India
FMCD and manufacturing leaders face a core tension—localisation mandates versus the superior cost, quality, and availability of global components. This panel will examine real trade-offs, identify what’s truly localisation-ready, and discuss how to bridge the gap.
Talking points:
Kapil Dwivedi, General Manager –Sales, V-Trans
Moderator : Mandar Mahajan, Managing Director, Supply Chain & Operations, PwC India
This session will explore why supply chain agility has become the most critical differentiator in manufacturing and FMCD sectors amid constant demand and market volatility. It will highlight how organisations are redesigning operations to respond faster, adapt continuously, and stay competitive.
Key takeaway: Learn how to build agile supply chains that enable faster response, adaptability, and sustained competitive advantage.
Talking points:
Vijendar Rao, Head – Procurement, Supply Chain & Operations, Maccaferri India
*The agenda is work in progress and subject to change