The businessline Changemaker Awards 2026 jury meets on Monday to evaluate shortlisted nominees in social, digital, and financial transformation.
The eighth Changemaker Awards will celebrate impactful people and organisations on September 22 in New Delhi. SASTRA Deemed University is the presenting partner, powered by City Union Bank.
The award selection jury will meet in Chennai on Monday. Chaired by retired Justice Prabha Sridevan, the 2026 jury includes Suresh Narayanan, Safeena Hussain, B. Santhanam, N.S. Nappinai, A. Balasubramanian, and Dr. Mukund Rajan.
Seven editions of the awards have been held since 2018, the year The Hindu businessline stepped into its 25th year of publishing. The 2021 edition could not be held due to the pandemic.
The awards are given across six categories: Changemaker: Financial Transformation; Changemaker: Digital Transformation; Changemaker: Social Transformation, Young Changemaker, Changemaker of the Year and Iconic Changemaker.
Over 1,600 nominations across five categories were received for the awards, starting with a public call on May 12. Simultaneously, businessline journalists and knowledge partners — Ashoka Foundation and Deloitte—nominated potential candidates. The submission window closed at midnight on July 7, and all entries underwent multiple screening rounds based on the selection criteria. Awards feature five categories: Social, Digital, and Financial Transformation, alongside Young Changemaker and Iconic Changemaker. The flagship “Changemaker of the Year” award honours far-reaching impact. The businessline editorial team and knowledge partners select the Iconic Changemaker nominees.
After the nomination window closes, businessline and knowledge partners Deloitte and Ashoka screen and evaluate the applications. Niiti Consulting, the validation partner, then validates the shortlisted nominees before an independent jury selects the winners.
In 2025, DRDO won Changemaker of the Year, while the Azim Premji Foundation was named Iconic Changemaker. Araku Valley Coffee received the Financial Transformation award, and Bhashini won for Digital Transformation. Impulse NGO Network took home the Social Transformation honor. The Young Changemaker award was shared by Kalyani Shinde and the Young Tinker Foundation. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri presented the awards.
The awards for 2025 were given away by Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
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