The Rise of Scions

A fresh batch of bosses is stepping into corner suites. They have inherited businesses that kick-started India's economic revival post-liberalisation.

- Yuthika Bhargava

A NEW ORDER

This nextgen cohort faces a different set of challenges-from geopolitical instability to Al.

And the world is watching

Many, many moons ago Alfred Tennyson, an English poet, had said, "The old order changeth, yielding place to new." This natural law is being reflected in India Inc. Not cataclysmic corporate coups, but a slow ushering in of a new crop of leaders from the wings to the centre stage. The past few years have seen a new generation being groomed and handed over the reins of various conglomerates.

India's rise has been nothing short of extraordinary. In just over three decades, the country has rewritten its economic script-from the brink of bankruptcy in 1991 to becoming the world's fourth-largest economy in 2024. This metamorphosis was powered not by state command but by private ambition.

Passing the Baton

The transformation is visible on the country's stock exchange. The combined market capitalisation of Nifty 50 companies has surged from just ₹13.5 lakh crore in the mid-2000s to about ₹201.8 lakh crore today, growing at an estimated compound annual growth rate of 14.9%, according to Sriram BKR, product head-distribution at Geojit Investments, a retail financial-services company.

The top half-a-dozen of these companies are together worth over twice the GDP of Pakistan roughly $400bn. That scale was once the preserve of US giants alone.

And now, a generational shift is underway.

India's largest business houses-Reliance Industries, TVS, Piramal, JSW Group, RPSG Group, Aditya Birla Group and others-are passing the baton. Their scions are no longer on the sidelines; they are shaping decisions, steering strategy and stepping into power.