Those Who Grabbed The Headlines

FORTUNE INDIA IS EIGHT YEARS OLD. Over these years, India haswitnessed a sea change: It has become the worlds sixth-largest economy, seen a slew of reformsunder a new government, and dealt with hot-button issues such as bad loans, corporatefrauds, data breaches, and privacy concerns. Fortune India looksat some of the biggest newsmakers at the heart of thischange: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who swept to power with adecisive mandate in 2014; Indias richest man, Mukesh Ambani, whoshook up the telecom space by offering mobile data at dirt-cheaprates; and yoga guru Ramdev, whose Patanjali Ayurved gave some serious competition toconsumer goods giants such as Hindustan Unilever and ITC.

- Arnika Thakur & Jui Mukherjee

NARENDRA MODI

68, Prime Minister of India

WHEN NARENDRA MODI became Prime Minister in 2014 with the most decisive mandate for a leader in three decades, he was expected to make sweeping economic reforms to put the economy back on track. After years of policy paralysis and scams, many in the country hoped his promise of achche din and ‘Development For All’ would help lift millions out of desperate poverty. That might not have happened but nearly five years down the road, the Modi government’s efforts to boost the economy have been mixed. Its initiatives like ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’ have certainly changed lives and business sentiment in the country. It implemented the long-awaited goods and services tax (GST), which makes tax evasion difficult but also hurt small businesses. It has tried to tackle the bad loan or non-performing assets issue at banks and promoted financial inclusion, but at the same time faced flak for other initiatives like demonetisation, which critics say created unnecessary confusion and wasted public money. His push for socio-economic inclusion through the JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile number for Direct Benefit Transfer) and other reforms such as crop insurance have gone down well. The passing of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was hailed as a big move, though the real results are yet to be seen. As India heads closer to the next general election, the question on many minds is: Will Modi return to power? Won’t be long before we know.

RAMDEV