MSDE Concludes Week long Kaushal Manthan to Shape Skilling Roadmap for 2026

Mumbai, Jan 2: Shri Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (I/C) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Education, Government of India, chaired the concluding session of the week-long (23rd December 2025-31st December 2025) Kaushal Manthan, bringing together senior officials across divisions, institutions, and key stakeholders from MSDE.

The objective of the discussions held over a period of one week was to identify priority reforms and initiatives, aligned with national priorities. Deliberations focused on building a robust, responsive, and outcome-oriented skilling ecosystem. The session culminated in the firming up of Skill Resolutions for 2026, which will guide policy action and programme implementation in the coming year.

Emphasis was placed on the next phase of reforms, with a sharper focus on outcomes, stronger convergence with State Governments and industry, and improved monitoring of training quality, assessments, and certifications.

A key theme of the discussions was the need to strengthen institutional mechanisms while simplifying systems. Proposed directions include outcome-based grading mechanisms for ITIs to drive quality improvement, delegation of powers to regional and institutional levels to enable ease of doing business. The reorganization and strengthening of Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) was also discussed, alongwith regular review of SSCs and assignment of KPIs. The deliberations highlighted the need for continuous curriculum upgradation in line with technological change and industry demand.

Modernising curriculum and, strengthening industry co-creation, and ensuring flexibility and adaptability in training design were identified as key enablers for building a resilient skilling ecosystem.

Creation of clear and seamless pathways across skill levels was emphasized upon; from school to post-school, for dropouts, working professionals, and lifelong learners supported by credit frameworks and mobility across programmes.

During the recently held CS Conference MSDE had committed to establishing a National Federated Skill and Workforce Registry, operationalising a National Trainer Framework, repositioning apprenticeships as the primary school-to-work pathway, and integrating MSMEs into national skilling and apprenticeship frameworks in a time-bound manner.

The Kaushal Manthan reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to regular and structured consultations with State Governments, deeper and continuous industry engagement, strengthened inter-ministerial and institutional convergence

These common levers are expected to underpin the implementation of reforms and ensure alignment across stakeholders.

Smile Foundation’s Santanu Mishra honoured at BW Disrupt Social Impact 2025

New Delhi, Jan 01: Santanu Mishra, Co-Founder and Executive Trustee of Smile Foundation was awarded at BW Disrupt Social Impact 2025. He was honoured for Smile Foundation’s initiatives, which are anchored in the idea that as artificial intelligence, digital ecosystems, and data-driven public infrastructure will reshape development models. Hence, the future of social impact must remain firmly people-centred.

The forum underscored a critical shift underway across the social sector: while technology today enables scale, precision, and real-time insight, meaningful change continues to depend on human intent, ethical leadership, and deep community engagement. BW Disrupt Social Impact 2025 brought together social entrepreneurs, non-profit leaders, CSR professionals, policymakers, technologists, and impact investors to examine how emerging tools can strengthen transparency, improve decision-making, and extend services to underserved communities—without losing sight of dignity, inclusion, and participation. The conversations reinforced that technology is most powerful when it acts as an enabler of empathy-led action rather than a substitute for it.

The recognition process followed a rigorous, multi-stage evaluation, with nominations assessed on measurable outcomes, authenticity of impact, quality of governance, scalability of models, and the responsible use of technology as a force multiplier. Shortlisted initiatives underwent detailed qualitative review, examining how programmes support inclusion, build resilient local ecosystems, and deliver sustainable, long-term transformation. Final selections were made after comprehensive jury deliberations, bringing together perspectives from policy, development, technology, corporate citizenship, and social innovation.

Reflecting on the recognition, Santanu Mishra said, “This acknowledgement feels meaningful because it highlights collective purpose rather than individual achievement, which resonates well with the theme of “Tech with Soul”. At Smile Foundation, our work is grounded in partnerships, and in the belief that progress must be inclusive, ethical, and people-first. The discussions at BW Disrupt Social Impact 2025 reaffirmed that technology finds its true value only when guided by empathy and social responsibility.”

He added that the platform provided a valuable space to reflect on how tools such as AI can strengthen education, healthcare, livelihoods, and community welfare, while keeping human dignity at the centre of development efforts. “This recognition belongs to our teams across geographies whose quiet, consistent work translates intent into impact every day,” he said.

BW Disrupt Social Impact 2025, convened in partnership with BW Businessworld, highlighted the growing consensus that the next phase of social progress in India will be shaped not by technology alone, but by how thoughtfully it is integrated into human systems, values, and institutions.

Abakkus Mutual Fund raises INR 2,468 cr during NFO period of its maiden fund

Mumbai, Jan 1, 2026: Abakkus Mutual Fund has cited that the new fund offer (NFO) of their maiden fund – Abakkus Flexi Cap Fund, which opened on December 8, 2025 and closed on December 22, 2025, secured assets under management (AUM) with the subscription value of ₹2,468 crores. This is a reflection of strong interest from investors across the country, recording participation from nearly 5,518 pin codes from across 2,000 cities. About 36,688 retail and 1,060 institutional investors subscribed the flexi cap fund during the NFO period. To bring investment inclusivity and business scalability, Abakkus Mutual Fund has built an extensive network of 4,700 empanelled distributors.

Vaiibhavv Chugh, Chief Executive Officer, Abakkus Investment Managers Private Limited said, “Favourable reception from investors across the country for our maiden fund is a testament of strong brand capital of Abakkus Group and trust built through prudent advisory offered by our sales team & distributors during the NFO period of Abakkus Flexi Cap Fund. Our portfolio construction is true to label flexi cap product with diverse spread across market cap classifications and appropriate allocation to the conviction ideas. We will be aiming to launch more funds in the coming years.”

The Abakkus Flexi Cap Fund is managed by Sanjay Doshi, Head of Investments and Research, and re-opened for investments from December 30 2025, available in both regular and direct plans.

Sanjay Doshi, Head of Investments & Research, Abakkus AMC said, “Our flexi cap fund will be aligned to market conditions offering right balance of allocation across large, mid and small caps. The fund will have notable allocation to conviction ideas and will be supported by a well-defined risk management framework aligned to long term wealth creation.”

The equity scheme invests across large, mid and small cap stocks, offering portfolio flexibility across market capitalisations. The fund is benchmarked against the BSE 500 TRI and will invest a minimum of 65 percent of its assets in equities and equity-related instruments, with the balance allocated to debt, money market instruments, and up to 10 percent in REITs and InvITs.

All schemes under Abakkus Mutual Fund will follow the in-house MEETS framework, which focuses on Management pedigree and track record, Earnings quality and the ability of companies to multiply profits, Events/Trends that affect or disrupt operations, Timing of investment at reasonable pricing and Structural aspects like size of the opportunity and competitive positioning.

Business Barons 2025: Leaders Driving a Year of Promise and Execution

New Delhi, Dec 30:- As we close the year 2025, it is evident that the business environment in India has been a reflection of continuity, growth, and promising outlook. This is made evident by the successes achieved by sectors such as manufacturing, real estate, energy, education, healthcare, and others.

Indian real estate managed to maintain uninterrupted momentum throughout 2025 and was sustained by capital inflows worth approximately USD 6-7 billion. Against this backdrop,     Mr. Ajay Chaudhary, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director, ACE Group, emerged as one of the sector’s most execution-driven leaders. He said, “For ACE Group, 2025 has indeed been a strong year, marked by several milestones achieved through precision, planning and disciplined execution across the choicest range of high-end projects. As the premium housing market continues to evolve, our focus remains firmly on refined design, thoughtful living environments and timely delivery of future-ready homes with enduring value.”

From the developer’s standpoint, the year reflected continuity in demand and a clear preference for well-planned projects. Mr. Arjunpreet Singh Sahni, Executive Director, Solitaire Group said,

“The real estate market has shown steady momentum through 2025 supported by firm buyer confidence and continued demand for well-planned developments. Our priority has been delivering projects that meet the expectations of today’s homebuyers. As we move into the New Year, we will continue to build projects keeping current buyer expectations in mind.”

From the real estate advisory space, Mr. Vijay Jain, Managing Director, Star Estate, distinguished himself with a pulse on hanging buyer behaviour. He noted,

“Residential sales remained strong across leading cities with well-thought out decisions from buyers during 2025. We saw greater emphasis on location quality, developer credibility and long-term value. This has reinforced the role of organised advisory, where transparency, market data and structured guidance play a critical role.”

The renewable energy sector also made significant headway in 2025 with India’s installed renewable capacity moving close to 200 GW. Highlighting the sector’s evolving maturity,    Mr. Sanjay Garg, Director, Shweta Solar Pvt. Ltd observed,

“India’s solar sector did consistently well in 2025, with customers becoming increasingly informed about performance, efficiency and long-term returns. This has pushed the industry to raise execution and service standards across the board.”

Reflecting leadership in distributed and rooftop solar adoption, Mr. Vinod Sharma, Director, Joint Solar concurred, “The steady rise in rooftop and distributed solar adoption shows how energy decisions are driving the growth. Beyond installation, customers are now focusing on durability, maintenance support and long-term savings, which are shaping the next phase of growth.”

From the grid automation space, Mr. Sanjay Verma, Executive Director, Sharika Enterprises Limited noted,

“With the rapid scaling of renewable capacity under India’s energy transition agenda, grid operators in 2025 have significantly accelerated investments in advanced grid monitoring, protection, and automation solutions. The growing penetration of intermittent generation sources is driving utilities and large energy consumers to prioritise grid resilience, real-time visibility, and intelligent control architectures to ensure system reliability, stability, and regulatory compliance.”

Education and healthcare continued to hold their fort through 2025. Mr. Utkarsh Gupta, Managing Director, Ramagya Group, a young and dynamic leader driving a more integrated education approach, shared,

“At Ramagya, the year witnessed a sharper focus on emotional well-being, values and real-world skills, alongside academics. This inclusive approach is reshaping how institutions prepare students for the future.”

Ms. Poonam Sharma, Chairperson, Accurate Group of Institutions, who has been steering the institution’s focus on industry-linked higher education, added,

“In 2025, our effort at Accurate has been to ensure that classroom learning is supported by exposure, confidence-building and regular interaction with the real world. As we step into the next academic year, the emphasis will stay on keeping our programmes relevant to industry expectations, while helping students build practical skills and the confidence required to transition smoothly into professional roles.”

Ms. Sneha Rathor Khandelwal, CEO, Sanfort Group of Schools, one of the early education sector’s leading women voices said,

“2025 marked a milestone for Sanfort with the successful rollout of India’s first IB preschool chain. As we move into 2026, our focus remains on measured expansion, deeper academic integration and maintaining consistent learning standards across centres. Our franchising model continues to play a pivotal role in this journey and it has grown commendably this year. We look forward to expanding it further in the coming year.”

Mr. Arvind Kumar, CEO of Abante Integrated Management Services, one of India’s fastest-growing integrated asset management firms said,

“2025 has been a year of steady execution for us, with a clear focus on strengthening project delivery, operational discipline and on-ground coordination across assignments. As we move into 2026, the emphasis will be on scaling selectively, improving efficiency across the value chain and taking on more complex, integrated projects that demand both technical depth and execution reliability.”

Representing the technology distribution segment, Mr. Manoj Gupta, Managing Director, Fortune Marketing Pvt. Ltd, a seasoned industry professional shared, “India’s electronics and IT distribution ecosystem emphasised the importance of scale, reach and operational discipline in 2025.Building stronger channel networks and improving supply responsiveness became fundamental to supporting technology adoption.”

In the pharmaceutical space, companies used the year to sharpen portfolios and strengthen partner networks. Mr. Sumit Arora, Director, Alniche Lifesciences said, “Over the past year, our focus remained on strengthening our product portfolio and ensuring consistency in quality across markets. As we move into the New Year, we are looking at expanding our reach and building deeper relationships with our partners.”

Healthcare delivery also progressed steadily. Dr. Richa Rai, CEO, Heritage Hospitals, a forward-looking healthcare leader driving patient-centric care stated, “2025 was a year of consolidation for hospital-led healthcare. Investments in diagnostics, specialised services and digital systems helped improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency.”

Consumer-facing and technology-led businesses reported stable demand. Mr. Aman Choudhary, Executive Director  Marketing, Anmol Industries Limited observed,

“India’s packaged food market maintained its uninterrupted growth in 2025, supported by daily consumption, and deeper market penetration. Strengthening distribution reach, ensuring affordability and maintaining consistent quality were the focus areas. Anmol continues to focus on building trust through reliability and value as we move into 2026.”
Retail and lifestyle brands, particularly in fashion and consumer categories, continued to grow through 2025. Devo, a men’s premium occasion wear brand and a Siyaram’s initiative, expanded its presence across key markets during the year. Commenting on this, Mr. Gaurav Poddar, Executive Director, Siyaram’s said, “In 2025, Devo strengthened its retail presence with flagship openings across key North Indian cities including Prayagraj, Lucknow, Jalandhar, Delhi and Dehradun, taking our premium occasion wear to more than a dozen markets. The year was centred on refining craftsmanship, elevating design detail and creating in-store experiences that reflect evolving consumer tastes. Going forward, our priority remains on deepening our footprint in culturally strong markets while balancing tradition, modern elegance and consistent quality.”

Taken together, 2025 had been a year of good buyer sentiment with continuous performance of business. As 2026 beckons, business leaders across industries seem to be pretty determined to scale higher growth, cement trust-building and create long-term value.