The Indian manufacturing sector is currently in the midst of a historic acceleration, transforming from a traditional industry into a cutting-edge global powerhouse. This industrial surge isn’t accidental; it’s the direct result of a new generation of visionary business leaders who are aggressively injecting capital, technology, and strategic thinking into production. These individuals are moving beyond simple assembly, focusing on high-value products, embracing sustainability, and building global supply chains that redefine the meaning of ‘Made in India’. This list highlights the 10 key visionaries of this revolution, leaders whose decisions today will determine India’s standing as a dominant industrial force on the world stage tomorrow.
Gautam Adani (Adani Group)
Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, is a key architect of modern Indian infrastructure and manufacturing capacity. His vision directly fuels the ‘Make in India’ mission by focusing on large-scale, capital-intensive manufacturing. The group is rapidly expanding its footprint across logistics, ports, thermal power, and perhaps most visionarily, green energy manufacturing (solar panels, wind turbines, hydrogen). Adani’s strategic approach involves vertically integrating the supply chain, from mining raw materials to generating power and then building infrastructure to transport goods.
Anand Mahindra (Mahindra Group)
Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group, is leading one of India’s most diversified manufacturing enterprises, spanning automotive, farm equipment (world’s largest tractor manufacturer by volume), and aerospace. His vision is defined by a commitment to innovation, design-led manufacturing, and technological disruption. Under his leadership, the group has become an aggressive adopter of electric mobility, launching a dedicated line of EVs and investing heavily in future-ready platforms. He also champions smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 adoption within their plants to enhance quality and efficiency.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Biocon)
As the Executive Chairperson of Biocon and Biocon Biologics, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is a visionary force who essentially pioneered modern biotechnology manufacturing in India. She built Biocon from a garage startup into a global biopharmaceuticals leader, focusing on affordable innovation in complex products like biosimilars and insulins. Her impact is twofold: establishing India’s competence in high-precision, regulated manufacturing that meets global quality benchmarks (FDA, EMA), and driving the core principle of access and affordability for critical medicines. She champions scaling up India’s R&D-led manufacturing capability, moving beyond generic drugs to proprietary and novel biological products, thereby positioning India as a “Pharmacy of the World” in a sustainable and technologically advanced manner.
Nikhil Nanda (JHS Svendgaard Laboratories Ltd.)
Nikhil Nanda, the Managing Director of JHS Svendgaard Laboratories Ltd., is a significant figure in India’s rapidly evolving FMCG contract manufacturing space, particularly in oral, personal, and hygiene care. Starting primarily as a toothbrush manufacturer, Nanda’s vision was to transform JHS into a comprehensive, end-to-end manufacturing partner for leading national and international brands. Under his leadership, the company diversified into high-volume production of toothpaste, mouthwash, and other FMCG categories, often as a key supplier for major Indian brands like Patanjali and Dabur. His strategic focus is on high-volume, high-quality contract manufacturing, including an export-oriented unit, which is vital for bolstering India’s consumer goods manufacturing base and expanding the country’s footprint in the global personal care market.
Salil Parekh (Infosys)
As the CEO and MD of Infosys, Salil Parekh is a visionary shaping the future of manufacturing not by producing goods, but by digitalizing the process. His contribution lies in leveraging Infosys’s global IT expertise to implement Industry 4.0 solutions for major global and Indian manufacturers. His vision involves using technologies like AI, IoT, cloud computing, and digital twins to create ‘smart factories’ that enable predictive maintenance, optimized supply chains, and superior product quality. Parekh is instrumental in repositioning Indian manufacturing as a digital-first, data-driven sector. By partnering with manufacturers across automotive, aerospace, and chemicals, he is directly accelerating India’s digital transformation journey, making its production processes globally competitive in the era of smart industry.
Sunil Vachani (Dixon Technologies)
Sunil Vachani, the Founder and Chairman of Dixon Technologies, is a key leader in India’s burgeoning Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) sector. His vision directly aligns with the ‘Make in India’ and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, focusing on making India a global hub for electronics manufacturing. Dixon is a giant in contract manufacturing for LED TVs, washing machines, mobile phones, and lighting products. Vachani’s strategy is to rapidly scale up capacity, adopt Industry 4.0 techniques, and maintain global quality standards to attract international brands away from traditional manufacturing destinations.
Jayant Davar (Sandhar Technologies)
Jayant Davar, the Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, and Managing Director of Sandhar Technologies, is a prominent name in the automotive components manufacturing space. His vision is focused on being a Tier-1 global supplier by excelling in diverse product lines, from door handles and locking systems to mirror assemblies and sheet metal components. Davar’s strategy involves heavy emphasis on global acquisitions and technology transfers to bring world-class manufacturing processes and R&D capabilities to India.
Sanjiv Puri (ITC Limited)
Sanjiv Puri, the Chairman and Managing Director of ITC Limited, is driving the transformation of one of India’s most diversified conglomerates with a massive manufacturing footprint in FMCG, paperboards, and agri-business. His vision centers on ‘Triple Bottom Line’ performance, economic, environmental, and social. He is implementing a strategy of hyper-localization and sustainability in manufacturing, ensuring that ITC’s supply chains and production facilities are deeply integrated with local communities and operate with a lower carbon and water footprint. This commitment to responsible manufacturing, coupled with aggressive investment in digitalization and advanced analytics for supply chain optimization, is setting a key trend for India’s large-scale FMCG manufacturing to be both profitable and planet-friendly.
Baba N. Kalyani (Bharat Forge)
Baba N. Kalyani, the Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Forge, is a pioneer in India’s heavy engineering and defense manufacturing. His vision has transformed Bharat Forge from a local forging company into a global leader in forging and engineering, serving complex sectors like automotive, aerospace, and oil & gas worldwide. His key contribution is proving India’s capability in precision, high-stress component manufacturing. Kalyani has relentlessly pushed for advanced metallurgy, R&D, and adoption of state-of-the-art machinery to achieve global cost and quality leadership.
Pawan Munjal (Hero MotoCorp)
Pawan Munjal, the Chairman and CEO of Hero MotoCorp, leads one of the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturers. His vision for Indian manufacturing is centered on global expansion and sustainable mobility. While dominating the mass-market internal combustion engine segment, Munjal has significantly accelerated Hero MotoCorp’s shift towards the future by investing in electric vehicles (EVs) under the brand VIDA. He is driving the modernization of the manufacturing process using digital technologies and automation to maintain cost leadership while improving quality. His strategy includes establishing manufacturing and assembly bases in international markets and building a global supply chain, thereby taking Indian-designed and engineered vehicles to the world and solidifying India’s position as a global automotive manufacturing center.