- Randhir Thakur named Business Leader Of The Year at NDTV Profit Awards 2026
- Award honours leaders advancing India's self-reliance and indigenous manufacturing
- Tata Electronics recognised for building India’s semiconductor ecosystem and capabilities
Randhir Thakur, chief executive officer and managing director of Tata Electronics, has been named 'Business Leader Of The Year' in the India's Atmanirbharta Champion category at the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards, held at Mumbai's iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
The award recognises leaders and enterprises that have played a defining role in strengthening India's self-reliance by building indigenous manufacturing capabilities, advancing deep technology, reducing import dependence and creating globally competitive "Made in India" products.
The event brought together some of India's most influential business leaders, policymakers and industry stalwarts to celebrate excellence across sectors.
India's push towards Atmanirbharta has evolved beyond a policy slogan into a strategic economic objective. The award honours organisations that are creating long-term national capabilities across manufacturing, healthcare, industrial technology and critical infrastructure.
According to the award citation, the India's Atmanirbharta Champion category recognises enterprises that have strengthened India's self-reliance by developing indigenous manufacturing, deep-tech capabilities and industrial independence while reducing reliance on imports.
Tata Electronics was recognised for helping lay the foundation of India's semiconductor ecosystem, a sector viewed as critical to the country's technological and economic security.
The company's nomination highlighted its work across building semiconductor fabrication and OSAT/ATMP capabilities, developing India's domestic chip manufacturing ecosystem, creating strategic national manufacturing capabilities and driving advanced manufacturing through global partnerships.
The Leader Behind The Mission:
Randhir Thakur brings nearly four decades of global semiconductor industry experience spanning manufacturing, research, supply chains and technology leadership. Before joining Tata Electronics, Thakur held senior leadership positions at Intel, where he served as President of Intel Foundry Services and played a key role in expanding the company's foundry business under its IDM 2.0 strategy.
Earlier, he was Executive Vice President of the Silicon Systems Group at Applied Materials, overseeing the company's semiconductor business after leading its display and solar businesses. Born in Himachal Pradesh, Thakur earned his engineering degree from the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, followed by a master's degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a PhD from the University of Oklahoma. He was named an IEEE Fellow in 2013 and holds more than 300 semiconductor patents.
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Other Nominees:
The other nominees in the India's Atmanirbharta Champion category were:
- ONGC
- Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL)
- Dr. Reddy's Laboratories
- Wockhardt
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