THE METHODOLOGY for Fortune India’s special issue on India’s Best CEOs is developed in collaboration with our knowledge partner, EY. It combines both quantitative as well as qualitative assessment of the financial and strategic performance of CEOs leading listed companies. The term “Best CEO” serves as a metaphor for exceptional leadership and is not necessarily tied to an individual’s formal designation. In some instances, the highest executive authority in the company may not necessarily be the “CEO.” Since a leader’s performance cannot be purely judged by financial metrics, the quantitative findings are presented to a jury to bring in their qualitative insights.

This year’s jury comprised Dr. Sanjiv Goenka, chairman, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (Jury Chair); K.V.S. Manian, MD & CEO, Federal Bank; Zia Mody, co-founder & managing partner, AZB & Partners; Prashant Jain, founder & chief investment officer, 3P Investment Managers; Devina Mehra, founder, chairperson & MD, First Global, and Dinesh Kanabar, CEO, Dhruva Advisors LLP.

THE PROCESS

The process began by extracting data for the past three fiscals — FY23 to FY25 — for all listed companies in the Capitaline database via a set of filters:

• Only firms with net sales of ₹1,000 crore or higher were considered. Consolidated numbers were considered wherever applicable.

• Companies that incurred a loss in the second (FY24) or third financial year (FY25) were excluded. However, firms that incurred a loss in the first fiscal (FY23), including the CAGR base year (FY22), were eligible. This revision was introduced this year to ensure firms demonstrating a turnaround in recent years are also recognised.

• For private sector firms, the CEO had to be in place for the entire three-year period of the study. For PSUs — since CEOs usually have shorter stints — we considered all CEOs who were at the helm for at least one year.

• Companies that went public during the study period were not considered.

• After applying the filters, a total of 562 companies — non-BFSI:484; banks: 29; insurance: 7; and financial services and fintechs: 42 — qualified for the study.

Three parameters — net sales, profit after tax (PAT), and total shareholder return (TSR) — were considered for the study and each parameter was assigned a 33.33% weightage. Both net sales and PAT have two elements — absolute change and 3-year CAGR. Companies were scored on average year-on-year absolute change in net sales and PAT and 3-year CAGR for the study period. Absolute change and 3-year CAGR were assigned 16.66% weightage each. Both absolute change as well as CAGR were considered to avoid a smaller-sized firm taking advantage of a low base.

The final shortlist, besides sectoral winners, was curated across four categories: Super Large (net sales of over ₹1 lakh crore); Large (net sales between ₹50,000 crore and ₹1 lakh crore); Medium (net sales between ₹20,000 crore and ₹50,000 crore) and Emerging (net sales between ₹1,000 crore and ₹20,000 crore). In addition, winners were identified from 19 sectors. With sub-classification based on size and nature of business within a sector, the total number of winners stood at 31.

THE 19 SECTORS ARE:

• Auto Ancillaries • Automobiles (2Ws, CVs and PVs/4W) • Banks (Large and Medium) • Capital Goods • Cement

• Chemicals • Consumer Durables

• Consumer Tech • FMCG (Above ₹25,000 crore and ₹10,000-25,000 crore) • Healthcare • Hospitality • IT Services (Above ₹50,000 crore and ₹10,000-50,000 crore) • Insurance • Mining & Metals: (Above ₹1 lakh crore and ₹10,000-50,000 crore) • NBFCs • Oil & Gas • Pharma • Realty • Retail & Consumer

The jury was given details of the Top 3 in each of the categories and sectors to identify the best performers. After an intense two-hour deliberation, the jury identified the Best CEOs for 2025.

Every year, the jury also picks the “Best of the Best” CEO of the Year and confers the “Lifetime Achievement” award to an accomplished leader who has created a lasting legacy. Together with income and sectoral categories, this brings the total number of this year’s winners to 33.