Gaja Capital, one of India’s leading growth-stage private equity firms, has announced the longlist for the seventh edition of the Gaja Capital Business Book Prize. Since its inception in 2019, the prize has celebrated authors whose works capture the entrepreneurial spirit and innovation that define Indian business, establishing it as one of the country’s most prestigious honours for business writing.
With a prize of INR 20 lakhs, the award honours books that offer original insights into India’s dynamic business landscape. Through rigorous research and compelling storytelling, the prize continues to spotlight narratives that inform, inspire, and influence the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders.
The 2025 longlist presents a compelling cross-section of India’s business landscape, capturing the interplay among visionary leadership, institutional reform, brand innovation, and indigenous economic thought. From transformative industrialists and pioneering engineers to iconic consumer brands and disruptive start-ups, these works reflect the dynamism and diversity of Indian enterprise. They examine how governance, heritage, and entrepreneurship converge to shape India’s development narrative, offering insights into both legacy-building and forward-looking strategies. Collectively, the longlist underscores the evolving contours of Indian business, where tradition meets innovation and ambition drives impact.
The jury for this year’s edition comprises distinguished leaders from industry, investment, public policy, and governance. Manish Sabharwal, Vice-Chairman of TeamLease, serves as Chairman of the Jury. He is joined by Imran Jafar, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Gaja Capital; Arindam Bhattacharya, Senior Advisor and Emeritus Partner at Boston Consulting Group; Dr. Lakshmi Venu, Managing Director of Sundaram-Clayton; Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals; Neelkanth Mishra, Chief Economist and Head of Global Research at Axis Capital; Prithvi Haldea, Founder Chairman of Praxis Consulting; Shailesh Haribhakti, Founder and Managing Partner of Shailesh Haribhakti & Associates; and U.K. Sinha, former Chairman of SEBI and Head of the RBI Expert Committee on MSMEs.
Speaking about the book prize, Manish Sabharwal, Chairman of the Jury, said, “India’s entrepreneurial story is still being written, and books have the ability to both record and accelerate that journey. The best writing helps us see patterns, understand choices, and connect individual stories to larger transformations. Through this prize, we aim to honour authors who bring rigour, narrative energy, and fresh perspective, ensuring that India’s economic rise is not just tracked in numbers, but also told through inspiring ideas.”
Gopal Jain, Managing Director and CEO of Gaja Capital, said, “Business stories are more than accounts of profit and loss; they are narratives of risk, resilience, and reinvention. At Gaja Capital, we believe thoughtful storytelling plays a powerful role in shaping the entrepreneurial mindset. The Business Book Prize aims to recognise authors who bring clarity to complexity, decode the ideas and decisions behind transformative businesses, and capture the human side of enterprise.”
The 2025 longlist features ten compelling titles: Accelerating India’s Development: A State-Led Roadmap for Effective Governance by Karthik Muralidharan; A.M. Naik: The Man Who Built Tomorrow by Priya Kumar and Jairam N. Menon; Amrut, The Great Churn: The Global Story of India’s First Single Malt by Sriram Devatha; Dharmanomics: An Indigenous and Sustainable Economic Model by Sriram Balasubramanian; Engineering a Nation: The Life and Career of M. Visvesvaraya (1861–1962) by Aparajith Ramnath; Impossible to Possible: Maruti’s Incredible Success and How it Can Change India by R.C. Bhargava; The Nehru Development Model: History and its Lasting Impact by Arvind Panagariya; The Rise of Asian Paints: Champaklal Choksey, A Doyen of the Indian Paints Industry by Anupam Gupta; The Start-Up Code: Taking Your Company from Seed to Scale by Mukesh Bansal; and The Tanishq Story: Inside India’s No. 1 Jewellery Brand by C.K. Venkataraman.
The winning book will be judged on its narrative quality, research depth, originality of insights, and its ability to inspire and guide young entrepreneurs. The shortlist will be announced in October 2025, followed by the winner declaration in December.
In its sixth edition, the prize was awarded to Entrepreneurs Who Built India – Lala Shri Ram: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow by Sonu Bhasin. The book chronicles the life of a pioneering entrepreneur who transformed DCM Shriram into one of India’s largest business houses by the 1950s and highlights his contributions to education and community development.
This year’s longlist is more than a celebration of business writing; it is a roadmap of ideas, leadership, and innovation poised to shape India’s next decade of growth.