PRCAI unveils line-up for 3rd edition of PRana 2026

Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) brings its third edition of PRana 2026: India Inside, a brand-India reputation summit and story convention that gathers the country’s bold thinkers, builders, and storytellers for conversations on how India’s reputation is shaped from within.

As the world watches India march towards Viksit Bharat, PRana 2026 brings together the voices shaping the country’s reputation under the theme India Inside: Shaping Reputation From Within. At its heart is a simple conviction - India’s next global story will not be shaped by narrative alone, but by what India does, what its people believe, how institutions are built and which voices the world chooses to trust. Through this lens, PRana 2026 asks a defining question: What is shaping India’s reputation story?

“PRana 2026 turns the lens inward this year to understand the many forces shaping India’s reputation today. From the institutions we build and the businesses we create to our culture, technology, talent and the voices that command trust, India’s reputation is being shaped in many places at once. PRana brings these perspectives together to explore what they reveal about India that the world will come to know next,” said Kunal Kishore, President, PRCAI.

PRana 2026 will feature more than fifteen eminent voices across diverse spheres of influence. The prominent speaker line-up includes Manu Joseph, Columnist, Novelist and Screenwriter; Shri Abhinav Kumar, DG Intelligence & Security and DG Prisons, Uttarakhand; Lt. Gen. Ajai Kumar Singh (Retd.), Former Army Commander, Southern Command; Present Member, NSAB; Advaita Kala, Author, Columnist, Screenwriter and Founder, InkSight Advisory; Bhaskar Bhat, Former Managing Director, Titan Company; Vinay Kamath, Author of TITAN and Former Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu Business Line; Vibha Paul Rishi, Independent Director, ICICI Bank; Harish Bhat, Former Brand Custodian, Tata Sons and Bestselling Author; Harish Bijoor, Brand & Business Strategy Expert and Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.; Sahiba Bali, Actor, Marketeer and Sports Broadcaster; Vineet Nayar, Founder, Sampark Foundation and Former CEO, HCL Technologies; Aman Gupta, Co-founder, boAt and Founder, OFF/BEAT; Padma Bhushan Pullela Gopichand, Chief National Badminton Coach; Sharda Ugra, Veteran Sports Journalist; and Anjali Bansal, Partner, Avaana Capital.

The story convention will feature four curated conversation tracks, namely ‘What India Says. What India Does’; ‘Trust Is Not a Campaign’; ‘The Future That Cannot Be Imported’; and ‘The People the World Already Believes In’, brought to life through fireside dialogues, in-conversation panels, and PRana’s signature 300Wise speech format, led by India’s Catalysts, Pragmatists and Pathfinders.

These conversations convene reputation architects, institution-builders and cultural voices alike, from leaders asking what makes a company worth believing in, to pioneers reframing the soft power India keeps on the bench, founders decoding what young Indian brands know that incumbents miss, and voices confronting the choices India must make about AI. Together, they turn one question over from every angle - what shapes India’s reputation, and how is it built from within.

PRana 2026 continues to build defining moments for the industry, bringing business leaders and communicators together to address the role reputation management will play in business growth and authentic narratives. PRCAI SPRINT 2026, the Public Relations industry’s flagship study conducted with IPSOS, finds that reputation now drives measurable business outcomes. 96% of respondents credit Public Relations with building investor confidence, an equal 96% with strengthening customer loyalty, and 83% with crisis resilience. Nearly half say Public Relations now plays a direct role in driving business results, and more than 40% report that CEOs are actively seeking strategic counsel from their communications advisors. The Indian Public Relations industry grew 11% in FY26 to ?3,230 crore and is projected to reach ?4,500 crore by 2030. 

“India has never had more visibility, influence or ambition. But visibility is not reputation, and ambition is not trust. Reputation Capital is built when what we promise matches what we do. PRana 2026: India Inside brings this conversation to the heart of leadership, asking whether the India we project to the world is truly reflected in the India we build at home. In an AI-transformed world, reputation is built every day and tested every hour. This is no longer the job of communicators alone; it is the defining leadership challenge of our time,” said Deeptie Sethi, CEO, PRCAI.

A meticulously curated, by-invitation-only gathering of communication industry leaders, C-Suite, cultural and social architects, PRana 2026 will be held on Wednesday, 2 September 2026 at The Leela, Gurugram.