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The idea that Indians lack business acumen is a myth, author and columnist Sundeep Khanna told ACJ-Bloomberg students.
Khanna, a freelance business writer who has worked with the Financial Express and Mint, traced the history of Indian corporations from the Indus Valley civilization’s bead trade through the Mauryan and Mughal periods. He said Indian enterprise thrived for centuries before British rule reshaped the economic landscape.
Highlighting early examples of indigenous capitalism — including J.N. Tata and Premchand Roychand — Khanna spoke on how Indian business evolved alongside the rise of multinational companies. He said that a few decades after independence, a shift in national outlook helped businessmen such as Rahul Bajaj and Aditya Birla, underscoring that people ultimately drive corporate transformation.
Khanna advised future journalists to assess how invested business leaders and their successors are in the companies they run, saying such interest often determines a firm’s trajectory.
He also pointed to defining moments in modern corporate history, including the 1977 Reliance IPO, the first Liril advertisement in 1974 and the emergence of the Bombay Club. These, Khanna said, help contextualize India’s current corporate landscape and prepare students to better interpret future business developments.