Deepinder Goyal, Gopal Vittal among EY EOY 2025 finalists; Uday Kotak gets Special Jury honour

Some of India's biggest business names - from Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal to Airtel's Gopal Vittal - are in contention for this year's EY Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) India Awards, as EY India unveiled the finalists for its 27th edition on Sunday. Goyal was also among the finalists in 2023. 

Alongside the finalists, veteran banker Uday Kotak has been selected for a Special Jury Award, recognising his contribution to India's banking and financial ecosystem.

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The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Mumbai on 25 February 2026.

Big names across sectors

The nine finalists span life sciences, manufacturing, services, and consumer sectors. They "exemplify India’s bold, innovative and resilient growth story," EY said in a statement. 

This year's finalists include:

Abhishek Lodha, Managing Director and CEO, Lodha Developers

Ajay Bhardwaj, Founder and CEO, Anthem Biosciences

Deepinder Goyal, Founder, Eternal Limited (Zomato)

Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and CEO, Bharti Airtel Ltd

Jasbir Singh, Founder and CEO, Amber Enterprises

Karan Bhagat, Founder, MD and CEO, 360 One WAM

Pranav Goel and Uttam Digga, Co-founders and CEOs, Porter

Sunil Vachani, Executive Chairman, Dixon Technologies

Vir S. Advani, Chairman and Managing Director, Blue Star

Collectively, the 2025 finalists and the special jury winner represent nearly Rs 4 lakh crore in revenue, a combined market capitalisation of over Rs 22 lakh crore, and employment for almost 2.8 lakh people.

Uday Kotak gets Special Jury Award

The jury selected Uday Kotak for the Special Jury Award, citing his "transformative contributions" to Indian banking and finance and his influence on generations of entrepreneurs.

Kotak's leadership has also been recognised by the Government of India with the Padma Bhushan in 2026.

EY said the honour acknowledges the creation of enduring institutions built on long-term vision and integrity.

Rajiv Memani, Chairman and CEO of EY India, said: "Each finalist represents the confidence of a new India – bold in its ideas, rigorous in its approach, and unafraid to set global benchmarks. They are building companies that compete beyond borders, solving complex problems with originality, speed and scale." 

The national winner this year will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Monaco from 26–28 May 2026.

Nithin Kamath, founder and CEO of Zerodha, was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2024. Kamath built Zerodha into a billion-dollar brokerage firm using a low-margin, high-volume model that disrupted the industry without external funding. 

In 2023, Vellayan Subbiah, Executive Vice Chairman of Tube Investments of India (part of the Murugappa Group), bagged the title.