New Delhi: The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) hosted the second edition of PRana 2025: The India RISE Story on September 10, 2025 at the Taj Palace, New Delhi. The convention convened more than 20 eminent speakers and 200+ C-Suite leaders, communicators, and storytellers to deliberate on how India’s Reputation, powered by Innovation, Sustainability and Entrepreneurship (RISE), will accelerate its journey to Viksit Bharat.
A key highlight of the event was the unveiling of the PRCAI Survey Report, ‘India’s Place in the New World Order’, developed in collaboration with Astrum Advisory. Launched by Smt. Smriti Irani, Former Cabinet Minister, the survey captured insights from 123 CEOs across six cities.
The findings reflected a confident and resurgent India:
- 84% of CEOs believe India’s best days lie ahead.
- 93% feel the central government has been effective in enabling India’s global rise.
- 92% believe India’s global positioning is strong.
- 89% are confident in India’s growth story.
- 54% believe India is using strategic communications effectively to shape its global image.
The report emphasized that reputation is increasingly seen as the most valuable currency for India’s economic progress and global leadership, with CEOs identifying climate readiness, geopolitical positioning, digital innovation, and human capital as India’s biggest levers for influence.
In her keynote, Smriti Irani, Former Cabinet Minister, said, “Reputation in public life is tested not by speeches or photo opportunities but by delivery. It is when a child reaches school well-nourished, when a woman finds safety and economic independence, when a family sees fairness in governance. These are the moments that earn trust, and it is this trust that ultimately defines India’s credibility to the world.”
Positioning women as central to India’s reputation-building, she added, “Issues like sanitation, menstrual health, and women’s safety were once taboo. Addressing them openly, through governance and leadership, is what truly reshapes reputation. Women are not just participants in India’s rise; they are central to building its credibility.”
She further reflected, “Brand India is in a moment of evolution. Brands don’t die because they don’t succeed, they die because they don’t evolve.”
Marking its 25-year milestone, PRCAI also unveiled its new logo at PRana 2025, underscoring the association’s growing role in shaping India’s PR industry as a strategic partner in the nation-building narrative.
Kunal Kishore, President, PRCAI, remarked, “PRana 2025 and the launch of our Brand India Reputation Report demonstrate the power of leadership in shaping narratives. Reputation today is not just communication, it is strategy — it determines trust in boardrooms, credibility in markets, and influence on the world stage. At PRCAI, we see it as our responsibility to build platforms like PRana that help leaders, entrepreneurs, and policymakers recognize reputation as the capital that drives India’s rise.”
Deeptie Sethi, CEO, PRCAI, added, “Communications is no longer a channel that only carries messages, it is a force that shapes influence and trust. With India marching towards Viksit Bharat, we are entering a new era of ‘Reputation Capital’ that will drive brand value and national impact in the years to come, much like financial capital drives economies. We are bringing that shift to light at the PRana platform converging India’s icons, key voices and reputation architects.”
PRana 2025 also featured a stellar line-up of leaders from politics, business, law, fashion, healthcare, sustainability, culture, and sports, including Smt. Smriti Irani, Shri Jayant Sinha, Naina Lal Kidwai, Suresh Narayanan, Aditya Ghosh, Gaurav Gupta, and Anvitaa Dutt, among others, who collectively reflected on how reputation is not a soft measure but the hard currency of credibility in shaping India’s global future.
