Overview
- The Indian Express released its IE100 ranking on Sunday, March 29, 2026, keeping Narendra Modi at No. 1 and Amit Shah at No. 2 with nine of the top 10 unchanged from last year.
- Commerce minister Piyush Goyal jumped to No. 5, joining finance chief Nirmala Sitharaman and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar in the top tier as national security adviser Ajit Doval climbed to No. 29.
- Institutional figures advanced, with Chief Justice Surya Kant debuting at No. 17, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar rising to No. 20, BJP chief Nitin Nabin at No. 21, and PMO principal secretary PK Mishra up to No. 32 after high-profile crisis work.
- Cricket’s influence was clear with ICC chair Jay Shah at No. 22 and Nita Ambani at No. 26, while head coach Gautam Gambhir led athletes at No. 74 ahead of Virat Kohli at No. 75 and Jasprit Bumrah at No. 82.
- Culture and regional politics also shifted, with filmmaker Aditya Dhar and retiring singer Arijit Singh entering the list, actor-politicians Vijay and Pawan Kalyan improving their ranks, and Nitish Kumar falling 63 places to No. 84.