The half-day session brought together industry leaders and experts to evaluate entries celebrating women driving change across the print, packaging, and publishing sectors. This year, the awards received 108 entries across categories, with 80 shortlisted for jury evaluation, reflecting the growing scale, diversity, and impact of the Women to Watch platform.
There was a strong consensus among the jury that every woman working on the shopfloor and paving the way for greater inclusion is already a winner in her own right. Equally, every organisation creating a safer, more supportive, and equitable workplace environment was recognised for contributing to meaningful industry change.
The jury acknowledged that several categories witnessed exceptionally close competition, making the evaluation process highly challenging. In a few categories where the entries did not fully meet the required benchmark or criteria, the decision was taken to withhold the category this year in order to maintain the integrity and standards of the awards programme.
| PEOPLE'S CATEGORY AWARDS | |
| Business Leader of the Year | Mehzabin Nair, managing director, Skanem India |
| Designer of the Year | Sukanya Bose, director, Planet Dezign |
| Execution Excellence Award | Priyanka Rathi, head of marketing communications, Holostik India |
| HR Leader of the Year | Reena Boodle, director of human resources, Bobst |
| Mentor of the Year |
Shikha Dutta, associate director of AI business transformation, Submer Technologies Special Jury Mention — Devaki Tomar, EPL Limited |
| Packaging Person of the Year |
Deepa Naik, general manager of packaging innovations, Hershey India Special Jury Mention — Prachi Jain, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee |
| Publishing Person of the Year | Dr Ruchita Sujai Chowdhary, department of journalism and mass communication, in charge, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University (KMCLU) |
| Rising Star of the Year (Joint Winners) |
Deepti Sharma, client service executive, Unidos Display Shweta Hinge, senior executive in print and decoration, Parksons Packaging |
| Sales Excellence Award | Rekha Sharma, sales and marketing senior manager, Manroland Goss Web Systems |
| Young Business Leader | Shreya Mardia, executive director and managing director, Unique Tags |
| COMPANY CATEGORY AWARD WINNNERS | |
| All Women Team of the Year | Nalagarh Graphics Team, EPL |
| Best Workplace of the Year | Janvi Arts |
| DEI Innovation Awards | EPL |
| Factory of the Year | Maxwell Engineering Solutions |
| R&D Team of the Year Special | Jury Mention — Awwa Pustaka Publishing House |
| Safety and Well-being Excellence Award | Holostik India |
The Education and Training Excellence Award and Finance and Strategy Team of the Year categories did not receive a sufficient number of qualifying entries, and therefore no winner was declared in these segments. Similarly, in the R&D Team of the Year category, while the submissions reflected effort and participation, the entries did not fully align with the category criteria required for a winning nomination. As a result, the jury decided to present a special mention instead of announcing a winner.
All winners of the Women to Watch Awards 2026 will be invited and felicitated at the Leaders and Legends event to be held on 9 June. Leaders and Legends is an exclusive invite-only gathering designed to bring together the most influential voices in the print and packaging industry. Unlike a conventional conference or trade show, the event focuses on high-value networking, meaningful conversations, and industry-defining dialogue among a curated group of 300 business leaders, decision-makers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. The evening will also celebrate excellence across the ecosystem through three flagship recognitions — The Power 100, Forty Under 40, Women to Watch — spotlighting the individuals and organisations shaping the future of the industry. To know more, click here.