Pariksha SaathiFifth Kautilya Economic Conclave Wraps Up Under the Theme 'Resilience in an Age of Flux'
The Finance Ministry on 10 October 2026 published its wrap-up of the fifth Kautilya Economic Conclave (KEC 2026), held in New Delhi from 3 to 5 October. The conclave is organised jointly by the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) and the Ministry of Finance, and this year's theme was 'Resilience in an Age of Flux'. Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan inaugurated it, telling participants that economic resilience cannot be separated from social resilience. More than 200 policymakers, economists and experts attended, including over 80 international participants from about 30 countries. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke at a special plenary on India's economic priorities, with Amélie de Montchalin, President of France's Cour des Comptes, as discussant. Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia gave a keynote on trusted digital infrastructure for the AI economy, Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat spoke on 'Culture as Capital', and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar delivered the concluding address. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra and Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran were among the other participants. For revision, the earlier themes were 'Redefining the Future' (2022), 'Navigating a World on Fire' (2023), 'The Indian Era' (2024) and 'Seeking Prosperity in Turbulent Times' (2025).
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
The Kautilya Economic Conclave was conceived and sponsored by the Ministry of Finance and is organised by the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), with its first edition held in New Delhi from 8 to 10 July 2022. IEG itself is a Delhi-based economic research institute founded by V.K.R.V. Rao that dates its own history to 1958.
Reference: Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) — page on the first Kautilya Economic Conclave, 2022
Check yourself: has the Kautilya Economic Conclave been held for as long as the Institute of Economic Growth has existed?
No. IEG, the organising institute, traces its own history to 1958; the Kautilya Economic Conclave itself is a much newer annual event whose first edition was only in July 2022.
Revision task: from this release, note this year's theme ('Resilience in an Age of Flux') and the speakers named, and separate these year-specific details from the standing facts above about when the conclave itself began and who organises it.
Test yourself
What was the theme of the fifth Kautilya Economic Conclave (KEC 2026), organised jointly by the Institute of Economic Growth and the Ministry of Finance?
Show the answer
Answer: Resilience in an Age of Flux
KEC 2026 (3-5 October, New Delhi) was themed 'Resilience in an Age of Flux'; the earlier themes were 'Redefining the Future' (2022), 'Navigating a World on Fire' (2023), 'The Indian Era' (2024) and 'Seeking Prosperity in Turbulent Times' (2025).
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