The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) hosted the inaugural edition of PRana 2024: Shaping the Story of India on September 4, 2024, at The Leela, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. The convention was attended by 20 key opinion leaders, over a 100 C-suite leaders and communicators to co-create the nation’s new narrative as India marches towards the centennial independence celebrations in 2047.

PRCAI also launched ‘Bharat ki Baat 2024’, a study commissioned LocalCircles. This study received over 180,000 responses from over 40,000 citizens located in 396 districts of India and it sought citizens’ views on their hopes and aspirations in 10 key areas: growth and prosperity, geo-political influence, infrastructure, healthcare, sustainability and environment, education, skilling, employment and livelihood, ease of living cities and digital governance, technology and innovation, and communications and information.

Key findings:

• Six in 10 Indians believe India will be the 3rd largest economy in the world and it will be a global manufacturing hub for at least five new sectors
• Six in 10 Indians believe India is likely to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council and help create a comprehensive convention against international terrorism
• Eight in 10 stated that India would be able to expand its road connectivity ecosystem to 15,000 km of access-controlled highways to improve mobility and decongest cities
• Six in 10 Indians expressed hope that India will be able to achieve expansion of Jan Aushidhi Kendras to all districts to provide low-cost, affordable medicines
• Six in 10 expressed optimism that there will be infrastructure to impart technical skills to at least 2 million individuals and enable them to find/upgrade their jobs/earnings
• Six in 10 Indians stated that they look forward to the launch of Gaganyaan as India’s first human spaceflight mission landing an astronaut on the moon
• Nine in 10 indicated that authentic and timely communication and information will be critical for India to achieve trust and progress in the key development areas
• Six out of 10 respondents hoped India would have an enabling dynamic curriculum at school level as mandated by the NEP, which provides a foundation for emerging technologies and future industry needs
• Six out of 10 stated that they are optimistic about the government enabling piped gas connections from the current 1.1 crore to 5 crore households across India
• Five out of 10 stated that the Government will ensure that drinking water supplied to the top 50 cities is free of contamination from arsenic, mercury and other industrial pollutants

“India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is leading the world towards greater heights in every field, be it infrastructure, fintech, federal governance and many more. The Government aims to ensure ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ to accomplish our goal for Viksit Bharat which coincides with 100 years of Independence. I believe all this will not be possible without an informed nation which can only be achieved with transparency and good governance. In my opinion, the communication fraternity will play a crucial role in achieving our goals for its citizens,” said Shri Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Hon’ble Union Minister for Communication and North Eastern Region.

“The role of public relations is fast changing from communicators to business enablers. PRana 2024 for the first time will bring together India’s key opinion leaders and reputation custodians who have a significant role in storytelling for nation-building. ‘Bharat ki Baat 2024’ report by PRCAI validates the growing significance of the role of the public relations industry and the communications function in government, businesses or civil society organizations for ethical and authentic information.” said Deeptie Sethi, CEO, PRCAI.

The public relations industry is on a growth trajectory and gaining increased recognition by the CEO and the C-Suites. According to SPRINT 2023*, the private sector, startup economy, and unicorns are fueling the PR industry’s growth; the C-suite is increasingly recognizing PR and communications as a driving function rather than just an enabler. Eight out of 10 respondents for PRCAI SPRINT 2022-23* said that India Inc. leadership is working closely with their corporate communications team to devise strategies for brand communication, while 80% of corporate communications leaders report directly to the CEOs.

“At the cornerstone of authentic communication and reputation management, the PR industry is well-positioned to shape and accelerate the nation’s growth trajectory. Through PRana 2024, we have laid the foundation for a new era of strategic storytelling. With the launch of the Bharat Ki Baat 2024 report, we are also capturing real Indian voices, painting a vivid picture of the nation that India hopes to become as we approach India@100. Our overarching goal remains to amplify India’s voice and celebrate its achievements through the power of new-age communication,” said Kunal Kishore, Vice-President, PRCAI.

Inspired by the global trend of shorter speeches, which is gaining popularity and reflects how people consume information in today’s fast-paced world, the convention introduced a brand-new speech format called ‘300Wise’, where speakers delivered concise, high-impact visionary speeches in five minutes. Influential key opinion leaders shared their vision for India@100 at PRana 2024 which centered around how powerful ideas can positively impact four pivotal pillars of reputation around Leadership and Vision, Emotional Quotient, Country Economics and Social Elevation.

PRana 2024 storytellers included eminent names such as Nadir Godrej, Chairman & MD of Godrej Industries; Imtiaaz Ali, Filmmaker; Ritesh Agarwal, CEO & Group Founder of OYO; Ashish Kumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, National Stock Exchange of India (NSE); Captain Indraani Singh, World’s First Airbus 300 Captain, Founder of Literacy India; Santosh Iyer, MD & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India; Chhavi Rajawat, First MBA Sarpanch, Devdutt Pattanaik, Author; Guneet Monga, Academy Award- Winning Filmmaker, Founder, Sikhya Entertainment; Kapil Sibal, Lawyer & Politician; Dr. Deepa Malik, Padmashree Khel Ratna Awardee, Para-athlete, Paralympian; Alina Alam, Founder, Mitti Café; Licypriya Kangujam, Climate Activist, Dhuwarakha Sriram – Dhuwarakha Sriram, Chief of YuWaah, Youth Development, and Partnerships at UNICEF; Manish Sharma, Chairman of Panasonic Life Solutions India and South Asia; Abhishek Poddar, Founder, Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), and Supriya Paul, Co-Founder and CEO of Josh Talks, amongst others. The storyweavers included Shantanu Deshpande, Founder & CEO, Bombay Shaving Company & Visage Lines Personal Care Pvt. Ltd. (VLPCPL); Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Editor of The Hindu, Kaveree Bamzai, Independent Journalist, and Fatima Mahdi Karan, Moderator, Strategic Communications AandMedia Consultant.