Mahindra & Mahindra Chairman Anand Mahindra has urged the group’s businesses and Corporate India to stop waiting for global uncertainty to ease and instead accelerate investment and execution
Mahindra & Mahindra Chairman Anand Mahindra has urged the group’s businesses and Corporate India to stop waiting for global uncertainty to ease and instead accelerate investment and execution, saying “it is time to move from navigation to acceleration,” as he replaced last year’s ‘Samudra Manthan’ theme with “Attack Mode”.Mahindra says it is a Formula E-inspired strategy outlined in the company’s FY26 Annual Report that advocates calculated acceleration in difficult conditions rather than waiting for certainty to return.Why ‘Attack mode’“Attack Mode is a strategy adopted in Formula E racing, where a racing driver makes a deliberate choice to accelerate at the right moment, in imperfect conditions,” he wrote.“In ideal conditions, overtaking is difficult, because everyone is already operating at top speed. It is when conditions are rainy or hazy that calculated acceleration can propel you to victory. This is not reactive speed; it is strategic acceleration, backed by preparation and conviction.”Mahindra said the Group intends to use the current period of global disruption to build enduring competitive advantage rather than merely defend existing positions.“As the cover symbolises, we are accelerating through the fog, confident in the strength of our vision, the clarity of our strategy, and the effectiveness of our execution,” he wroteFrom ‘record’ performance to Manthan 2.0Reflecting on FY26, Mahindra said the Group had delivered ‘outstanding’ results that had ‘hit historical highs’, pointing to the launch of the NU_IQ platform, the increase in granted patents from 56 to more than 1,300 over the past decade, and the announcement of a proposed ₹15,000-crore investment in Nagpur over the next 10 years as evidence of the company’s ability to innovate and invest despite a turbulent global environment.However, he cautioned that the disruption is far from over.“The Manthan is far from over. We must now brace ourselves for Manthan 2.0,” Mahindra wrote, arguing that the world had moved beyond temporary crises into an era where uncertainty itself has become the operating environment.“Uncertainty is no longer the exception; it is the rule. Black swan events have become obsolete because the pond is full of black swans,” he wrote, describing a world moving “from episodic shocks to continuous earthquakes”, where anticipating change is increasingly difficult and businesses must build the agility and resilience to navigate a constantly shifting landscape.INDIA - a ‘connector economy’Mahindra said the changing geopolitical order also presents India with a strategic opportunity. As countries move beyond rigid trading blocs towards multiple coalitions, he argued the next global order would favour nations capable of acting as trusted connectors across competing blocs.“The next global order may well be built by those who can become ‘connectors’ in a fragmented world. This opens up an opportunity for India to be a ‘connector economy’ that works across divides,” he wrote.Mahindra said India’s democracy, political stability, geographical position, large domestic market and the trust it enjoys across ideological blocs uniquely position it for that role.“The question for India is no longer whether it will rise, but how fully will it translate this moment into an enduring advantage,” he added.Published on July 6, 2026
