Tbilisi, Georgia – The Georgian capital honoured Indian author, entrepreneur, and humanitarian Nikhil Vasudev Chandwani this week after his keynote address on Indic Humanities and the Future of Civilisational Thought. The lecture, delivered to an audience of academics, diplomats, and cultural leaders, traced the continuity of Indic wisdom while connecting it to urgent modern challenges such as climate change, migration, and cultural resilience.
Chandwani’s recognition in Tbilisi is the latest in a career that has combined industry, humanitarian service, and scholarship in unusual measure. For him, the accolade was not merely a personal honour but an acknowledgement of the broader causes he has championed: sustainable energy, refugee rehabilitation, and the preservation of civilisational identity.
A Career Bridging Sectors
Chandwani, still in his early thirties, is best known in India as the co-founder of Santerra Industries, Central India’s largest bio-pellet manufacturing company. The factory, based near Nagpur, converts agricultural waste into clean bio-coal, offering farmers an alternative to burning residue and industries a substitute for conventional coal.
The results are both environmental and economic: reduced emissions, improved air quality, and new revenue streams for rural communities. Such work earned him the title of Pathbreaker of the Year 2025, an award presented personally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year.
Yet sustainability is only one part of his public life.
Humanitarian Commitments
Since 2017, Chandwani has devoted much of his personal energy and resources to rescuing persecuted Hindu and Sikh families from Sindh, Pakistan. To date, he has facilitated the migration of more than 8,500 families, arranging documentation, funding travel, and securing resettlement opportunities in India.
Beyond the logistics of visas and passports lies the human cost. Many of the rescued families had experienced abductions, forced conversions, and violence. In Rajasthan’s border town of Jaisalmer, Chandwani has established a free kitchen that feeds over a thousand refugees daily, alongside educational initiatives for displaced children. His work has given voice and dignity to communities too often overlooked in global discussions of human rights.
Reflecting on this mission after his felicitation in Tbilisi, Chandwani remarked: “Service is the highest form of scholarship. To restore dignity to even one family is to uphold the principles that Indic civilisation has carried for centuries.”
Scholar and Cultural Ambassador
Chandwani’s contributions extend also to writing and thought leadership. He has authored 14 books, from explorations of Indic culture and philosophy to personal literary works. He is also the founder of NYK Daily, a global news platform that engages with geopolitics, culture, and contemporary affairs.
As a speaker, he has delivered over 200 lectures worldwide, including TEDx stages, universities, and international forums. His message in Tbilisi underscored the importance of seeing Indic Humanities not as relics of the past, but as frameworks with contemporary application—offering insight into how societies can navigate questions of identity, sustainability, and justice.
Recognition Beyond Borders
The honour in Georgia highlights the growing international resonance of his work. In the view of those present, Chandwani represents a younger generation of Indian thinkers and leaders capable of bridging tradition with global modernity.
From Europe’s academic halls to the refugee camps of Rajasthan, his career embodies a single continuity: that knowledge and compassion need not be separated, but can reinforce one another.
Tbilisi’s recognition of Nikhil Chandwani, therefore, was not only a tribute to his achievements but also an affirmation of the principles he represents—humanity, sustainability, and the enduring strength of civilisational wisdom.
