Bhubaneswar: The Black Swan Summit India 2026 began on Thursday in Bhubaneswar, bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, technologists, and global investors to discuss the impact of frontier technologies on India’s digital finance economy.
The summit highlights Odisha’s growing role in regulated digital finance and sustainable job creation.
It is being organised by the government of Odisha and the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) under the BharatNetra Initiative.
Vishal Kumar Dev, Additional Chief Secretary, Electronics & IT Department, opened the summit by presenting Odisha as a State where history, resilience, and ambition converge. He said that Odisha had transformed over two decades through governance reforms, fiscal discipline, disaster resilience, and inclusive growth.
Bhubaneswar now stands as a leading smart city with strong digital infrastructure, a growing IT and startup ecosystem, and rising global interest in fintech and technology, according to a GFTN release.
Chief Secretary Anu Garg said that Odisha has emerged as a USD112 billion economy with 69% of its population in the working age. She highlighted the State’s strong fiscal record with two decades of revenue surplus.
She said Odisha is rich in minerals but is rapidly diversifying into EVs, electronics, and green energy.
Garg added that the State focuses on value-added manufacturing, infrastructure, and ease of doing business.
The chief secretary noted that Odisha aims to create 10 million jobs by 2027 and scale to a USD 500 billion economy by 2036. She added that the state targets a USD 1.5 trillion economy by 2047 while promoting urbanisation, disaster resilience, women’s participation, and positioning itself as a global hub for health and skills.
The session on building India’s continuous learning infrastructure for an AI-driven economy featured Shreepad Karmalkar, Director, IIT Bhubaneswar; Aravind Agarwal, Higher Education Secretary, government of Odisha; Dr. Amar Patnaik, Partner, A&N Legal Solutions; Debjani Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow, NITI Aayog; and Arvind Kumar, Director General, Software Technology Parks of India.
Tek Yew, Adjunct Professor, NUS-AIDF and Senior Advisor to BCG and the ASEAN Bankers Association, highlighted the need to align skilling systems with AI-driven economy requirements.
Strategic MoUs were also signed with partners including Bajaj General Insurance, Advanze Tech, Annapurna Tech Universe, ESTPL, ProgCap, Propelld, ShovelTech Solutions, Spice Money, Surfin, Symbo Insurtech, Universal Pensions, and Vayana.
The agreements will support internships, apprenticeships, startup mentorship, and pilot projects with state agencies.
They aim to translate training into employment and policy into action.
