BRICS Business Forum 2026 Held in Delhi as Group Turns 20

The BRICS Business Forum met in New Delhi on 11 September 2026, just before the leaders' summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the gathering. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal spoke at the opening session. India holds the BRICS Chairship this year. The Prime Minister said this was the biggest edition of the Forum ever held.

Twenty years of the grouping

The group started in 2006 with only four countries. Members and partners together now make a family of 21 countries. These countries hold 50 per cent of the world's people, 40 per cent of global GDP and more than 25 per cent of world trade. Over the same period world GDP rose about 2.5 times. The combined GDP of the BRICS countries rose about 4.5 times. Their economic strength has thus grown at nearly double the speed of the world economy.

Figures from the Forum

Three benchmarks the Prime Minister set

He placed three tasks before the BRICS Business Council. One, prepare a report on removing the top 10 trade barriers within the grouping. Two, support 100 BRICS start-ups every year to grow into other BRICS markets. Three, build 1,000 fresh partnerships between businesses. Progress on each is to be reviewed every year. He listed the BRICS Incubator Network, the BRICS MSME Portal and the BRICS Startup Innovation Fund as steps taken during India's Chairship. Nearly 200 women business leaders joined the BRICS Women's Business Alliance meeting held in India. He also said India stands firmly for freedom of navigation and for the safety of seafarers.

Trade, payments and technology

Piyush Goyal asked member and partner countries to open markets to one another, raw materials and critical minerals included. He said non-tariff measures push up export costs more than tariffs do for 88 per cent of countries. He noted that UPI now handles over 250 billion transactions a year and is accepted in 11 countries. He added that more than 45 per cent of India's 250,000 recognised start-ups have at least one woman as partner or director. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said the year marks 20 years of institutionalised BRICS cooperation. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal called the Jaipur Consensus the base for a common BRICS mechanism and pointed to the BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy 2030. Minister of State Jitin Prasada spoke of India's Semiconductor Mission 2.0, which carries incentives of about USD 13 billion.