Someone will define India's export excellence in 2026. Make sure it’s you

In a global economy rattled by a wholesale rewiring of supply chains, fracturing alliances, and tariff wars, India is one of the few stories the world is betting on. The foundations were laid in the recent past: services exports hit a record $387.5 billion in FY2024-25, growing 13.6% year-on-year, and the Centre’s stated target, under the Department of Commerce's Export Monitoring Framework, is $2 trillion by 2030-31.

For the service exporters whose apps power enterprises across the world, the marketplace sellers bringing Indian products to global consumers, or the AI teams exporting intelligence beyond borders, now is the moment their efforts finally have a stage worthy of them. That stage is the Payoneer India Cross-Border Excellence Awards 2026, in association with The Economic Times.

Unlike most industry awards that are built around familiar hierarchies, this one starts from a different question: who is actually building India's cross-border future, and how do we find them across every sector, every region, and every stage of scale?


The answer is a category structure unlike anything else in the Indian awards landscape.

Something for everyone

1. Services exporters have six dedicated tracks: IT & Development, AI/ML, SaaS/B2B Solutions, Digital Marketing Services, EdTech, and Managed Services, the last of which specifically recognises accounting, book-keeping, and Micro GCC businesses serving international clients.
   
   This isn't a catchall "services" bucket. The company exporting machine learning models to healthcare systems in the EU sits in a different category from the agency running performance marketing campaigns for US brands, which sits in a different category from the firm delivering remote bookkeeping to enterprises in Australia. Each is judged on what it actually does.
   
   
2. E-commerce exporters have their own dedicated tracks: Fashion & Apparel, Home and Kitchen, and Personal Care, Health & Wellness. That’s because the Indian brand selling handwoven textiles to global consumers and the wellness startup on international shelves are telling entirely different stories and deserve to be judged on entirely different terms.
   
   
3. Then there are the independent categories. ‘Women in Export Excellence’ recognises the women founders leading India's cross-border push, a cohort reshaping the export economy in ways that rarely get a headline. The Global Employer category celebrates businesses building truly borderless teams. Company Incorporation Partner of the Year honours the enablers who make it possible for Indian exporters to set up and operate internationally in the first place. And D2C Cross-Border Brand of the Year is for the authentic Indian brands quietly winning global consumers, one market at a time.
   
   
4. Finally, the regional export leader categories recognise businesses driving cross-border growth across North India, South India, and East and West India. Open to service exporters, marketplace sellers, freelancers, and other globally focused businesses, these categories aim to spotlight cross-border success stories emerging from across the country.
   

Judged on merit, not mythology

The evaluation process is built for credibility. An independent jury of leading industry experts will assess every shortlisted nominee against a transparent, predefined framework so the outcome reflects actual cross-border performance, not profile or proximity to the right rooms.

Here’s the criteria breakdown:

• Growth and scale - 40%
  
• Market reach and geographic diversification - 30%
  
• Innovation and differentiation - 15%
  
• Employment and community impact - 10%
  
• Digital infrastructure and payments readiness - 5%
  

All categories are assessed on equivalently rigorous, sector-appropriate criteria.

Beyond the trophy is an agenda bar none

The September gala is just part of what winners and attendees can expect. Alongside the felicitation ceremony, the Payoneer India Cross-Border Excellence Awards will feature an agenda covering the issues that matter most to anyone building a cross-border business right now.

There will be sessions mapping the policy, digital infrastructure, and trade reform shifts driving India's $2 trillion export roadmap. Attendees will also be privy to how leading service businesses are scaling globally across high-demand sectors. Last but not least, there will be incisive, exclusive analyses of the current FTA landscape (covering the new agreements with the UK, the EU, Oman, and New Zealand) and pointers of how businesses can translate preferential market access into real revenue rather than just opportunity on paper.

For businesses serious about cross-border growth, this is the kind of room that is hard to find and harder to get into.

Still need more reasons to apply?

Trophies and certificates are mere starting points. Winners will be featured across both Payoneer and The Economic Times platforms, reaching investors, global partners, and decision-makers who read ET specifically because they are looking for companies worth paying attention to.

Such visibility extends across social media platforms, amplified by both brands. And in September, finalists will gather at an exclusive gala in New Delhi with industry leaders and marquee speakers, with whom conversations will be as valuable as the award stage.

At a time when global trade is being redrawn in real time and when India's exporters are being called on to step into a $2 trillion ambition, being named among India's cross-border excellence leaders is a credential with genuine weight. It tells the world that your business has been measured against a national benchmark, and found to be among the best.

Nominations for the Payoneer India Cross-Border Excellence Awards are open. Choose your category, apply in just a few minutes, and give your business the recognition it deserves.