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Five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand has made his first-ever appearance in The Indian Express (IE) 100 list of the most powerful people in India for 2025, securing the 36th spot. Anand, known as India's original global chess icon, has transitioned from a dominant player to a mentor shaping the next generation of Indian chess prodigies.
Here is the full list-
Indian Express Power List 2025: Full Rankings
1. Narendra Modi, 74 – Prime Minister of India
2. Amit Shah, 60 – Union Home Minister
3. S Jaishankar, 70 – Union Minister for External Affairs
4. Mohan Bhagwat, 74 – RSS Sarsanghchalak
5. Nirmala Sitharaman, 65 – Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs
6. Yogi Adityanath, 52 – Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
7. Rajnath Singh, 73 – Union Minister for Defence
8. Ashwini Vaishnaw, 54 – Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & IT
9. Rahul Gandhi, 54 – Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha
10. Mukesh Ambani, 67 – Chairman & Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited
11. Gautam Adani, 62 – Chairman, Adani Group
12. Piyush Goyal, 60 – Union Minister for Commerce & Industry
13. Devendra Fadnavis, 54 – Maharashtra Chief Minister
14. N Chandrababu Naidu, 74 – Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister
15. Nitin Gadkari, 67 – Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways
16. Sanjay Malhotra, 57 – RBI Governor
17. Bhupender Yadav, 55 – Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change
18. Mamata Banerjee, 70 – West Bengal Chief Minister, Trinamool Congress Chief
19. Hardeep Singh Puri, 73 – Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas
20. Siddaramaiah, 76 – Karnataka Chief Minister
21. Nitish Kumar, 74 – Bihar Chief Minister
22. Dharmendra Pradhan, 55 – Union Minister for Education
23. MK Stalin, 72 – Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, DMK Chief
24. Jay Shah, 36 – Chairman, International Cricket Council (ICC)
25. N Chandrasekaran, 61 – Chairman, Tata Group
26. Nita Ambani, 60 – Founder and Chairperson, Reliance Foundation
27. General Upendra Dwivedi, 60 – Chief of Army Staff
28. Anumula Revanth Reddy, 55 – Telangana Chief Minister
29. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, 66 – Union Minister for Rural Development, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare
30. Noel Naval Tata, 68 – Chairman, Tata Trusts, Trent and Tata Investment Corporation
31. Himanta Biswa Sarma, 56 – Assam Chief Minister
32. Pushkar Singh Dhami, 49 – Uttarakhand Chief Minister
33. Mallikarjun Kharge, 82 – President, Indian National Congress; Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha
34. Mansukh Mandaviya, 52 – Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Youth Affairs and Sports
35. Ajit Doval, 80 – National Security Advisor
36. Viswanathan Anand, 55 – Chess Grandmaster
37. Uday Kotak, 66 – Founder and Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank
38. Nayab Singh Saini, 55 – Haryana Chief Minister
39. Manohar Lal Khattar, 70 – Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs
40. Hemant Soren, 49 – Chief Minister, Jharkhand
41. Pinarayi Vijayan, 79 – Kerala Chief Minister
42. BL Santhosh, 58 – National General Secretary (Organisation), BJP
43. Shaktikanta Das, 68 – Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister
44. Bhagwant Mann, 51 – Punjab Chief Minister
45. Sanjiv Khanna, 64 – Chief Justice of India
46. Omar Abdullah, 55 – Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister
47. Deepinder Goyal, 42 – Founder & CEO, Zomato
48. Rohit Sharma, 37 – Captain, Indian Cricket Team
49. Rajiv Bajaj, 58 – Managing Director, Bajaj Auto
50. JP Nadda, 64 – Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Chemicals & Fertilisers
51. Eknath Shinde, 61 – Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Shiv Sena President
52. Arvind Kejriwal, 56 – Former Delhi Chief Minister; National Convenor, Aam Aadmi Party
53. Tushar Mehta, 60 – Solicitor General of India
54. Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, 70 – Union Minister for Panchayati Raj; Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
55. Sarbananda Sonowal, 62 – Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways
56. Jyotiraditya Scindia, 54 – Union Minister for Communications; Development of North Eastern Region
57. Ajit Pawar, 65 – Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister; President, Nationalist Congress Party
58. Kiren Rijiju, 53 – Union Minister for Minority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs
59. Chirag Paswan, 42 – Union Minister for Food Processing Industries
60. CR Paatil, 70 – Union Minister for Jal Shakti
61. Pema Khandu, 45 – Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister
62. Vishnu Deo Sai, 61 – Chhattisgarh Chief Minister
63. Pramod Sawant, 51 – Goa Chief Minister
64. Bhupendra Patel, 62 – Gujarat Chief Minister
65. Rekha Gupta, 50 – Delhi Chief Minister
66. Mohan Yadav, 60 – Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister
67. Bhajan Lal Sharma, 58 – Rajasthan Chief Minister
68. Sunil Bharti Mittal, 67 – Chairperson, Bharti Enterprises
69. Dr Prathap C Reddy, 92 – Founder-Chairman, Apollo Hospitals
70. Aravind Srinivas, 30 – Co-Founder & CEO, Perplexity
71. Ajay Kumar Bhalla, 64 – Manipur Governor
72. Virat Kohli, 36 – Cricketer
73. Konidela Pawan Kalyan, 53 – Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM; Actor
74. Vijay, 50 – Tamil Superstar, Founder, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam
75. TV Somanathan, 59 – Cabinet Secretary, Government of India
76. Nikhil Kamath, 38 – Co-Founder & CFO, Zerodha
77. Sharad Pawar, 84 – President, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar)
78. PK Mishra, 76 – Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister
79. Manoj Sinha, 65 – Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant-Governor
80. Kiran Nadar, 74 – Founder, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
81. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, 53 – Congress MP, Wayanad
82. Shashi Tharoor, 69 – Congress MP, Thiruvananthapuram
83. Jasprit Bumrah, 31 – Cricketer
84. Tuhin Kanta Pandey, 59 – Chairman, SEBI
85. DK Shivakumar, 62 – Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister
86. Tejashwi Yadav, 35 – Leader of Opposition, Bihar Assembly
87. Akhilesh Yadav, 51 – President, Samajwadi Party
88. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, 57 – Union Minister for Culture, Tourism
89. Asaduddin Owaisi, 55 – President, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen
90. H D Kumaraswamy, 65 – Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel
91. Kumar Mangalam Birla, 57 – Chairperson, Aditya Birla Group
92. Allu Arjun, 42 – Actor
93. Ramdev, 59 – Yoga Guru, Patanjali Yogpeeth
94. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, 61 – Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister
95. V Narayanan, 60 – Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
96. Karan Johar, 52 – Filmmaker, Producer
97. Shah Rukh Khan, 59 – Actor, Producer, Entrepreneur
98. Diljit Dosanjh, 41 – Actor, Popstar
99. Amitabh Bachchan, 82 – Actor
100. Alia Bhatt, 32 – Actor, Producer
Viswanathan Anand’s entry into the IE 100 list is a testament to his lasting legacy and the growing influence of chess in India. As a mentor and administrator, Anand remains a driving force behind India’s continued rise in the global chess arena. His dual contribution—both on and off the board—cements his position among India’s most powerful figures in 2025.
