Ashwin Sanghi has been named the first-ever recipient of the JSW Prize in Literature, instituted by the Drukyul’s Literature and Arts Festival of Bhutan
He will be honoured at the festival’s 15th edition, to be held under this year’s theme, “The Art of Being Human.”
Ashwin Sanghi is counted among India’s highest-selling English fiction authors, having sold over two million books. He has written several bestsellers in his Bharat Collection (The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant, The Krishna Key, The Sialkot Saga, Keepers of the Kalachakra, The Vault of Vishnu, The Magicians of Mazda, The Ayodhya Alliance) and two New York Times and Sunday Times UK bestselling crime thrillers with James Patterson, Private India (US: City on Fire) and Private Delhi (US: Count to Ten).
He has conceptualised the Kutta Kadam crime series, with the first novel in the series, Razor Sharp, being a national bestseller. He mentors, collaborates and edits several non-fiction titles in the 13 Steps Series on Luck, Wealth, Marks, Health, Sales, and Parenting. He contributes to the opinion page of the Times of India.
Ashwin Sanghi has been included by Forbes India in their Celebrity 100 and by the New Indian Express in their Culture Power List. He is a winner of the Crossword Popular Choice Award 2012, Atta Galatta Popular Choice Award 2018, WBR Iconic Achievers Award 2018, the LitoFest Literature Legend Award 2018, the Kalinga Popular Choice Award 2021, the Deendayal Upadhyaya Recognition 2023, the Gomti Devi Eminence Award for Literature 2026, and a Honorary Doctorate from JECRC University, Rajasthan.
He was educated at Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, and St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. He holds an MBA from Yale University. He lives in Mumbai with his wife Anushika and his son Raghuvir.
The JSW Prizes were instituted in 2025 to commemorate the 70th birth anniversary of Bhutan’s fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, and celebrate the transformative power of creativity, culture, and ideas in enriching the shared human experience.
The inaugural award will be presented during the festival—popularly known as Bhutan Echoes, an annual international celebration of literature, culture, and the arts in Thimphu—which will take place from August 1–3, 2026.
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