Assamese woman entrepreneur supports Northeast India’s blue-collar workforce in Davos
Assam: As business and political leaders from around the world gather in the snow-covered Swiss city of Davos, Drishti Medhi, an entrepreneur from Assam, is ensuring that India’s blue-collar workers and tribal communities in the Northeast are not left out of the conversation.
Medhi, co-founder of QuickGhy, has gone to the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2026 with a clear mission: to create market access for India’s blue-collar sector, as well as to represent the often-overlooked tribal communities of Northeast India in discussions on trade and economic development.
QuickGhy focuses on upskilling, training, and empowering blue-collar workers, giving them the tools they need to access better market opportunities. Medhi’s work on technology development aligns with her larger purpose, which includes positioning India as a growing innovation hub and amplifying the voices of grassroots communities in the Northeast.
India is also joining 22-year-old Ishan Pratap Singh, a civic entrepreneur from New Delhi who founded Cooperation17, a global social startup. Singh, who was selected as one of 40 participants from around the world to attend the WEF meeting as a Global Shaper, works to solve civic dysfunction through partnerships between citizens, institutions, businesses, and governments.
His organization builds cooperation around the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals through civic engagement and direct implementation in urban and rural communities around Delhi. In Davos, Singh aims to showcase India’s sustainable development story and build partnerships focused on dialogue, frontier technology, and grassroots implementation of the Development Goals.
The presence of both entrepreneurs comes at a time when Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the WEF on January 19 that the state should be considered an essential part of the Northeast’s collective economic future. He said that any growth in Assam automatically benefits the entire region due to its deep connections in geography, talent, and infrastructure.
Sarma said that following Tata’s proposed project, Assam is seeing growing interest in the semiconductor sector, and a meeting with industry leaders is scheduled. He confirmed that while no specific proposals are currently on the table, discussions with key stakeholders are expected to accelerate development.
The Chief Minister said that MoUs worth approximately ₹5 lakh crore were signed at last year’s Advantage Assam 2.0 Summit, with investments worth approximately ₹3 lakh crore already underway. He further stated that Assam expects to sign MoUs worth approximately ₹1 lakh crore during the Davos visit, primarily in the green energy sector, including pump storage projects and bamboo-to-methane conversion.
Sarma described Assam’s participation in Davos as a milestone, noting that this is the first time the state is formally presenting itself at the forum. He cited Reserve Bank of India data showing Assam as the fastest-growing state in the country, further strengthening its appeal to investors.
