A PPI worth well above ₹32 LPA, reserved for 2nd year marketers.
Asian Paints CANVAS 2026 is one of the most sought-after MBA case competitions in India, and this year it is strictly for 2nd year students from select B-schools. The 15th edition offers a combined prize pool of ₹19,00,000, but the real prize is the pre-placement interview. Every campus winner gets a PPI from Asian Paints, and the national winner and runner-up also walk away with large cash awards. If you are a 2nd year student with a marketing lens and a team that can do primary research, this is the competition to prioritise.
Where the season stands
Registrations close on 21 August 2026. The executive summary submission window runs from 27 August to 13 September 2026. A live case brief is scheduled for 4 September 2026. Campus rounds follow for the top five teams per campus, and the national finale brings together 14 campus winners to present to Asian Paints senior leadership in Mumbai. The package for the PPI is reportedly well above ₹32 LPA.
What is actually on the table
The cash is excellent, but the PPI is the headline
National Winner
₹3,00,000
National Runner-up
₹2,00,000
Campus Winner
₹50,000
Campus 1st Runner-up
₹30,000
The total rewards are worth ₹19,00,000, but the real differentiator is the pre-placement interview. Every campus winner receives a PPI from Asian Paints, and the national winner and runner-up teams also receive PPIs. For a 2nd year student, a PPI with a top FMCG brand at a package reportedly well above ₹32 LPA is a career-defining outcome.
This is why CANVAS is not treated like a normal case competition. It is a disguised final round interview. Your submission is your first impression, your campus round is your group discussion, and the national finale is your panel interview with the MD and CEO and functional heads watching.
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Team format
Exactly 3 members per team. Cross-specialisation teams are allowed, so you can pair a marketer with a finance and operations student.
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Who is eligible
2nd year students only pursuing flagship full-time MBA programmes from select B-schools. Part-time, executive and one-year programmes are not eligible.
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First submission
2-slide executive summary in PPT and PDF format. Supporting Excel sheets must be embedded in the PPT itself.
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National finale
14 campus winners present to the senior leadership team headed by the MD and CEO of Asian Paints in Mumbai.
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The PPI package
Reportedly well above ₹32 LPA for the pre-placement interview offered to campus winners and national podium teams.
Where you can compete from
A closed campus programme for select B-schools
Asian Paints runs CANVAS as a closed campus competition. The official listing states that the competition is open to 2nd year students of select B-schools, but it does not publish the full campus list openly. If your institute has participated in past editions of CANVAS, your campus coordinator or placement cell is the best source of confirmation.
Action item: Check the official Unstop listing for your institute's eligibility before registering. Do not assume your campus is included just because it participates in other Asian Paints competitions.
Because the shortlist is campus-specific, your benchmark is the strongest team in your own batch. You do not need to outscore every marketer in the country. You need to be the best marketing case team in your 2nd year, and then survive the national finale.
The five stages
From a two-slide summary to a boardroom in Mumbai
1
Registration · closes 21 Aug 2026
Form your team of three and register on Unstop
Registration is through the official Unstop page. All three members must be eligible 2nd year students from the same select B-school. Cross-specialisation is allowed, so use this to build a balanced team.
Do not wait until the last day. Unstop traffic spikes before deadlines, and you may need time to verify institute eligibility and team member details.
2
Live case brief · 4 Sep 2026
Attend the official case brief session
Asian Paints hosts a live case brief session for registered teams. This is where the actual problem, deliverables and evaluation criteria are explained. Missing this session means solving the case without the full brief.
Assign one team member to take structured notes and another to draft the first version of the executive summary during the session itself.
3
Executive summary submission · 27 Aug to 13 Sep 2026
Two slides that frame the entire case
Registered teams submit a two-slide executive summary in PPT and PDF format. Supporting Excel sheets must be embedded in the PPT. This is the first filter, and only the top five teams per campus move to the campus round.
Treat the two-slide limit as a strategy test, not a formatting constraint. If you cannot explain the problem, insight, recommendation and impact in two slides, your thinking is not tight enough.
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Campus rounds
Top five teams per campus present to the Asian Paints jury
Shortlisted campus teams present a detailed approach to the Asian Paints jury. The campus round calendar is shared with shortlisted teams in advance. Campus winners, first runner-ups and second runner-ups receive cash prizes, and campus winners earn the PPI.
Prepare for a live Q and A. The jury is testing whether your recommendation can survive a conversation with senior marketers, not just whether your slides look good.
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Grand finale
Fourteen campus winners present to the MD and CEO
The national finalists, made up of 14 campus winners, refine their submissions with mentor support and present to the senior leadership team in Mumbai. The national winner takes ₹3,00,000, the runner-up takes ₹2,00,000, and both teams receive PPIs.
Rehearse your story, not your script. The leadership panel will challenge your assumptions. The team that can defend its numbers and revise its view gracefully usually wins.
Two rules that eliminate teams silently
Eligibility and the two-slide limit
This competition is open only to 2nd year students from select B-schools. The first submission is strictly a two-slide executive summary, with supporting Excel embedded in the PPT. Teams that miss either rule are disqualified before the jury even reads the recommendation.
What Asian Paints is really scoring
CANVAS is a core marketing case competition. The jury wants to see consumer insight, brand strategy, go-to-market thinking and commercial acumen. But the historical differentiator for Asian Paints has been strong primary research.
Winning teams do not rely only on secondary reports and textbook frameworks. They talk to real consumers, retailers, painters and contractors. They bring data from the market into the deck. If your recommendation is built only on desk research, it will look polished and generic. If it is built on primary research, it will feel like something Asian Paints could actually run.
Understanding the company you are pitching to
Asian Paints is India's largest paint company, and a marketing machine
Asian Paints is India's leading paint company and the second largest in Asia. It operates in 17 countries and runs 26 manufacturing facilities worldwide. The company has built its market leadership on deep distribution, strong brand equity, consistent innovation and some of the most memorable marketing campaigns in Indian corporate history.
That matters because your case will likely sit at the intersection of brand strategy, consumer behaviour, channel management and new product launches. The jury expects recommendations that understand how Asian Paints reaches consumers, influences painters, manages dealers and defends market share against competitors.
Your submission should therefore show that you understand the paint category's purchase journey. Who decides the brand? Who influences the choice? How does distribution work in tier-two and tier-three towns? What role does colour consultation, digital tools and contractor loyalty play? The teams that answer these questions with real data tend to stand out.
Six moves that separate finalists
How to build a CANVAS submission that feels like an Asian Paints marketing plan
1
Build a team with marketing, research and design instincts
CANVAS is a marketing case. You need at least one member who understands brand strategy, one who can design clean, persuasive slides, and one who can build and defend a financial or market model.
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Invest heavily in primary research
This is the historical differentiator. Interview consumers, retailers, painters and contractors. Record quotes, take photos, note price points and capture decision drivers. Bring at least one original insight into the deck that cannot be found online.
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Make the two-slide summary your entire argument
If the jury only reads two slides, they should know the problem, your insight, the recommendation and the expected impact. Use the summary as a filter. If it does not fit, your strategy is too broad.
4
Anchor every recommendation in Asian Paints' reality
Cite real Asian Paints brands, campaigns, distribution strengths and consumer segments. A generic 4P plan will lose to a recommendation that names a specific product line, channel and geography.
5
Show the money and the metrics
Marketing cases win when they connect creativity to commercial outcomes. Estimate market size, share impact, revenue uplift or payback period. Even rough numbers with clear assumptions are better than no numbers.
6
Rehearse the live presentation and the Q and A
The campus round and national finale are live. Practice with a timer, simulate tough questions, and know which assumptions you would defend and which you would revise. Confidence under pressure is what separates winners from finalists.
Resources worth an evening of your time
Official links and where to prepare
These are the sources worth your time. Click each link to open it in a new tab.
Read the latest annual report, investor presentations and brand pages. Understand the product portfolio, colour tools and dealer ecosystem before you build your case.
Useful for the campus rounds and national finale, where live presentation and Q and A carry as much weight as the deck.
Click on each link above to read the official guidelines before you plan your entry.
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Build a marketing case answer Asian Paints leadership could act on
AceCase Pro and Super100 train 2nd year MBA students on marketing case structuring, primary research methods, brand strategy frameworks and defending recommendations in front of a panel, which is exactly what CANVAS asks for.
✓ Mentor review of your two-slide summary and campus round deck before you submit
✓ Marketing case drills built around FMCG brand, channel and consumer behaviour problems
All details in this article are based on the official Asian Paints CANVAS 2026 listing on Unstop and publicly available information as of the publication date. Eligibility, eligible institutes, dates, rewards, round structures, prize pool and pre-placement interview opportunities may change at the discretion of Asian Paints or the event organizers. The PPI package figure is based on reported estimates and may vary by role, location and year. Please verify all information on the official listing before applying to any future edition. AceMBA is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Asian Paints or Unstop. This guide is for informational and preparatory purposes only.
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