India, June 21 -- In a move that has left the Indian literary world stunned, the JCB Prize for Literature - once the country's most lucrative book award - has officially been discontinued. The Rs.25-lakh award, which honoured the best work of fiction by an Indian author each year, has been shut down, with no future editions planned.

The confirmation came on June 21 from Mita Kapur, Literary Director of the JCB Prize, who said, "The prize has been shut down. I am not going to deny something that is evident. But for everything else, 'no comment'." The last winner of the award was Upamanyu Chatterjee in 2024, for his novel Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life.

While the reasons for the shutdown remain unclear, the decision closely foll...