The Jury consisted of the Chief Economist of the Aditya Birla Group (ABG), the Editor of Business Today (BT), Publishing Director Business Today and CEO and Founder of Naukri.com. The competition got off to a start with the first semi final between IIFT- Delhi and IIM-Bangalore. The topic was aCut Prices, not Production in a Downturna. The second semi final between IIFT, Kolkata and SP Jain was debated on aVoluntary freeze is a good way to help your company fight slowdowna. IIM, Bangalore and S.P.Jain qualified for the national finals of BT Acumen 2008, and it was special because both the teams had qualified for the BT National Debate finals for the first time. Finally the team from SPJIMR emerged as winners.