At the end of the virtual event, Miss World Asia 2019 Suman Rao, Miss India Grand International 2019 Shivani Jadhav and Miss India United Continents 2019 Shreya Shanker will crown their successors.
FORMAT
On 5 October 2020, the organisation published the registration form on its official website and remained open until 2 November 2020. The format made a new amend of more decreased height criteria (5 ft 3 in). 31 state representatives will be chosen, one representative each from the 28 states, in addition to one from Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, and lastly a collective representative from the rest of the Union territories. The entire progress of the contest is scheduled to be completed in four phases with the grand finale to be held in February 2021.
THE FOUR PHASES
Due to the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, this year, the selection and the first phase (October & November) of the finals was entirely digital. Applicants for this year's contest participated in an online selection that evaluated candidates on four key parameters: appearance, personality, talent, interview, and walk down the ramp. Each candidate was judged by a panel, which narrowed the entries to groups of finalists for each state.
In the second phase (November) of the contest, a series of online interviews will be conducted to select 31 state winners who will form the final pool of contestants for Femina Miss India 2020.
The third phase (December 2020 & January 2021) of the contest, which will comprise the 31 state finalists, will also be digital. Working from the comfort of their homes, state winners will be trained in a holistic curriculum, consisting of classes and interactive sessions facilitated by industry experts on topics ranging from skincare to self-expression, from style from the changing room to the ramp. In addition to presentation and grooming, state winners will also receive training on content production and social media management. This training will allow the finalists to capture their experience in both preparation and competition and will be shared through social media and live streaming sessions, allowing fans to participate in the experience of becoming Miss India as never before. A wide range of sub-contests, photoshoots, interviews, and user-generated content will further enhance the participant and viewer experience.
The 31 finalists will be narrowed down to a Top 15 that will proceed to the final stage of the contest in Mumbai, which will be held in a traditional format. The reduced number of contests will allow us to maintain adequate social distancing protocols.
The final phase (2020) of the pageant, the Grand Finale, will be produced and broadcast as a prerecorded television show featuring artist performances, sponsor integrations and rounds of contestants, culminating in the big announcement of the Top 3. The winner of Femina Miss India 2020 will represent India at Miss World and will also crown a representative for Miss Gwand International.
MENTOR
Bollywood film actress and Femina Miss India 2002, Neha Dhupia is the mentor of the contest. Neha has also been an exceptional mentor to Miss India contestants in the past, including in 2017, when Manushi Chhillar succeeded to take home the coveted Miss World crown after 17 years. As a mentor, she coaches the contestants through the rounds of the contest and helps them with overall development on their journey of being a beauty queen.[8]
On November 30, 2020, official mentor Neha Dhupia announced the 31 finalists from the top five of each state from each zones i.e. North, North East, South, East, West, Union territory with Delhi.