Dear Reader,

Shantanu, who’s 22, has been getting spam calls for years.

At first, they were manageable. Two or three calls a day at most. He used to block them, which sometimes helped. Or he’d just ignore the calls. 

A few months ago, he took the CAT exam. Since then, the calls have exploded.

Shantanu suspects the coaching centre he registered at may have shared his number.

“I get 15 to 20 calls a day now,” he told me. “They’re very annoying. Colleges call me offering scholarships. I understand they’re doing their jobs too, but I’ve had enough.”

Shantanu is not alone.

Truecaller’s reports consistently rank India among the most spammed countries in the world. In 2025 alone, Indians received over 4 billion spam calls.

And that’s despite the fact that India has regulation to curb spam.

India’s telecom regulator, TRAI, has introduced several frameworks to curb unwanted calls. Companies that send promotional calls must register. Telemarketers must use designated number series. Consumers can also register on the Do Not Disturb (DND) list to opt out of promotional communication.

TRAI has also strengthened rules under its Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations and introduced digital consent systems to track whether companies actually have permission to contact users.

Yet the calls keep coming.

Part of the problem is scale. Millions of calls move through telecom networks every day. Many spam callers rotate numbers. Others use cloud telephony or third-party marketing vendors.

Enforcement then becomes reactive.

Cybersecurity expert Amit Jaju takes a tougher view.

“How is spam still happening today? If they wanted to stop it, they would have stopped it long ago. Regulators and operators play a ping pong game, and we are the ball.”

He says consumers can fight back.

His top tips: Use an AI assistant to screen calls. Set up call forwarding so your AI bot chats with the spammer’s bot—most hang up fast.

He also swears by three separate SIMs to compartmentalise:

• One SIM only for banks and serious financials, no sharing.

• One “burner” SIM for every random sign-up, OTP, or form. Keep it switched off most of the time. Spam piles up there, but it never rings your main phone.

• One clean SIM for family and trusted contacts. Set it to accept calls only from saved numbers.

Spam drops to near zero this way.

Do these steps feel extreme? Maybe. But if spam disrupts your day or risks your data, they work.

I explore the data ecosystem and economics of spam in the latest episode of The Signal Brief. 

You can find The Signal Brief on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Thank you once again for listening and supporting us. We’d love to hear from you; write to us at feedback@thecore.in or find us on Instagram or X at @thesignaldotco.

Best,
Kudrat
on behalf of The Core

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Oil, Blood, And Broken Pipelines: The True Cost Of The American War On Iran

The American-Israeli war on Iran arrived at India’s doorstep when an American submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship, IRIS Dena, which had left after taking part in a naval exercise hosted by India off the Vizag coast. It was attacked off the Sri Lankan port of Galle, and Sri Lankan efforts have rescued 80-odd personnel who were aboard the Iranian ship, sailing far away from the combat zone in the Persian Gulf. 

The esteem in which Washington holds New Delhi is evident from this brazen attack on a ship that was where it was because it had chosen to accept India’s invitation and taken part in a multi-nation naval exercise, MILAN, along with ships from the US, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Russia, France, Germany, the UAE, and the Philippines.

In a defiant show of autonomy from standard interpretations of strategic autonomy, India has so far refused to condemn this attack on its guest.

Hormuz Chokehold

The attack on Iran commenced on February 28, and so far, there is little clarity on what constitutes America’s war aim. So far, the US president has neither confirmed nor denied the likelihood of sending in troops to finish off the rest of the clerical regime, after its head had been chopped off by way of precision missile attacks that had destroyed the building in which the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini and senior functionaries, including the defence minister and commanders of the Revolutionary Guards Corps were conferring.

If Israel and the US refuse to place boots on the ground, the chances of a regime change in Tehran are limited, even if there is widespread popular resentment against the incumbent clerical regime. This is for two reasons: the deep entrenchment of the repressive machinery of the state controlled by the regime, and the tendency for public sentiment to rally around the flag at the time of an attack by an external enemy.

The result of the Iranian regime staying in place and fighting back against the attack is a continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the oil from the Gulf petrostates flows to the rest of the world. 

LNG is stuck altogether, with Qatar cut off by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. India could experience shortages of natural gas. Hopefully, this should accelerate the lethargic moves underway to gasify India’s most abundant domestic fuel, coal.

The US would be forced to wind down its dislike of Russian oil. If economies like India and China do not buy Russian crude, and tap African and American sources away from those of the choked-off Persian Gulf, relied on by Europe and Japan, crude prices will shoot up much more than the 15% rise in Brent Crude and the 19% rise in WTI, the American benchmark. 

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24.09 lakh

That’s how many vehicles auto companies sold in February 2026, a 25.6% year-on-year jump, according to the latest retail data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). The figure includes sales across two-wheelers (2W), three-wheelers (3W), commercial vehicles (CV), passenger vehicles (PV), tractors and construction equipment.

Growth by segment:

• Two-wheelers: +25.0%

• Three-wheelers: +24.4%

• Passenger vehicles: +26.1%

• Commercial vehicles: +28.9%

• Tractors: +36.4%

• Construction equipment: −1.2% 

FADA attributes the strong growth largely to the continued impact of GST 2.0 tax cuts, which lowered prices for several vehicle categories and boosted affordability. C S Vigneshwar, President of FADA, said the industry expected the tax changes to deliver a structural boost to demand. Dealers also cited strong wedding-season purchases, new model launches and improving rural sentiment as factors lifting sales.

Future: Vigneshwar said dealer sentiment remains positive for March. FADA’s survey shows a majority of dealers expect sales to rise further, supported by festival demand and typical financial year-end buying.

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

India’s Energy Risk

India is seeking US marine cover for vessels shipping oil from the Middle East as escalating conflict in West Asia threatens energy supply chains, sources told Reuters. The disruptions are already increasing risks for fuel prices, fertiliser supplies and manufacturing inputs, according to a brief by the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).

Fast Facts: India imported $98.7 billion worth of goods from West Asia in 2025, including nearly $70 billion in petroleum. Missile and drone strikes have hit energy and logistics facilities across Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman, raising fears of shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy route. Vessel movement restrictions have halted LNG supplies to the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) under a Petronet contract since Wednesday.

Flashpoint: Analysts warn prolonged disruptions could quickly push up fuel costs and ripple across sectors, from fertilisers to diamonds and construction.

Stranded And Uncovered

Travellers stranded by the war in Iran are discovering that their travel insurance may not cover the disruption. As airspace closures and airport shutdowns grounded thousands of flights across the Middle East, many passengers found that standard policies exclude losses linked to armed conflict, including replacement flights and extended hotel stays.

Why It Matters: Insurers say such exclusions are standard because wars create large, unpredictable risks that are difficult to price without making premiums prohibitively expensive.

Origin: The episode highlights a long-standing criticism of the travel insurance industry. As The Signal Brief previously reported, the sector is growing rapidly in India but still pays out relatively few claims, partly due to narrow coverage and extensive exclusions.

India’s Startup Gender Gap

Women founders receive just Rs 4 for every Rs 100 raised by founders emerging from India’s most powerful startup networks, according to a new report by Kalaari Capital’s CXXO initiative. The study draws on ecosystem data and interviews with more than 140 founders, investors and operators to examine funding disparities in India’s startup landscape.

Setup: The report argues the gap is not due to a lack of talent. Women are entering STEM education in increasing numbers but face structural barriers later, including safety concerns, mobility constraints and limited access to influential founder networks that often drive funding and startup creation. Women are also underrepresented in venture capital decision-making roles.

Impact: The report argues that overlooking women founders creates a capital allocation problem for investors, potentially missing out on startups that evidence suggests can generate stronger revenues and build more resilient teams.

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Markets Jump In Best Session In Over A Month

On Episode 815 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to C S Vigneshwar, President of FADA as well as Sehul Bhatt, Director at CRISIL Limited.

• Markets jump in best session in over a month

• Why India has to brace for a gas shock.

• Airlines including Air India are adding long haul capacity to ease backlogs.

• Why February was a bumper month with 25% growth for Indian car makers.

• India imported $98.7bn worth of goods from West Asia in 2025, making the region a critical supplier of energy, fertilisers and industrial inputs.

• Indians account for more than 20% of Dubai property purchases by foreigners.

Continued West Asia Conflict Could Squeeze India’s Fuel, Currency

By Shubhangi Bhatia

Indian households could face an acute cooking gas shortage in the coming weeks as the escalating West Asia conflict traps critical supplies of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) behind the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

India, the world’s second-largest LPG buyer, is dangerously dependent on the Persian Gulf, sourcing over 90% of its supply from the region, Bloomberg reported, citing Kpler data. Unlike crude oil, for which India has established strategic underground reserves, LPG storage is far more limited. Industry insiders say the current crisis can only be averted if March cargoes—currently stranded—begin moving within days, Bloomberg reported.

India’s top gas importer, Petronet LNG also issued a force majeure notice to supplier QatarEnergy and domestic buyers after its vessels were unable to reach the Ras Laffan load port, located in Qatar, amid the West Asia crisis.

If tightness persists, industrial users may shift to alternative fuels such as furnace oil or naphtha, while higher LNG prices could raise fertiliser subsidy costs, Sehul Bhatt, Director at Crisil Intelligence, said in a note.

This comes even as the West Asia conflict intensifies on the fifth straight day after the US military launched major airstrikes on Iran, targeting military and leadership sites across the country and killing the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Additionally, all Emirates scheduled flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until 2359hrs UAE time on 7 March, though the carrier continues to operate a limited flight schedule where possible.

The Russian Pivot

With nearly 40% of India’s crude imports typically transiting the now-inaccessible Strait of Hormuz, the government has begun scouting for non-West Asia supplies. In a significant move, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that Moscow is prepared to increase oil volumes to India and China.

Currently, approximately 9.5 million barrels of Russian crude are already on vessels near Indian waters, capable of providing relief within weeks. This Russian buffer is critical, as India’s domestic crude stocks are estimated to cover only 25 days of demand.

The vulnerability was underscored today as state-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) declared force majeure on all gasoline exports, prioritising domestic supply over international contracts.

Currency Turmoil

The escalating conflict in West Asia has also pushed the Indian economy into a state of high alert. On Wednesday, the Indian Rupee plummeted past the psychological barrier of 92 per US Dollar, hitting an all-time low.

The collapse of the Rupee has sent shockwaves through the financial sector. Implied volatility has surged to 5.6%, its highest in nearly a year, making it significantly costlier for Indian importers to hedge their dollar exposure.

Rising oil prices from the West Asia conflict are increasing hedging costs for Indian importers, as rupee volatility and forward premiums climb. "The duration is critical," noted analysts at MUFG Bank. If the military campaign exceeds the 15-day mark, the cost of protection for the Rupee may become unsustainable for many MSME importers.

Geopolitical Brinkmanship

The war took a more complex turn with reports that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, survived the initial strikes and is being positioned as a potential successor.

In the US, critics say the attacks exceed President Donald Trump’s authority. While Trump claims the strikes are necessary to eliminate imminent threats, legal experts warn he is testing the boundaries of the War Powers Resolution.

With the US Embassy in Jerusalem stating it cannot assist Americans in departing Israel, and global gold prices hovering near record highs, the spiral of violence shows no signs of an early exit.

IndiaAI’s RegTech Challenge: A Deal Only A Desperate Start-up Would Sign

By Dev Chandrasekhar

What? 

India's financial watchdog is drowning in paper. The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), the body responsible for overseeing India’s financial audit quality and reporting, receives thousands of filings every year and checks them by hand. Human reviewers, manual checklists, and not nearly enough of either.

The obvious fix: an AI engine capable of extracting text, tables, and financial data from multi-format documents, segmenting them, and validating compliance against a configurable regulatory framework. Also included will be an automated analytics layer and a chatbot interface over NFRA's entire corpus 

NFRA and IndiaAI have jointly set out to do that. IndiaAI is an Independent Business Division (IBD) under the Digital India Corporation (DIC) of the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY). It serves as the implementation agency of the IndiaAI Mission.

Their IndiaAI Financial Reporting Compliance Challenge asks India's best AI startups to build an automated compliance engine for the regulator. 

The ambition is real. It's a genuinely important problem. So is the problem being solved. AI is, without a doubt, the right tool. 

The trouble is the deal that’s being offered for the AI solution, structured one-sidedly against the startups most capable of creating it.

Why? 

The winning startup will receive up to Rs 1 crore over two years. In exchange, it builds, deploys, and maintains a mission-critical government system — and surrenders meaningful control over the intellectual property it creates along the way. 

If a dispute arises, the government decides the outcome. If the startup continues improving its own product after the contract ends, it must keep sharing those improvements with the regulator — indefinitely, for free.

The product being sought is not a minimum viable product. It is an enterprise-grade regulatory compliance engine for one of India's apex financial oversight bodies. 

The solution must meet rigorous technical requirements. 

The Rs 5 lakh Stage 2 grant is structured as access compensation rather than genuine R&D support. It requires teams to first sign an NDA before seeing any real data. Applications are submitted and managed via the AIKosh portal. 

The reward for the NDA and the data exposure is the chance to compete for a contract that, spread across twenty-four months, implies Rs 4.17 lakh per month before GST, overheads, employee benefits, and licensing costs. For context, a single mid-level machine learning engineer in Mumbai currently commands Rs 1.5–2.5 lakh per month in total cost to the company. 

The Rs 1 crore envelope is not sufficient to retain a team of three competent engineers for two years, let alone build, deploy, and maintain an enterprise AI system.

India's most technically capable are being asked to subsidise a government IT infrastructure in exchange for title without value, under a contract where the buyer adjudicates disputes, at a price that does not cover costs. 

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92.16

That’s how much the rupee fell against the dollar, hitting a record low and making it Asia’s worst-performing currency this year.

Catch Up Quick: Analysts say the biggest reason for the currency’s fall is India’s heavy reliance on imported crude oil. After US and Israeli strikes on Iran escalated tensions in West Asia, markets fear disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage that carries about 20% of the world’s oil supply and a large share of India’s crude imports.

Indian markets were already seeing foreign investors pull money out in recent months. Now, the escalation in West Asia has intensified risk aversion, prompting investors to sell more Indian equities and move toward safer assets.

Break: Earlier, optimism around a possible US-India trade agreement had supported investor sentiment. But analysts now warn that the conflict could undermine those gains. Economists at Kotak Mahindra Bank say a prolonged regional war could hurt both remittances from West Asia and capital inflows into India, adding further pressure on the rupee. 

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

Services Growth Holds Firm

India’s services sector remained resilient in February, with the HSBC India Services PMI easing marginally to 58.1 from 58.5 in January, signalling continued robust expansion. Output growth was broadly stable as the fiscal year neared its end, though new orders rose at the slowest pace in 13 months amid intensifying competition.

Why It Matters? While stronger client enquiries and marketing efforts lifted sales for some firms, others flagged pressure on growth. International demand improved, prompting companies to step up hiring. Input and output price inflation accelerated, with higher food and labour costs passed on to customers.

Flashpoint: Business confidence touched a one-year high. The composite PMI rose to 58.9, led by manufacturing strength. Finance and insurance outperformed, while real estate and business services lagged.

India Weighs US Standards

India will, within six months of an interim trade pact with the United States coming into force, decide whether to accept American or international standards — including testing norms — for select US exports, Business Standard reported, citing the 2026 Trade Policy Agenda and Annual Report 2025 released by the US Trade Representative (USTR).

Highlight: The move is aimed at easing market access for American goods. India has also committed to addressing long-standing non-tariff barriers in sectors such as food, agriculture, medical devices and information and communication technology products.

What's Next? Negotiations launched in March 2025 led to a joint statement on February 7, 2026, outlining the interim deal. While the US rolled back punitive tariffs, a recent Supreme Court ruling has prompted both sides to reassess timelines as they work toward a broader bilateral trade agreement.

Pharma Flags Gulf Risks

Indian drugmakers are reviewing shipments to West Asia as tensions in the region threaten shipping routes, Business Standard reported. Companies say a prolonged conflict could disrupt cargo movement, delay deliveries, and raise freight and insurance costs.

Implications: The region accounts for roughly $1.7 billion of India’s pharmaceutical exports, with key markets including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt. Industry executives say firms are assessing logistics risks and exploring contingency plans such as rerouting shipments, advancing dispatch schedules, or increasing inventories in destination markets.

Next Steps: Companies have not halted exports yet, but executives say they will reassess shipping plans if the conflict drags on and logistics disruptions worsen.

Urban Investing Shift

Urban women are increasingly taking charge of investment decisions, even as many investors remain confident but poorly prepared financially, according to the DSP Winvestor Pulse 2025-26 survey. The study, conducted by DSP Mutual Fund with YouGov, surveyed 5,050 respondents across 13 Indian cities in Q4 2025, focusing on working adults aged 25-60 involved in household investment decisions.

By the Numbers: The report found that 56% of women now make investment decisions independently, up from 44% in 2022, while men remain higher at 68%. At the same time, 84% of investors say they feel confident investing alone, but only 33% have both a financial goal and a structured plan.

The Shift: The survey also shows changing aspirations: 41% of women prioritise travel over buying a home, signalling a tilt toward lifestyle spending and financial independence.

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Markets Take A Fresh Knock

On Episode 814 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Ajay Bhalotia, General Secretary of All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) as well as Sudhir Sethi, Founder and Chairman at Chiratae Ventures.

• Markets take a fresh knock but still doing better than expected

• LNG gas supply crunch builds up as Indian importers declare a formal force majeure

• India’s basmati exports are blocked from going to the West Asia

• India has major AI ambitions. Where will the funding come from?

India’s Oil Reserves, Trade Vulnerability Face Test As Iran-US Tensions Mount

By Shubhangi Bhatia

As the military confrontation between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran escalates on the fourth straight day, India is one of the nations whose economy will be affected by this. The conflict has effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which 20% of global oil and half of India’s energy imports flow.

With top producer Qatar halting LNG production and Iranian retaliatory strikes hitting Gulf infrastructure, the ripples are already being felt in the Indian industry.

In a formal statement on Tuesday, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) expressed "great anxiety" over the intensification of the conflict during the holy month of Ramadan. India has also reiterated its call for "dialogue and diplomacy" and an early end to the conflict.

Energy Crunch?

Indian gas companies, including GAIL and Indian Oil Corp, reduced natural gas supplies to industries by 10% to 30%, Reuters reported, citing sources. The cuts come after Petronet LNG warned of tighter supplies following the Qatari production halt. While India is the second-largest buyer of Qatari LNG, the sudden shortfall is forcing a pivot to expensive spot market tenders despite surging freight and insurance costs.

The crisis highlights a stark disparity in energy security. While China holds six months of crude in storage, analysts at ICIS note that India’s inventories are significantly lower.

According to Kpler, India’s total commercial and strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) stand at approximately 100 million barrels, providing a cushion of only 40–45 days. With 88% of its crude imported—and over half of that transiting the now-blocked Strait of Hormuz—India faces a logistical and price-driven shock.

Economic Contagion

The conflict threatens India’s fragile finances as the rupee recently tumbled to 91.5 against the dollar, Bloomberg suggests. If Brent crude—which surged 7% on Monday—sustains a path toward $100, the Reserve Bank of India may be forced to hike interest rates, stalling private investment.

Furthermore, the government remains on the hook for 124 tons of gold via sovereign bonds—a $22 billion liability—at a time when global gold prices have spiked to over $5,389 an ounce.

Trade and Food Security at Risk

The conflict has effectively choked India’s trade corridors. Approximately 400,000 metric tons of Indian Basmati rice are currently backed up at ports and in transit. As the world’s largest exporter of premium aromatic rice, India relies on West Asia for over half of its shipments.

With freight rates more than doubling since the weekend, export deals have dried up, and no alternative market can absorb these volumes.

As the conflict widens, India finds itself with limited leverage, caught between a volatile West Asia and a hard-nosed US trade policy.

A Billion-Dollar Deadlock: Why Tata Sons Is Deferring Its Leadership Vote

By Manish Pant

What? 

The Tata group, India’s most storied conglomerate, finds itself at a defining moment. At stake is not just the extension of Natarajan Chandrasekaran’s leadership at Tata Sons, but the very structure of how the $149‑billion empire will be governed in the years ahead. With Noel Tata now chairing Tata Trusts — the holding company that controls 66% of Tata Sons — boardroom debates have sharpened around succession, accountability, and the group’s strategic direction.

Tensions spilt into public view after the Tata Sons board abruptly deferred a decision on whether to grant 62-year-old Natarajan Chandrasekaran a third five-year term on February 24, triggering fresh questions about leadership continuity at the helm of India’s most powerful conglomerate. Coming just four days before his current term was set to expire, this exposed the latent fault lines between Tata Sons and Tata Trusts. 

Why? 

What was once seen as a routine endorsement has now become a flashpoint, with Noel Tata pressing for stricter oversight and Chandrasekaran’s camp arguing for continuity. The leadership clash may impact future strategic direction on succession and governance, as the salt‑to‑software giant braces for a decisive transformation. 

“Some businesses within the group are currently in the investment phase and not yet profitable, for example, Air India and digital ventures like Tata Cliq. These businesses are still building scale, but their losses have raised concerns within the group,” said Deven Choksey, veteran market analyst and Managing Director of Mumbai‑based DRChoksey Finserv Pvt Ltd. “There is a view that stricter decisions may be needed on such businesses.”

Why It Matters 

Choksey reiterates that it is ultimately a question of the group realigning its strategy to sharpen competitiveness. “The debate is not about whether Chandrasekaran continues; he will. It is more about exploring whether the group should continue with its current conglomerate structure or adopt a different model. That is likely why discussions have been deferred: to buy time and consider structural options.”

In the last nine years, Tata Sons has classified group businesses into broad clusters, including technology, consumer and retail, infrastructure, automotive, steel, financial services, and new ventures, to streamline oversight and growth. The question now is whether each vertical should be given independent leadership, rather than one chairman overseeing everything.

If the group wants accelerated growth, decentralisation may be necessary. 

Why Developers Say Blockchain Still Lacks User-Friendly Apps

By Vishwas Ved

What?

For years, the blockchain industry has spoken about how the technology could change the way people transfer money, keep their records, or prove their identities. 

The idea was to bring in a system that does not depend on one central authority or database while also cutting some costs and giving users more control over their data and assets. 

But it seems that things have not gone as planned in some cases. And it came out in the open during a candid discussion at the Ethereum developer conference, ETHDenver, in Colorado, in the last week of February. 

ETHDenver, one of the most influential gatherings in the global blockchain ecosystem, brings together developers, founders, and investors who brainstorm to decide what to build next in the Ethereum and Web3 space.

Builders attending the conference, specifically John Paller, who founded ETHDenver, admitted that the blockchain technology itself has moved ahead faster than the products people actually use. 

Why? 

In the past decade, developers created powerful blockchain networks, privacy layers, and security systems. These pieces basically form the technical base of the ecosystem. 

Simply put, they are similar to roads, bridges, and power lines in a city. They facilitate activity. 

Yet an habitable city still needs homes, shops, and offices. According to Paller, blockchain lacks that everyday layer.

In other words, the blockchain industry has built a large amount of infrastructure, but it hasn’t been able to build simple apps that ordinary users choose over existing ones.

This does not mean that the technology lacks potential. The basic capabilities are, no doubt, quite powerful. 

But the benefits can reach users only when someone builds applications that make life easier. That, the developers at the conference said, requires a shift in thinking. 

This series is brought to you in partnership with Algorand India.

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100 million barrels

That’s the volume of commercial crude oil stocks India currently holds — across storage tanks, underground strategic petroleum reserves at Mangalore, Padur and Visakhapatnam, and cargoes on water, PTI reported, citing Kpler data.

Overview: These reserves could cover roughly 40–45 days of imports if supplies through the Strait of Hormuz are disrupted. India imports 88% of its crude needs, with nearly half transiting the narrow waterway.

Context: While refiners maintain inventories and additional refined product stocks offer some cushion, a prolonged disruption would sharply raise freight, insurance and import costs. Brent has already crossed $80 per barrel amid the Iran crisis.

Flashpoint: India spent $137 billion on crude imports in FY25; sustained price spikes would significantly widen the import bill.

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

The Rare Earth Realignment

Japan is in talks to explore rare earth minerals with India in Rajasthan, sources told Reuters, as both countries look to reduce their dependence on China for critical mineral supplies.

Setup: Last month, Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy announced the discovery of hard rock deposits containing 1.29 million metric tonnes of rare earth oxides in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The find could strengthen India’s push to build domestic critical mineral capacity.

Critical Moment: The talks gained urgency after China imposed export controls on certain dual-use rare earth materials, restricting shipments to 20 Japanese entities over alleged military links. The move underscored how vulnerable global supply chains remain to geopolitical tensions.

White Collar Demand Climbs

India’s white-collar hiring demand strengthened 12% year-on-year and 23% month-on-month in February 2026, according to the Naukri JobSpeak Index, which tracks job postings on the Naukri.com platform. Recruiters increased listings across industries, with IT showing recovery and AI-related roles sustaining momentum. Companies also posted more entry-level openings in hospitality, insurance and real estate, signalling stronger demand for freshers.

Pivot: Hiring intent expanded beyond major metros. Tier-2 cities such as Indore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Vadodara and Coimbatore recorded notable growth in job postings, reflecting broader geographic dispersion in recruitment activity.

Setting: The data points to rising employer demand for talent, even as rapid AI advancements continue to reshape industry expectations and investor sentiment.

Qatar Supply Halt Squeezes Gas Flow to Critical Industries

On Episode 813 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Dr. Amit Goenka, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director at the Nisus Finance Group (NiFCO).

• Gas supplies to critical industries like fertiliser and power will see cuts as Qatar shuts production

• The amazing US argument for exporting its LNG to other countries.

• Brent crude futures have hit $85 a barrel

• How a strong dollar is keeping gold, silver in check

• Flights into and out of the Emirates have resumed but only sporadically suggesting travellers have a longer wait ahead

• Freight Rates have gone up Significantly

• Why real estate funds are becoming popular

Global Markets Shaken As West Asia Conflict Widens

By Shubhangi Bhatia

A sharp escalation in West Asia has triggered a global economic shockwave, sending airline stocks into a tailspin and oil prices surging.

Following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, the conflict continued to thump across the region on Monday, as Islamic Republic launched retaliatory drone and missile attacks across the Gulf, impacting major hubs like Dubai and triggering interceptions over Bahrain and Qatar.

With US President Donald Trump warning the campaign could last weeks and Iran ruling out negotiations, the region is braced for a prolonged conflict.

Aviation and Energy in Turmoil

Global aviation is facing a massive disruption as carriers across the Persian Gulf extend blanket flight suspensions. World’s largest international airline, Emirates, has halted all operations to and from Dubai until Tuesday afternoon, while Etihad and Qatar Airways have extended cancellations due to airspace closures.

The ripple effects have hit Europe and Asia. European airline giants like Lufthansa and IAG saw shares plummet by up to 13%. Indian airlines have taken a combined hit of up to Rs 220 crore in just 48 hours.

The crisis is dealing a double blow to the industry: oil prices surged over 8% on Monday, with Brent crude briefly topping $82 per barrel. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the region which is a vital supply route for global energy, dropped by about 70%.

Saudi Arabia was forced to shut its largest domestic refinery following a drone strike, while Qatar has suspended liquefied natural gas output.

India Braces For Trade Disruptions

On Monday, the Department of Commerce held inter-ministerial deliberations with exporters and logistics players to assess the impact on India's export-import (EXIM) cargo flows. The government is monitoring critical variables, including:

Routing and Transit Times: Adjustments to bypass conflict zones.

Costs: Trends in freight and insurance premiums.

Supply Chain Resilience: Ensuring MSME exporters are protected and essential imports for domestic production remain unaffected.

A Global Security Crisis

The conflict also reached the fringes of Europe, with drone strikes targeting a British air base in Cyprus. While damage was limited, the incident marks a dangerous geographic expansion of the war. Meanwhile, Israel has expanded attacks into Beirut following fire from Hezbollah, and Kuwait ‘mistakenly’ shot down 3 US fighter jets.

Investors have fled to safe-haven assets, driving gold prices up more than 2% to $5,389 an ounce.

Additionally, the US State Department issued an advisory, urging all its citizens to exercise increased caution due to potential security risks.

Gridlock On The Green Path: Transmission Delays Trigger Massive Power Waste

By Amritha Pillay

What? 

India may be trying to achieve ambitious renewable energy targets, but the infrastructure to carry that power is still struggling to keep pace. After a decade where Rajasthan and Gujarat emerged as the nation's solar powerhouses, the industry is now grappling with the technical reality of curtailment, or the forced idling of power plants.

In the renewable energy sector, curtailment refers to the deliberate reduction in output from power plants, either to maintain grid stability or because the transmission lines are simply fewer to carry the volume of electricity being generated.

Why?

Industry associations report that the average curtailment across major renewable energy (RE) states such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Karnataka has hovered between 15 and 20% over the last year. In some cases, mid-day peak-hour curtailment reached 100% until January 2026.

The crisis is primarily driven by corridor congestion. While India has surpassed 200 GW of RE capacity (excluding Hydro power), with Rajasthan and Gujarat accounting for more than 40 GW each, the physical transmission lines needed to evacuate this power remain stuck in development.

India’s green energy additions have been galloping. A recent SBI Caps report on the power sector highlighted that 40 GW of solar capacity is estimated for addition in 2025. However, transmission infrastructure additions lagged nearly 50% behind their targets as of late FY26.

Transmission infrastructure addition has been slow because of a plethora of issues — right of way, land acquisition, equipment shortage and idle transmission capacity reserved for stranded plants.

Why It Matters 

The inability to move power is not just a technical glitch; it is an economic drain. Ravi Verma, a member of the Governing Council of the Sustainable Projects Developers Association (SPDA), estimates that ongoing congestion erodes approximately Rs 0.25 to Rs 0.30 per kWh from project tariffs.

“For large RE zones in Rajasthan, evacuation delays of 15–24 months have materially impacted project cash flows, significantly affecting developer returns and bankability,” he said.

S&P Global Energy warned in January that after years of rapid growth, these widespread restrictions are beginning to limit future solar expansion.

Publicly traded solar energy firms are now reporting these losses to shareholders. Acme Solar recently disclosed a one-time loss of approximately Rs 17.5 crore at its 300 MW Sikar project due to restricted grid access.

In some cases, depending on how the lapse occurred, the government may compensate for it.

While augmenting transmission infrastructure is a multi-year effort, almost every stakeholder in the power sector is hopeful that energy storage systems will help store what the grid cannot evacuate at a particular hour.

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56.9

That’s India’s Manufacturing PMI for February — the fastest expansion in four months, signalling solid factory momentum. According to HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, the index rose from 55.4 in January, comfortably above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction, though slightly below the flash estimate of 57.5.

Overview: Strong domestic demand powered new orders and lifted output to a four-month high, reinforcing expectations of economic resilience after 7.8% GDP growth in the December quarter. Input cost pressures stayed moderate, while firms raised selling prices at the quickest pace in four months.

Setting: Export growth cooled to a 17-month low, reflecting lingering tariff uncertainty. Employment ticked up only marginally, with just 4% of firms hiring, even as business confidence improved.

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

Trade Gap Bites

India’s current account deficit (CAD) widened to $13.2 billion in the third quarter of FY26, or about 1.3% of GDP, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. The deficit rose from $11.3 billion, or 1.1% of GDP, a year earlier.

Pivot: Imports outpaced exports during the quarter, widening the goods trade deficit. Services exports and remittances offered support, but they did not fully offset the shortfall.

What This Means Going Forward: Although the gap remains moderate by historical standards, the increase signals renewed pressure on India’s external balance amid uncertain global trade conditions and volatile energy markets.

India Widens Trade Chessboard

India and Canada agreed on the terms of reference for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership, formally launching negotiations toward a free trade agreement they aim to conclude by the end of 2026.

Backdrop: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the pact could lift bilateral trade from roughly $9 billion to $50 billion by 2030, signalling a strategic reset after diplomatic tensions between the two countries last year. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Modi also signed a long-term uranium supply agreement to support India’s nuclear energy expansion.

Fast Facts: In recent months, New Delhi has accelerated its trade push. It concluded a landmark agreement with the European Union, finalised a deal with the United Kingdom, and signed trade pacts with Oman and the United Arab Emirates, while reopening talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Tata Steel’s Green Push

Tata Steel will invest Rs 11,000 crore in Jharkhand to develop advanced-grade, low-carbon steel at its Jamshedpur facility, Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran announced, Business Standard reported.

Lead: Speaking alongside Tata Steel CEO T. V. Narendran and Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Chandrasekaran said the investment will focus on advanced green steel technology pioneered by the group, aimed at reducing carbon emissions in production. He added that the technology could also benefit other steelmakers over time.

What’s Next? Separately, Tata Motors plans to invest in hydrogen-powered trucks at the same location, a move Chandrasekaran described as strategically significant for both domestic and global markets. The Tata Group will also set up an expert panel to explore further investment opportunities across sectors in Jharkhand, following suggestions from the chief minister.

Markets Take A Beating On War Tensions

On Episode 812 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Shajikumar Devakar, Co-Founder & CEO at Neo Wealth Management, as well as Ajay Kedia, Director at Kedia Advisory.

• Markets take a beating on war tensions but seem to have avoided the worst, for now

• Indian carriers are second most affected even as thousands of passengers continue to be stranded in West Asia

• What are ultra high networth investors doing at a time like this?

• Prices of commodities including oil spike, where could they go next

US, Israel Attack Iran: What It Means For India

By Kudrat Wadhwa

What?

A precision US-Israeli airstrike killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, in his Tehran office, Iran confirmed early morning on Sunday, March 1.

US President Donald Trump confirmed the operation publicly. Iranian authorities declared a 40-day national mourning period.

A day earlier, an Israeli strike reportedly hit a school in southern Iran's Minab region, killing over 100 people. Iran retaliated, launching missiles and drones at Israel—mostly intercepted with minimal damage—and striking US military bases in Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar.

Several countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), temporarily restricted airspace, forcing airlines to cancel or reroute flights across the Middle East. The Dubai international airport, one of the busiest hubs for Indian travellers, suspended all flight operations until further notice.

In India, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) confirmed that domestic carriers cancelled 410 flights on February 28 and would cancel another 444 on March 1 because of ongoing airspace closures in the Middle East. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) instructed Indian airlines to avoid 11 affected airspaces over Iran and the wider Middle East and to coordinate rerouting to ensure passenger safety.

Why?

The escalation marks a dramatic shift from shadow conflict to open confrontation.

Israel has long accused Iran of advancing its nuclear programme and arming regional proxy groups. Diplomatic efforts to revive nuclear negotiations stalled in recent months, and military signalling intensified before the strike.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel's Knesset just days earlier, reiterating India-Israel's shared resolve to combat Islamic terrorism while deepening defense, tech, and counter-terrorism cooperation. 

But, once the attacks on Iran began, India swiftly condemned the escalation, called for de-escalation, and launched emergency evacuation operations for thousands of Indian students and workers trapped in Iran.

Why It Matters?

After the strikes, Iranian military authorities issued warnings to commercial vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz, cautioning ships against transiting high-risk areas.

Energy markets treat the Strait of Hormuz as the world’s most critical oil chokepoint. The narrow passage between Iran and Oman carries roughly 20% of global seaborne crude and a significant share of liquefied natural gas exports from Qatar. Even limited disruption can tighten supply within days.

Bloomberg reports that shipping and tanker operators have begun avoiding the waterway, with vessels holding outside the strait or reversing course after military warnings. Major traders have delayed or suspended some crude and LNG shipments, and naval authorities have advised commercial traffic to steer clear of high-risk zones.

For India, the consequences are immediate. The country imports more than 90% of its crude oil, and roughly 40-50% of those volumes transit Hormuz, largely from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. A sustained $10 rise in crude prices would add billions to India’s annual import bill, widen the current account deficit and put fresh pressure on the rupee.

New Delhi must also navigate diplomatic risk. India maintains deep defence and technology ties with Israel while depending heavily on Gulf energy supplies and hosting millions of Indian workers across the region.

Khamenei’s death reshapes regional politics. But the global impact still hinges on oil flows. If shipping stabilises, markets may calm. If disruption deepens, India will face higher import costs and currency risk, in addition to a complicated diplomatic calculus. The military exchange may fade. The economic shock could endure.

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

This week’s conversations span three very different industries — streaming, energy and logistics. But scratch the surface and they’re all about the same thing: infrastructure.

At Chevron India, Akshay Sahni reveals how Bengaluru engineers use AI, seismic imaging and digital twins to power global operations of Chevron Corporation — from deepwater rigs to LNG assets.

At Netflix India, Monika Shergill explains how data, audience behaviour and regional expansion are shaping what 16 million subscribers watch next.

And in Eye on Retail, Govindraj Ethiraj tracks India’s 533 million sq ft warehousing boom — the logistics backbone underpinning e-commerce, manufacturing and the country’s $30 trillion ambition.

Content libraries. Energy algorithms. Supply chain corridors.

Different sectors.

Same question: who controls the systems that move data, goods and power?

WEEKEND EDITION

Tariff Shock Reversed: Washington Blinks, and the Trade Chessboard Resets

When you think of deepwater drilling 34,000 feet below sea level, shale production in the Permian Basin, or LNG assets in Australia, Bengaluru isn’t the first geography that comes to mind.

It should be.

In this episode of The Core Report – Weekend Edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Akshay Sahni, Country Head of Chevron India, about how the company’s Engineering & Innovation Excellence Centre in Bengaluru has become mission-critical to global operations of Chevron.

This isn’t back-office support. It’s core infrastructure.

The Oilfield Is Now a Data Field

Chevron’s India hub works on seismic imaging models that determine where to drill, builds AI systems that optimise exploration risk, and runs real-time well monitoring dashboards that can intervene thousands of miles away.

Digital twins simulate offshore platforms before capital is deployed. Industrial IoT sensors feed predictive analytics models that reduce refinery downtime. Robotics and drones inspect hazardous environments long before human workers step in.

Energy, in other words, is now as much about code as crude.

The Transition Paradox

The conversation also confronts the larger tension. Global energy demand continues to rise. LNG remains critical for energy security. Fossil fuels are not disappearing overnight.

At the same time, capital is flowing into carbon capture, efficiency optimisation and lower-carbon systems. Technology is the bridge between present demand and future transition.

Bengaluru’s role reflects that shift: India is no longer just a talent supplier. It is embedded in the operating system of global infrastructure.

The bigger takeaway?

Energy geopolitics may play out in Washington, the Middle East or the South China Sea. But increasingly, the algorithms shaping production efficiency, safety and cost competitiveness are being written in India.

If you track business, energy markets or global capital flows, this episode makes one thing clear: the future of oil and gas will be engineered as much in tech hubs as in oilfields.

THE MEDIA ROOM

Netflix at 10: Scale, Substance and the Battle for Attention

At 16 million subscribers, Netflix isn’t the largest platform in India. But it may still be the most consequential.

A decade after launch, Netflix India has about 16 million subscribers, 50 million viewers and ₹4,000 crore in revenue. Globally, Netflix stands at 325 million subscribers and $45 billion in revenue.

In this episode of The Media Room, Vanita Kohli-Khandekar speaks with Monika Shergill about what those numbers don’t capture: influence.

At Next on Netflix, the 2026 slate signalled expansion — broader genres, a stronger South push, and a sharper mix of prestige and mass storytelling. But scale today isn’t just about programming more. It’s about programming smarter.

The audience is fragmented, globally exposed, and competing with short-form content for attention. Shergill’s thesis is clear: value for time and quality are non-negotiable. Whether it’s slow-burn dramas like Kohra or broader entertainers, content must justify the hours viewers invest.

Ten years in, Netflix’s India strategy is no longer about catching up on scale. It’s about building depth and breadth in a market where taste is diverse, attention is scarce, and storytelling standards are global.

THE CORE QUIZ

EYE ON RETAIL

533 Million Sq Ft Later: India’s Logistics Moment Is Here

India’s warehousing stock has crossed 533 million sq ft. The number sounds technical. It isn’t. It signals a structural shift.

In the latest episode of Eye On Retail by The Core Report — supported by Flipkart — financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Yogesh Shevade, Head of Logistics & Industrial at JLL, and Balbirsingh Khalsa, Executive Director – Industrial Capital Markets at Knight Frank, to decode what is really happening beneath the surface.

This isn’t just about warehouses. It’s about how goods move, how capital is deployed, and whether India can compete at scale.

GST Changed the Map

Before the Goods and Services Tax, companies built warehouses to optimise tax arbitrage. Post-GST, warehouse networks began optimising for efficiency. Consolidation followed. So did institutional capital.

Logistics is now investible real estate.

Global funds, private equity, and domestic capital are flowing into industrial parks, attracted by stable yields and structural demand. But returns depend on vacancy rates, land pricing discipline and IRR expectations — all tightening in a competitive market.

The Cost Problem

India’s logistics costs remain at 12–14% of GDP, versus 8–10% in developed economies. Nearly half of that cost comes from transportation alone.

The question is not whether warehousing is expanding. It is whether it is expanding efficiently.

Multimodal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), rail freight corridors and policy frameworks like PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan aim to shift freight from road to rail — a structural change that could lower costs materially. But infrastructure execution and inter-agency coordination will determine outcomes.

The Bigger Bet

India wants to move from a $4 trillion economy toward a $30 trillion aspiration. That journey runs through supply chains.

Manufacturing scale, export competitiveness, industrial corridors — none work without logistics efficiency. Warehousing growth is a leading indicator. But infrastructure quality, modal shift to rail, and disciplined capital allocation will decide whether this is a temporary boom or a durable transformation.

The central question remains:
Can India structurally lower logistics costs — or will scale outrun efficiency?

This episode connects the macro vision to on-ground execution — and makes clear that logistics is no longer support infrastructure. It is economic strategy.

INDIA FINANCE & INNOVATION FORUM 2O26

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Dear Reader,

I was 11 when I made a Facebook account.

I still remember the cramped cyber café where it happened, with its white walls and bright red plastic chairs. Soon, Facebook became the place where my friends and I spent hours each day during our vacations. We posted statuses about what were eating. We complained about our parents. We created photo albums documenting our lives, with little regard for privacy.

That was almost two decades ago.

Today’s teens inhabit a very different internet. The platforms popular among young people—Instagram and Snapchat—are much more stimulating. They're designed to hook users so they cannot look away.

Surveys show that in India, about half of urban parents say their children aged 9-17 spend three or more hours a day online. Many report their kids are “addicted” to these platforms.

Too much screen time has serious downsides: reduced attention spans, rising anxiety and depression, to name a few. 

Kiran Tevtiya, a Delhi-based child psychologist, told me that she now sees toddlers who don’t want to play with toys because they feel too passive compared to the stimulation of short-form videos.

So, should we ban social media for teens and children?

The answer isn’t straightforward.

Digital rights advocates warn that enforcing age limits could require linking accounts to government IDs, raising privacy concerns. Others argue bans could deepen India’s digital divide, where many girls still can’t access phones. 

And then there’s the question of community. For some teens, especially those who feel unsafe at home, social media can be a place of belonging.

But perhaps the most important voices in this debate aren’t policymakers or psychologists.

They’re teenagers.

I spoke to Ziana, a 16-year-old in Mumbai preparing for NEET. She told me she sometimes opens Instagram for “just ten minutes.” An hour disappears. She feels guilty. She wonders where the time went.

And yet, she also worries about losing touch with her friends if a ban comes into effect.

Another teen, Nikhil, told me that a blanket ban feels extreme. “People will find their way around it,” he said. What he wants instead is better awareness and better design.

And then there was seven-year-old Sonam, who proudly told me that she once finished her family’s entire data pack watching reels through the night. She laughed as she recounted the story. There was no policy in her voice. Just joy.

Listening to them, I realised something.

Even among India’s youth, there’s no consensus. Some want protection. Others want autonomy. 

Still, this debate will decide how millions of young people will grow up online. And, their voices deserve space too.

In the latest episode of The Signal Brief, we hear from psychologists, digital rights advocates and from teens themselves.

Should India ban social media?

You can find The Signal Brief on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Thank you once again for listening and supporting us. We’d love to hear from you; write to us at feedback@thecore.in or find us on Instagram or X at @thesignaldotco.

Best,
Kudrat
on behalf of The Core

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Designed for senior decision-makers, IFIF 2026 combines on-stage dialogue with curated networking, innovation labs, and collaborative working sessions. The focus is on understanding what is changing, what is working, and what comes next for India’s financial system.

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AI Hopes Soar, India Pushes Asset Monetisation, Trump Spins Growth Story

NVIDIA’s better-than-expected results announced Wednesday have served to assuage market concerns over an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble. This is illogical. If NVIDIA continues to receive strong orders for its chips, it only shows that people continue to put up data centres, not that these data centres and the AI they deliver will find revenue-generating applications that would collectively justify the gargantuan investments going into the sector, or the gravity-defying valuations being given to AI firms. That remains to be seen.

Concluding that NVIDIA’s bumper results rule out an AI bubble is like concluding, during the dotcom bubble at the turn of the century, that AOL’s acquisition of Time-Warner for a fancy sum of $165 billion ‘proved’ that there was no bubble, and that all internet company valuations were perfectly justified.

Bubbles have spherical boundaries that distort the vision of anyone trying to assess what the world looks like from within the bubble.

However, the NVIDIA results announcement did serve a useful purpose. The company’s boss, Jensen Huang, said that rumours of the death of software companies at the hands of AI firms that churn out ever-cleverer agents are highly exaggerated. Software companies will continue to perform useful functions, he said. 

This column had said much the same in its edition on February 6, while commenting on the sudden plunge in software company prices following Anthropic’s announcement of clever tools that many feared would make software companies redundant.

The Great Asset Bet

The government has announced a second instalment of the asset monetisation programme that targeted Rs 6 trillion and realised 90% of the target, according to an official release. The National Asset Monetisation Pipeline 2 (NMP2) has a bigger ambition. 

According to the Press Information Bureau release on the launch of the programme, NMP2 is to materialise a whopping Rs 16.72 trillion over the next five years. However, according to the Niti Aayog report, on which the monetisation scheme is based, the target for the next five years is a little over Rs 10 trillion, and the rest would be realised over several years beyond 2030.

This push could materialise in multiple gains and be a useful tool for augmenting investment in the Indian economy. However, the success of the asset monetisation project will depend on how transparently it is conducted. 

America’s Growth Despite Tariffs 

A significant insight from American president Donald Trump’s long peroration at his State of the Union address to Congress is that even in the world’s oldest democracy, institutions barely hold up to keep autocracy at bay. 

The entire world was keen to find out what Trump would tell the American people about his plans for Iran. Would he drag his country into yet another prolonged war in the Middle East, or would he be content to extract a replacement for the nuclear deal he had scrapped in his first term? Trump kept his Iran cards close to his chest.

Trump was economical with the truth on other matters as well. Every single one of the claims made in the speech has been fact-checked by American media and found wanting.

While the US economy continues to show robust growth, it isn’t because of tariffs.

Young Indian Aspirations Give Wings To Warehousing Companies

By Katya Naidu

What?

India’s logistics business is thriving as quick deliveries and overnight orders have found great success among Indians.

Warehouses are the focal points that make it possible for e-commerce companies to deliver their orders with speed and efficiency.

The warehousing and logistics sector, not surprisingly, is seeing strong growth from 3PL players, manufacturing, as well as consumer goods and services, with ecommerce driving a large chunk of incremental growth.

As per a report by JLL, overall demand for warehousing space is estimated to reach 1,200 million square feet (including light manufacturing) by 2027, growing at a rate of 7.75%.

Why?

Apart from favourable policies and the advent of GST, the shifting of sales channels due to e-commerce is driving a new era of growth for the sector.

Goods travel through multiple warehouses by the time it reaches the home — from a hub to a warehouse in the state, to a city, to urban logistics and a smaller hub in the area.

“When you order a Rs 300 product, it travels via four to five warehouses. So, the overall demand of the warehouse is increasing day by day. E-commerce demand is so high in urban logistics that the sky is the limit – especially with the way people’s behaviour is changing with the young generation, and the way they are ordering,” says Balbir Singh Khalsa, executive director of industrial capital markets and national director at Knight Frank.

Not all this growth is coming from the urban areas either. The Indian warehousing sector is also transcending from tier-1 cities to tier-2 cities. Also, tier-2 cities are accounting for a higher share of consumer demand.

Brought to you in partnership with Flipkart. Watch the full podcast here.

116.7 million

That’s how many active credit cards India had in January 2026, as the Indian credit card market revealed a striking paradox. Average spending per card fell 3.5% to Rs 17,060. Total industry spending moderated to Rs 1,990 billion, a 2.7% sequential decline. This cooling was primarily driven by the “Big Four” banks, which accounted for over 87% of the spending drop.

Overview: Despite the addition of 0.87 million new cards, stagnant transaction volumes suggest “spend redistribution” rather than new customer acquisition. Users are increasingly splitting existing budgets across multiple cards, causing a sharp 13% YoY fall in average transaction value.

Setting: HDFC Bank emerged as an outlier, gaining 43 bps in market share (28.4%) despite the broader slowdown. Conversely, SBI and ICICI Bank witnessed significant contractions.

Brave Face On AI

The artificial intelligence threat is “overblown,” Babak Hodjat, chief technology officer at Cognizant, told Reuters. Cognizant dismissed fears that automation will wipe out entry-level jobs. Chief Executive Ravi Kumar S said during the company’s earnings call that Cognizant hired 25,000 fresh graduates in 2025 and expects to exceed that number in 2026.

Setup: Indian IT stocks have shed nearly $70 billion in market capitalisation this month, marking their steepest drop in 23 years as investors worry that generative AI tools could disrupt traditional outsourcing models.

Implications: Even as markets grow anxious, industry leaders sound optimistic. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Chief Executive K Krithivasan previously said he has urged staff to deploy AI tools without worrying about cannibalising revenue. “We are not afraid this technology will take away our livelihood. We believe it is going to open up more,” he said.

India Slows Russian Oil

Indian refiners are continuing to keep new Russian crude bookings to as low as they can following a US Supreme Court ruling that vacated President Trump’s emergency tariff powers, Bloomberg reported. This judicial shift has complicated a tentative trade deal where the US promised to slash levies on Indian goods to 18% in exchange for India ending Russian oil imports.

Flashpoint: Imports are projected to plummet to roughly 800,000 barrels per day in March. While Urals discounts have widened to $20 below Dated Brent, millions of barrels remain stranded at sea as Indian firms pivot toward Middle Eastern tenders.

Setup: This shift exposes India to heightened geopolitical risks. As US-Iran tensions escalate, reliance on Middle Eastern supply could jeopardise energy security for the world’s third-largest oil importer.

DGCA Eases Ticket Modification

India’s aviation regulator, the DGCA, has introduced passenger-friendly ticket refund norms, allowing travellers to cancel or modify bookings without extra charges within 48 hours of purchase, subject to conditions, The Economic Times reported.

Flashpoint: The revised Civil Aviation Requirements issued on February 24 also mandate that airlines waive fees for correcting name errors within 24 hours when tickets are booked directly via airline websites. Airlines must complete refunds within 14 working days, even when bookings are made through travel agents, with responsibility resting on carriers.

What's Next? In cases of medical emergencies involving hospitalisation of the passenger or a family member on the same PNR, airlines may offer refunds or credit shells. The changes follow rising refund complaints, including during the December 2025 IndiGo flight disruptions.

Apple Pay in India?

Apple is currently talking to Indian banks–ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd.-- about launching Apple Pay in India. The company is looking to launch the service in mid-2026, according to sources Bloomberg spoke to. 

Backdrop: If Apple proceeds, iPhone and Apple Watch users will be able to add their debit and credit cards to Apple Wallet and tap to pay at stores. Apple is also exploring support for India’s Unified Payments Interface, the country’s dominant real-time payments network. 

Flashpoint: A launch would place Apple in direct competition with PhonePe, Paytm and Google Pay, which currently dominate India’s digital payments market. The move signals Apple’s push to deepen its financial services footprint in one of its fastest-growing markets.

Become An AI Expert In Just 5 Minutes

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Fresh Twist To India-US Tariff Deal

On Episode 809 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Kunal Khattar, Founder at AdvantEdge. We also feature an excerpt from Episode 3 of our series “Eye On Retail”.

• Fresh twist to India-US tariff deal as US Commerce Secretary Lutnick drops by

• Why you have to brace for a warmer March and what that could mean.

• The Government jumps into ride-hailing business. What does this mean for consumers and drivers?

• Thousands of companies have filed lawsuits against the US Govt seeking tariff refunds that could touch $130 billion

• How both US and China are ganging up against India’s subsidies for manufacturing

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Wheelsets: The Risk That Could Derail India’s Rail Boom

By Dev Chandrasekhar

What?

India's railways are a happening sector. The Union Budget 2026-27 has sanctioned seven new high-speed rail corridors at an estimated cost of Rs 16 lakh crore to serve as "growth connectors”. About Rs 28,740 crore has been earmarked for ongoing metro rail and mass rapid transit systems nationwide for FY27, with long-term ambitions to scale to 50. 

All these ambitions are hinged upon the wheelset, a small, unglamorous, but critically important component for railways. Two wheels press-fitted onto a single axle, the wheelset must bear dynamic loads, transmit braking forces, and resist fatigue cracking for hundreds of thousands of kilometres without failure. The engineering demands are severe. The safety margin is zero.

India, it turns out, can barely make one.

Why?

India’s wagon builders have a theoretical capacity of 60,000 units per year. They are producing 35,000–40,000. The constraint is not assembly capacity. The gap is not orders. It is wheels.

A distinction matters here. Indian freight wagons have historically used cast wheels — poured molten steel, economical but limited in performance. SAIL’s Durgapur Steel Plant has an annual capacity of roughly 40,000 cast wheels, but cast wheels address a different performance envelope from the forged product now in demand. SAIL cannot serve the segment that is growing fastest.

Vande Bharat trainsets, LHB coaches, metro cars, and European freight all require forged wheels: pressed and rolled under intense heat for superior fatigue resistance and higher axle-load tolerance. These are different products, of different metallurgy, moved by different supply chains. 

Why It Matters 

The shortage has two further dimensions. First, an aggregate deficit of domestically manufactured forged wheels forces reliance on China and Eastern Europe. Second, a type-wise mismatch: 840mm diameter wheels suit older wagon designs; 1,000mm wheels are required for newer high-axle-load configurations. When Indian Railways (IR) shifts specifications on policy timelines that don’t align with supplier investment timelines, even available inventory can become useless.

The import valve is unreliable. Ukraine was a significant supplier until February 2022. The war ended that supply chain overnight. China filled the gap, but that too is a risk now. A Chinese export restriction on railway wheels, entirely plausible in any sustained trade or military confrontation, would be an operational crisis for a network that cannot run without them.

The strategic logic of domestic wheelset capacity is identical to that for semiconductors. Yet, perhaps because it generates fewer headlines, the Aatmanirbhar Bharat framework has been slow to notice the gap in its own backyard. The performance linked incentives scheme for speciality steel overlooked forged wheel manufacturing entirely.  

The freight wagon shortage is the proximate crisis. The metro expansion is the structural one, building behind it.

$68.6 billion

That’s how much India’s Nifty IT firms lost in market capitalisation in February, marking their worst monthly drop in 23 years. The Nifty IT index has fallen about 21% this month, sharply underperforming the broader Nifty 50, which has stayed roughly flat, and lagging several Asian peers that have posted gains of 2 to 5% in the same period.

The Lead: Analysts say fears over how artificial intelligence technologies might reshape India’s IT services model are driving this selloff. Investors worry that AI tools could automate coding, maintenance, and back-office tasks that traditionally generate billable hours for Indian firms. In fact, companies are already seeing foreign clients delay or scale down projects as they reassess spending amid rapid AI adoption.

This sectoral slump has dragged down the broader market because IT stocks carry significant weight in benchmark indices. Heavy selling by foreign portfolio investors has amplified the pressure, deepening India’s underperformance relative to regional markets.

Flashpoint: Though markets have reacted swiftly, experts say it remains unclear whether the AI revolution will ultimately hurt the industry.

The Core spoke to Noshir Kaka, Senior Partner at McKinsey, on the sidelines of NASSCOM’s annual Technology and Leadership Forum in Mumbai, where industry leaders gathered to discuss AI, global demand trends, and the future of Indian tech services. Kaka argued that AI will likely benefit the sector. He said companies that embrace AI can boost productivity, deliver projects faster, and create new service lines around AI integration, data modernisation, and AI governance. Rather than shrinking the industry, he said, AI could expand the addressable market for Indian IT firms that adapt quickly.

For now, markets are pricing in disruption. But industry leaders believe transformation, not decline, will define the next phase.

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

India Solar Hit

The United States has imposed preliminary countervailing duties of about 126% on solar cells and modules imported from India after concluding that Indian manufacturers benefited from government subsidies that distorted competition. US investigators said policy support, including production incentives and other financial benefits, allowed Indian exporters to sell panels at artificially low prices in the American market.

The Scoop: The duties apply to roughly $4.5 billion worth of imports, and will making Indian modules “at least 30%” more expensive than US made ones, according to Sehul Bhatt, Director at Crisil Intelligence. “The announcement comes at a time when Indian players have planned healthy capacity expansion over the next three years,” Bhatt writes.

Impact: Shares of major Indian solar companies fell as investors weighed the potential hit to export revenues, order pipelines, and future capacity expansion plans.

TCS AI Pivot

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is urging employees to use artificial intelligence tools even if it reduces short term revenue, Chief Executive K Krithivasan said at the Nasscom Technology Leadership Forum 2026 in Mumbai, signalling a strategic shift at India’s largest IT exporter.

The Shift: Krithivasan said TCS wants staff to tell clients when AI can deliver work faster, better or cheaper, even if that cannibalises billable hours. “If there is a better way of doing work using AI, we should not hesitate,” he said. “We are not afraid this technology will take away our livelihood. We believe it is going to open up more.”

Future: The remarks come as investors worry that generative AI could disrupt India’s labour-intensive outsourcing model and pressure margins.

India’s Carbon Start

India has launched its first compliance carbon trading programme, marking a major step in its climate policy framework. The government has notified nearly 500 industrial units across energy intensive sectors and assigned them emissions intensity targets. Companies that beat their targets will earn carbon credit certificates that they can trade, while those that fall short must buy credits.

Flashpoint: However, the first phase excludes the power sector and several major polluters, limiting the scheme’s overall coverage. Critics say this weakens the programme’s impact because electricity generation accounts for a large share of India’s emissions.

Backdrop: Officials say they will expand coverage in phases. They argue that a gradual rollout will help industry adapt while building a functioning domestic carbon market aligned with global climate standards.

Car Efficiency Norms Coming Soon

Union Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy confirmed on Wednesday that the Power Ministry has submitted India’s new environmental norms for vehicles —
CAFE-III (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) norms — proposal to the Prime Minister’s Office. Expected to commence in April 2027, these norms mandate fleet-wide reductions in CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

Context: The submission follows a contentious feedback period involving the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and key auto stakeholders as the industry remains sharply divided over a proposed weight-based concession for small cars.

Maruti Suzuki advocates for leniency, arguing that CAFE standards should primarily target larger, high-emission vehicles. Conversely, Tata Motors and Mahindra oppose any relaxation, warning that prioritising lighter weight over efficiency could compromise safety standards and stall India’s transition toward sustainable, green mobility.

Setting: As the PMO reviews the final contours, the regulation aims to tighten India's fuel efficiency targets from the current CAFE-II levels of 113 g/km of CO2.

The Lithium Boom is Heating Up

Thanks to growing demand, lithium stock prices grew 2X+ from June 2025 to January 2026. $ALB climbed as high as 227%. $LAC hit 151%. $SQM, 159%.

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This $1B unicorn’s patented technology can recover 3X more lithium than traditional methods. That’s earned investment from leaders like General Motors.

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Stocks Are Back In Unsure Territory

On Episode 808 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Ranjeet Mahtani, Partner at Dhruva Advisors as well as Dr Tapan Sahoo, Executive Officer – Digital Enterprise at Maruti Suzuki.

• Stocks are back in unsure territory

• Indian IT companies are going all out to protect client relationships and stay relevant

• Exporters have one more duty to worry about and this time it as at home

• How Maruti leans on India’s innovation ecosystem to drive technology changes

India’s Container Manufacturing Plan Shows Intent But May Face Execution Risks

By Zinal Dedhia

What?

When Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 10,000 crore outlay in the Union Budget for container manufacturing in the country, the message was clear — India wants a seat at a table long dominated by China.

The policy, which is a part of the government’s logistics and maritime infrastructure push, aims to build domestic capacity for manufacturing intermodal containers and reduce dependence on imports, particularly from China, which currently dominates global supply.

According to the Budget proposal, there will be financial support for container manufacturers through viability gap funding and capital subsidies. Other measures include plans to facilitate access to specialised steel, develop testing and certification infrastructure, and improve logistics integration to support domestic production.

Yet the government’s attempt to seed a domestic ecosystem raises a fundamental question: can a subsidy-driven start overcome deep structural disadvantages in cost, scale and industrial capability?

Dharma Ranjan, global logistics and supply chain management expert, believes that incentivising the sector excessively can create long-term dependence. If companies begin relying primarily on subsidies, the focus may shift away from building a sustainable industry and generating employment.

“The objective should be to let the industry operate on its own strengths, enabling firms to become self-reliant and scale manufacturing independently. Ultimately, the sector must be atmanirbhar rather than dependent on continued government support.” Ranjan told The Core.

Why?

A spokesperson at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the budget allocation was intended to create a full-fledged ecosystem rather than merely subsidising factories.

If scale defines the strategic challenge, steel defines the economic one. The spokesperson identified corten steel — an all-weather, corrosion-resistant material — as the single largest cost component, accounting for roughly 60–65% of total container manufacturing expenses.

China’s advantage lies in its massive steel ecosystem. With annual crude steel production exceeding 1 billion tonnes, Chinese mills benefit from scale, integrated supply chains and long-term contracts with container manufacturers, allowing significantly lower input costs.

In India, by contrast, container manufacturers often rely on small-volume orders and fragmented procurement. This leads to price volatility and higher conversion costs. Industry participants indicate that corten steel prices in India can be 10–15% higher than comparable Chinese material, translating into a $300–$400 cost disadvantage per container even before fabrication and logistics expenses are added.

“We are focusing on how we can bridge the gap and make it competitive in India,” the spokesperson said, noting that stakeholder consultations have repeatedly flagged steel pricing and availability as the sector’s primary obstacle.

Could Blockchain Push Markets Beyond T+1 and Simplify Settlements?

By Vishwas Ved

What?

Those who invest in stocks would know that when you buy a share on your broker’s mobile app or web platform, it shows up on your dashboard at once. But the real transfer of shares does not happen instantly.

Brokers, clearing firms, and banks do a lot of work in the background. Each party keeps its own record of the transaction. Later, those records are matched, and that’s when the credit and debit of shares happen. That is how India’s T+1, or trade-plus-one, settlement cycle works.

To deal with these problems of slow trade settlements, high fees, multiple intermediaries, and scattered records, financial veterans are now arguing in favour of blockchain. 

Recently, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink also said that updating the financial system to run on blockchain technology is “necessary,” because it not only reduces costs but also boosts accessibility for investors.

How? 

Blockchain changes how we keep our records. Instead of many separate systems, there is one common ledger, where the transaction history is visible to everyone.

Currently, an equity transaction appears complete the moment it executes on the exchange, but the legal transfer of ownership happens a day or two later. This delay exists because each institution maintains its own system. 

A system built on blockchain removes that separation. Therefore, the trade itself would update the ownership in the same action that confirms payment or funds transfer. In short, everything would happen almost instantaneously.

But will this system be tech-outage-proof?

This series is brought to you in partnership with Algorand India.

Rs 2.7 lakh crore

That is the annual revenue of Reliance Retail, which leads the inaugural ‘JM Financial Hurun India Unlisted Gems 2026’ list. The list spotlights 100 high-potential unlisted companies with at least Rs 1,000 crore in revenue and consistent multi-year growth in revenue and EBITDA.

Top five companies on the list (by revenue):

• Reliance Retail → Revenue: Rs 2.7 lakh crore

• Flipkart → Revenue: Rs 83,105 crore

• Malabar Gold and Diamonds → Revenue: Rs 66,872 crore

• Tata Electronics → Revenue: Rs 66,601 crore

• Tata Digital → Revenue: Rs 32,188 crore

Vishal Kampani, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, JM Financial, said the list underscores the strength of an “often under-represented engine of India’s growth story,” adding that these enterprises exemplify “scale, resilience, and value creation” across sectors.

Anas Rahman Junaid, Founder and Chief Researcher, Hurun India, said the 100 companies represent “a formidable engine operating at institutional scale, largely away from the glare of public markets,” highlighting their combined Rs 8.9 lakh crore revenue in 2025 and accelerating profitability.

Together, the list captures a parallel corporate economy that already operates at IPO-ready scale while remaining firmly in private hands.

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

Tech Hiring Reset

The Indian tech sector is projected to reach $315 billion in FY26 revenue, growing 6.1% despite a cautious 2.3% rise in headcount. According to the Nasscom Annual Strategic Review 2026, the workforce expanded to 59.5 lakh, while a record 2 million professionals were upskilled in AI. This "Human + AI" pivot reflects a decisive shift toward productivity and measurable ROI.

Setup: AI revenue surged to $10–12 billion, signalling a transition from pilot projects to scaled enterprise deployments. Nasscom leadership noted that GCCs and E&RD segments are moving up the value chain, while BPM firms are reinventing themselves through data-driven decision-making rather than simple automation.

Context: Nasscom Chairperson Sindhu Gangadharan emphasised that AI is expanding the "opportunity frontier," redesigning roles around outcomes and higher fluency to maintain India's global competitive advantage.

Real Growth Reboot

India will overhaul how it calculates real GDP growth by using a more detailed set of price data, beginning with a revised national accounts series due this week, said Saurabh Garg, secretary at the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). 

Setup: MoSPI will use about 500 to 600 price items drawn from the revamped Consumer Price Index and the old Wholesale Price Index to deflate output, up from roughly 180 earlier, to produce more accurate inflation adjusted growth figures. 

Outcome: The change aims to address economists’ concerns that outdated methods have overstated real growth by relying too heavily on the wholesale index. India will adopt a 2022/23 base year and release back series data for the past four years.

Sky Safety Check

Air India has reported a sharp rise in technical incidents, such as engine oil and fuel leaks, in January, reaching the highest rate in at least 14 months, according to a company document reviewed by Reuters. 

By the Numbers: The airline recorded 23 technical incidents across more than 17,500 flights, or about 1.09 incidents per 1,000 flights. That figure stands at roughly four times the December 2024 rate. Investigators are examining at least 21 of those cases. Air India said it has expanded spare parts inventories and stepped up inspections to strengthen maintenance oversight.

The Shift: Government data presented to parliament earlier this month shows that about 82.5% of Air India aircraft analysed since January 2025 had recurring defects, compared with 36.5% at IndiGo. The increase comes as Air India pushes through a broader operational overhaul following a deadly 2025 crash that killed 260 people, heightening scrutiny as it works to restore reliability and rebuild passenger confidence.

APAC’s Local Brand Surge

Local brands across Asia-Pacific now command a dominant 79% of the FMCG value share, a rise from 74% a decade ago. According to the ‘Made Local, Played Global’ report by Worldpanel by Numerator, these companies have evolved from traditional manufacturers into agile, data-driven organisations.

Overview: This structural shift is powered by five "brand power levers," including organisational agility and predictive analytics. K Ramakrishnan, Managing Director-South Asia, notes that these brands act with greater speed and precision to anticipate demand. They have successfully cultivated deep emotional trust with regional consumers.

Future: Looking ahead, Asian brands are positioned for global expansion by blending modern tech capabilities with cultural relevance. Their success hinges on maintaining local trust while scaling internationally through localised strategies.

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Markets Take A Fresh AI Hit

On Episode 807 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Noshir Kaka, Senior Partner at Mckinsey as well as Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner & National Leader, Clients and Markets at KPMG in India on the sidelines of the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum 2026.

• Markets take a fresh AI hit

• The IT services industry could grow to $315 billion this year, up 6% says Nasscom.

• The addressable market for Indian IT services companies is actually larger with AI and close to $17 trillion. Can they capture it?

• Where India’s next big IPOs could come from?

• The 7,000 word what if report that rattled IT stocks world over

From Code Crunch To AI Rush: IT's Make-or-Break Moment

By Govindraj Ethiraj

Right now, two distinct conversations are happening around artificial intelligence in India.

The most pressing: What will be AI’s impact on the country's $283 billion IT services industry? Because this sector is the undisputed engine of middle-class job creation, it is a massive hot-button issue. The second conversation is more functional: How can enterprises and governments harness AI to actually become more productive and efficient?

Over 1,000 attendees have gathered at the Nasscom Technology Leadership Forum 2026 in Mumbai this week to debate exactly this. The headcount is the same as previous years, but the atmosphere is decidedly more tense.

Indian IT companies — the backbone of the nation’s tech ecosystem — are under a harsh spotlight. It has already been a gruelling week, coming on the heels of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi, an event one attendee accurately summed up as the "Kumbh Mela of IT conferences."

The information technology industry is undoubtedly going through a “painful transition” due to AI, but writing its obituary is wrong, C Vijayakumar, CEO and Managing Director of HCLTech, said during an opening session on Tuesday morning.

His acknowledgement of this painful transition is welcome. "CVK," as he is widely known, deserves credit for his candour — mirroring the warnings he gave last year about impending tectonic shifts in the sector.

“I think the industry is going to reinvent itself," he noted. "This time, the inflexion is really making a lot of what we do, or people do, capable of being done a lot more efficiently and with significant speed. I think this transition is different from other transitions. It will be painful as it involves people, but there is a promising road ahead.”

The Silver Lining In The Data

The good news is that despite all the upheavals, the industry is still projecting growth. Nasscom estimates industry revenue will hit $315 billion in FY26—a 6.1% increase—led by broad-based expansion across key segments.

Crucially, AI revenue —the metric every investor is aggressively tracking — is estimated to land upwards of $10 billion to $12 billion in FY26, reflecting a clear shift from pilot projects to scaled, ROI-driven deployments.

Furthermore, while AI-led transformation has accelerated, the industry has managed to remain a net hirer. Headcount increased by 2.3%, and some 2 million professionals were upskilled in AI, including 200,000 to 300,000 in advanced AI capabilities.

When we think of Indian IT, we traditionally think of the legacy services giants like TCS or Infosys. But the real growth engines right now are Global Capability Centres (GCCs) — the captive tech units for large multinationals — which have significant headroom ahead. Niche segments are also achieving critical mass; Nasscom notes that cybersecurity, data analytics, cloud, and "GCC-as-a-service" are becoming increasingly embedded across multiple sectors.

Geographically, APAC and the Middle East are leading the growth, while the domestic market continues to hold strong. Meanwhile, GCCs have driven major gains in emerging sectors such as healthcare, travel, and transportation.

Beyond The Bottom Line

While there is undeniably a "doom and gloom" narrative hanging over legacy coding jobs globally, there is also a fair bit of genuine optimism regarding what AI will deliver to everyday enterprises.

Akhilesh Tuteja, Head of Clients & Industries at KPMG India, told me on the first day of the forum that AI has essentially disconnected productivity from profitability.

“In the past, you say if there's a productivity gain, it should translate into a profitability gain," Tuteja said. "Now, productivity is driving experience. So I feel better doing my job. Even though that may not translate to the bottom line of the company tomorrow morning, it makes me stick to my job, doing better things.”

For Tuteja, large language models are one instance of how AI has much promise for India. Historically, the vast majority of digital content on the internet has been in English—a language that does not represent the reality of the broader Indian population. Because of this barrier, millions of people have remained effectively disconnected from the digital world; even if they had smartphone access, they had nothing localised to consume.

With AI, seamless, real-time translation is finally a reality.

“I'm sure when we are having this recording, you just need to press a button, and my voice will come out in any language," he told me as the cameras rolled. "So you certainly have amplified that consumption range from 1 to 10, because 90% of the people never had the access.”

The Bottom Line: If AI's first act in India was inciting fear in the boardrooms of legacy IT firms, its second act might just be giving a voice—and an internet—to the next billion users.

And that is a transition well worth the growing pains.

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

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Inside India’s Largest Informal Vehicle Scrap Hub That Policy Couldn’t Displace

By Shubhangi Bhatia

What?

Tucked inside West Delhi’s Mayapuri Industrial Area is a market that refuses to die. For nearly 50 years, this sprawling scrap hub has been the final stop for India’s end-of-life vehicles—long before the government tried to formalise the process.

The Core visited this scrap market. Today, even with a national vehicle scrapping policy in place and about 129 authorised facilities operational, Mayapuri continues to be busier than ever.

Mangled accident vehicles arrive daily from regions across north India, stripped and sorted in hours, their parts flowing into a thriving second-hand ecosystem. “Accidental cars that come here are sold somewhere between Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh, depending on their life cycle, model, and condition. It takes less than an hour to dismantle it,” an insider told The Core.

Why?

The persistence of Mayapuri exposes a fundamental gap between policy ambition and economic reality. India’s scrappage framework promises incentives but these benefits rarely match the resale value that informal traders extract from usable parts.

Authorised facilities are required to shred vehicles entirely, eliminating the lucrative spare-parts market that sustains hubs like Mayapuri. Add to this limited infrastructure, procedural complexity, and delayed payments, and the formal ecosystem struggles to compete.

Typically, the resale value of an ageing medium or heavy commercial vehicle is in “multiples of realisable raw material scrap value, which weakens the financial incentive for voluntary scrappage and encourages continued circulation of older vehicles,” Hemal Thakkar, director at Crisil Intelligence, told The Core.

Why It Matters?

This gap has consequences far beyond one scrapyard. India has millions of ageing, polluting vehicles that need to be phased out to meet emissions and climate goals. But as long as informal markets remain more attractive, the shift toward cleaner, safer mobility could slow.

Ashim Sharma, senior partner at Nomura Research Institute, said that the informal sector has an incredibly resilient and wide-reaching sourcing network that the formal sector currently lacks.

“While it is easier said than done, we should consider cooperation instead of policing. Instead of displacement, we should focus on professionalising the network through safety certifications, insurance and financial incentives for the people working there. This would turn a hazardous grey market into a legitimate, high-efficiency feedstock sourcing engine for the circular economy,” he told The Core.

The question now is no longer whether India can formalise scrappage, but whether it can do so without dismantling the very ecosystem that makes recycling economically viable. Because inside Mayapuri’s crowded lanes lies a bigger story — not just about scrap, but about how policy collides with livelihood, economics, and the realities of India’s informal economy.

Rs 20,000 crore

That’s how much Bharti Airtel plans to invest over the next few years to expand digital lending through its NBFC arm, Airtel Money Ltd., after receiving a licence from the Reserve Bank of India on February 13. Airtel will contribute 70% of the capital, while promoter Bharti Enterprises will provide the rest.

Overview: The telecom operator said its lending service platform has already disbursed over Rs 9,000 crore in the past two years, supported by its digital infrastructure, data capabilities and underwriting systems that have helped keep delinquencies under control.

Setting: Airtel said the NBFC will integrate with its lending platform to deepen financial services and tap India’s underpenetrated credit market, where the credit-to-GDP ratio stands at 53%, leaving room for growth.

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

Fraud Cloud Over IDFC

Shares of IDFC First Bank plummeted as much as 20% on Monday after the lender disclosed a suspected fraud of Rs 590 crore involving government-linked accounts at a Chandigarh branch. The discrepancy was discovered when entities from the state of Haryana attempted to close accounts and found that actual balances did not match internal records.

Setup: While the bank has suspended four employees and appointed KPMG for a forensic audit, the incident has already triggered a sharp market reaction, with analysts from UBS and Morgan Stanley estimating a potential hit of up to 22% on the bank's fiscal 2026 profit.

Flashpoint: Despite these concerns, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said it is watching the developments, but there is “no systemic issue with the bank.”

Airfare Caps Urged

The IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) has urged the Centre to retain domestic airfare caps, saying they are crucial for tourism growth and regional connectivity. In a representation to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Tourism, the association said aggressive dynamic pricing has made fares volatile and often unaffordable, disrupting leisure, family and business travel, BusinessLine reported.

Flashpoint: Affordable and predictable pricing, it noted, is essential to unlock India’s domestic tourism potential and connect Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in line with the UDAN vision. IAAI said the temporary Rs 7,500–Rs 18,000 cap helped curb surge pricing and stabilise the market.

What's Next? With over 5.3 lakh passengers travelling daily across 164 airports and traffic projected to touch 40 crore by 2029, the association stressed that transparent fares are key to inclusive aviation growth.

The Great Indian Succession

India is entering a pivotal generational shift as family-owned businesses confront succession realities. Around 70% of India’s 334 billionaires are expected to transfer nearly $1.5 trillion in wealth, equivalent to over one-third of GDP, yet succession readiness remains uneven. Nearly 36% of family businesses lack clear transition plans, while many founders remain reluctant to step aside and heirs increasingly pursue independent careers, according to Kotak Insights.

The Lead: This transition coincides with abundant global capital, with private equity firms holding over $2 trillion in dry powder and Indian family offices expanding rapidly to manage diversified investments. The convergence is reshaping ownership, governance and dealmaking, particularly among mid-sized promoter-led firms.

Future: Even as many family businesses continue to grow strongly and expand internationally, leadership transitions could trigger professionalisation, stake sales or consolidation — turning what once felt like private family deliberations into a broader economic inflection point.

India Tightens Drug Oversight

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSO) inspected nearly 90% of India’s cough syrup manufacturers and found widespread compliance lapses, Drugs Controller General Rajeev Raghuvanshi said at the 11th Global Pharmaceutical Quality Summit in Mumbai.

How We Got Here: The crackdown followed the discovery of toxic diethylene glycol in Coldrif, a cough syrup made by Sresan Pharmaceutical. Authorities linked the contamination to 24 child deaths in India last year and more than 140 deaths across Africa and Central Asia since 2022, triggering global scrutiny of India’s pharmaceutical exports.

The Turning Point: Raghuvanshi said regulators have already inspected over 1,250 additional drug manufacturing units to assess risk. The agency will now create 1,500 new posts, deploy artificial intelligence in regulatory reviews and streamline export clearances as it moves to align standards more closely with the US Food and Drug Administration and rebuild trust in India’s drug industry.

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Trade Chaos Sweeps The World But India Is Shielded For Now

On Episode 806 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Jairaj Purandare, Founder Chairman of JMP Advisors.

• Trade chaos sweeps the world but India is shielded for now

• More MNCs capitalise on India valuation premiums with listings, mostly with secondary sales leading to capital repatriation

• Did tax and other savings from last year go into speculation?

• A new French-India tax treaty could lead to some disappointments among large investors

India Must Strive For Reform Not Better Trade Bargains

By Govindraj Ethiraj

The US Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down President Donald Trump’s tariffs as illegal—rejecting the administration’s expansive reading of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act—has granted New Delhi an unexpected, albeit temporary, reprieve.

Although Trump quickly bypassed the ruling by invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to reinstate a 10% global tariff, which he subsequently hiked to 15%, the playing field has fundamentally shifted.

Whether the US tariff settles at 10% or 15%, India now finds itself on equal footing with the rest of the exporting world. In many ways, the global trade environment has reverted to the status quo ante of early 2025.

What happens next is, as always, unclear and thus makes speculation about Trump's next move a futile exercise.

Yet, this judicial intervention provides a crucial window of opportunity. Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), told me over the weekend.

According to him, India is under no obligation to honor the tentative framework of the previously negotiated—and largely one-sided—US trade deal.

Crucially, nothing has been signed till date.

Protectionism Holds Back

Tellingly, an Indian trade delegation bound for Washington to formalise an interim agreement literally turned back on its way to the airport on Sunday.

According to Reuters, the decision to defer the visit was mutual, driven by the tariff uncertainty following Friday’s judgment.

Navigating this diplomatic and economic maze will require considerable tact.

India must avoid needlessly antagonizing the US president while seizing the chance to reset a deal that would have forced zero-percent import duties on American goods—a concession fraught with severe political and economic domestic blowback down the line.

However, the spotlight on Washington’s volatility obscures a more uncomfortable truth at home: India’s own protectionist reflexes are the primary anchor weighing down its export potential.

India’s Trade Missteps

As Singapore-based economist Priyanka Kishore highlighted in Nikkei Asia last week, India’s historical tryst with free-trade agreements (FTAs) has been deeply troubled.

By 2011, New Delhi had inked 15 FTAs, predominantly within Asia, which deepened regional trade integration. However, these pacts also triggered a surge in imports and widened trade deficits, particularly with Southeast Asia.

The resulting public backlash soured the domestic appetite for trade liberalisation.

Consequently, India opted out of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2018 and abruptly abandoned the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) talks in 2019.

Why did these early FTAs fail to lift exports commensurately with imports?

Kishore argues that the agreements were inherently shallow, driven more by foreign policy optics than hard-nosed trade economics.

They focused narrowly on goods and tariffs while excluding substantial portions of bilateral trade from elimination—often hiding behind long phase-out periods to shield sensitive domestic sectors.

Partner nations like Japan, South Korea, and the ASEAN bloc capitalised on the access, but Indian exporters were largely left behind.

Not surprisingly perhaps, India’s share in global manufacturing exports has stubbornly stagnated at around 2%.

While empirical research demonstrates that liberalising input trade generally boosts domestic production and export competitiveness, this dividend has evidently eluded India.

The Culprit

One culprit is punitive duties on intermediate imports from non-FTA partners and a fundamentally weak domestic manufacturing base.

Despite commendable infrastructure upgrades over the past decade and the 2020 rollout of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, India’s competitiveness gap with its Asian rivals remains glaring.

Consider the textile sector. Here, high operational expenses and poor labor productivity easily erase the advantage of cheap labor.

Coupled with elevated logistics costs, these inefficiencies have steadily eroded India's global export share, even though the country's annual wages are 74% lower than China’s and 58% lower than Vietnam’s.

Kishore concludes that India's manufacturing push has been fragmented, lacking urgency, and overly protective of domestic firms from foreign competition.

This defensive posture must change if India is to reap the benefits of its growing FTA portfolio.

The impending free-trade agreements with the European Union and the United Kingdom offer a lifeline to lower barriers and sharpen industrial competitiveness.

Self Imposed Burden

To return to the India-US deal, a blunt reality emerges: regardless of the tariff rate India secures for its exports, it must drastically slash its own import duties across the board.

Indian industry has long been shielded by an inverted tariff structure that actively harms its own producers.

As Swaminathan A Aiyar noted in The Times of India on Sunday, cotton is no longer the undisputed king of textiles.

Global industries in China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh have pivoted aggressively to man-made fibers like polyester and viscose, which now command nearly 70% of global fiber consumption.

Yet, India is structurally cotton-heavy because its tariff structure in inputs and outputs of textiles has long been inverted. Duties on polyester’s raw materials such as PTA and MEG have typically been much higher than on polyester itself, Aiyar says.

Consequently, Indian spinners and weavers face artificially inflated input costs compared to their global peers.

In an industry defined by razor-thin margins, a mere 3% to 5% cost disadvantage is fatal.

Even if FTAs eliminate tariffs on finished Indian garments entering Western markets, exorbitant raw material costs will continue to render exporters uncompetitive.

As both Kishore and Aiyar point out separately, Indian garment exports have flatlined, specifically around the $16 billion to $18 billion mark for years. Over the same period, Bangladesh's exports have gone past $40 billion.

Trump’s tariff tantrums may be unreasonable, but they have inadvertently laid bare India’s structural frailties.

Fixing these self-inflicted wounds is not a matter of striking a better diplomatic bargain in Washington.

It requires India to roll up its sleeves, dismantle its protectionist tariff structures, and finally get down to the hard business of reform.

Rs 63,478.46 crore

That’s how much the combined m-cap of six of the top-10 valued firms climbed last week.

Top three gainers:
- Larsen & Toubro → added Rs 0.29 lakh crore → took its valuation to Rs 6.02 lakh crore
- State Bank of India → added Rs 0.16 lakh crore → took its valuation to Rs 11.23 lakh crore
- HDFC Bank → added Rs 0.10 lakh crore → took its valuation to Rs 14.03 lakh crore
 

Top three decliners:
- Bharti Airtel → lost Rs 0.15 lakh crore → dragged its valuation down to Rs 11.28 lakh crore
- ICICI Bank → lost Rs 0.15 lakh crore → dragged its valuation down to Rs 9.97 lakh crore
- Infosys → lost Rs 0.07 lakh crore → dragged its valuation down to Rs 5.48 lakh crore

Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India accounted for nearly 70% of the total increase. However, losses in telecom, IT and private banking stocks capped broader upside. Reliance Industries retained its position as India’s most valued firm, followed by HDFC Bank and Tata Consultancy Services.

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

India Defers US Visit

India has deferred sending a trade delegation to Washington after the US Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, creating uncertainty over trade terms, Reuters reported citing sources. Trump subsequently imposed a temporary 15% tariff on imports, further clouding negotiations.

Context: The delegation was due to finalise an interim pact under which US tariffs on some Indian exports would fall to 18% from 25%, while India would commit to buying $500 billion worth of American goods over five years.

Setting: Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said the government is reviewing the ruling’s implications. India’s opposition, led by Indian National Congress, has urged renegotiation of the proposed deal.

Data Centre Boom

A Deloitte Asia Pacific report says India can leverage its structural advantages to emerge as a key data-centre hub in Asia Pacific, provided it addresses power bottlenecks, strengthens grid infrastructure and accelerates renewable integration.

Catch Up Quick: The study estimates that Asia Pacific could attract about $800 billion in data-centre investment by 2030. It says India can capture a significant share of that capital thanks to competitive land costs, relatively lower power tariffs and a deep AI talent pool.

Next Steps: The recent India AI Impact Summit saw major firms commit large AI and data infrastructure investments. Reliance pledged $110 billion, while Adani committed $100 billion toward AI-ready facilities. Global technology players also announced plans to expand cloud and AI ecosystems in India. The report calls for coordinated action across governments, operators and investors to ensure clean, reliable power keeps pace with rapid expansion.

Supply Shuffle

India has begun reshaping its crude oil import mix as Saudi Arabia regains market share and Russian supplies ease under sanctions pressure.

Origin: Analysts say India is not abandoning Russian oil but gradually rebalancing its crude slate to manage geopolitical risk, maintain supply security and avoid over-dependence on any one source.

Implications: The move signals a pragmatic strategy as refiners respond to tighter enforcement and shifting trade routes. Stronger Saudi flows reflect active engagement between producers and Indian buyers to lock in volumes through term contracts. At the same time, refiners continue to weigh discounts, freight costs and refinery configurations before adjusting sourcing decisions.

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Donald Trump’s tariff strategy has run into a constitutional wall.

In a special episode of The Core Report, Govindraj Ethiraj examines the US Supreme Court’s decision to strike down sweeping reciprocal tariffs imposed under emergency powers by the Trump administration. What appeared to be hard-edged trade policy has now been checked by institutional guardrails. The ruling limits the President’s ability to unilaterally impose global tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — reshaping the trajectory of US trade policy.

For India, the implications are immediate. Export competitiveness recalibrates. Negotiating leverage shifts. The economic logic underpinning bilateral trade concessions weakens. A uniform global tariff framework replaces discriminatory duties, narrowing distortions that had affected labour-intensive exports.

The broader message is structural: executive action can disrupt markets, but constitutional institutions ultimately define the rules of engagement.

On the other hand, In How India’s Economy Works, Puja Mehra speaks with Anoop Singh about another kind of stress test: India’s climate ambition. Even after a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of India, targets alone do not guarantee transition. Fiscal design, regulatory coherence and state capacity will decide whether climate commitments translate into measurable outcomes — or remain aspirational.

And in The Media Room, hosted by Vanita Kohli-Khandekar, Nasreen Munni Kabir reflects on how Hindi cinema travelled across continents long before the internet shrank the world. Its endurance was not accidental. It was built on storytelling systems, distribution networks and a deep emotional grammar that allowed it to become a cultural bridge for generations.

Three very different arenas — trade policy, climate governance and cinema. One underlying question: what makes vision endure?

Because in the end, durability is never rhetorical. It is institutional.

WEEKEND EDITION

Tariff Shock Reversed: Washington Blinks, and the Trade Chessboard Resets

On Friday night, the rulebook reasserted itself.

In a decision that could redraw the recent arc of global trade tensions, the US Supreme Court ruled that the President cannot use emergency powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping reciprocal tariffs. What began as a trade skirmish dressed up as a national emergency has now been pulled back into constitutional bounds.

For India, the implications are immediate — and strategic.

Over the past months, Indian exports to the United States were staring at punitive tariffs as high as 25%, layered over existing MFN duties. Labour-intensive sectors — garments, engineering goods, small manufacturers — bore the brunt. A provisional understanding had hinted at a climbdown to 18%, contingent on concessions and a broader trade accommodation.

That architecture has now shifted.

With the reciprocal tariffs struck down, nearly 55% of India’s exports to the US — largely in labour-intensive categories — revert to a uniform regime. The new baseline: MFN tariffs plus a flat 10% global duty introduced separately. Not zero. But no longer discriminatory. The competitive distortion that briefly tilted the field is gone.

Electronics, pharmaceuticals and petroleum products remain largely insulated. Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminium and select auto components continue at elevated levels. But the broader trade reset is unmistakable.

The more consequential question is not about tariffs. It is about leverage.

India had entered trade negotiations under pressure. The logic was straightforward: absorb concessions in exchange for tariff relief. Market access, procurement commitments, purchase intentions — all were in play. Now, that calculus is under review. If the global rate is 10% for all, the urgency of a bilateral deal diminishes. Why trade structural concessions for what is already available multilaterally?

There is another dimension.

An estimated $160–175 billion in tariff collections may now face legal scrutiny. Refund claims could surface. Complex questions around pass-through, unjust enrichment and retrospective application will dominate the months ahead. Lawyers are already circling what could become a secondary marketplace for future claims. The economic aftershocks may not be confined to trade balances alone.

Yet the deeper takeaway lies elsewhere.

In an era where executive action has often raced ahead of institutional guardrails, the US system demonstrated internal correction. Courts intervened. Legislative signals aligned. The global trade order, bruised but not dismantled, found partial restoration — not from external retaliation, but from domestic constitutional process.

For India’s exporters, the immediate message is stability with a surcharge. For negotiators, it is optionality regained. And for policymakers everywhere, it is a reminder that trade strategy cannot be built solely on the volatility of personalities.

The tariff war has not ended. A 10% global duty remains. New legal pathways may yet be tested. Targeted measures could reappear.

But the asymmetry that defined the past few months has narrowed.

In trade, as in markets, certainty is currency. And for now, the premium on unpredictability has eased.

HOW INDIA’S ECONOMY WORKS

Climate Targets Are Easy. Climate Architecture Is Not.

In the latest episode of How India’s Economy Works on The Core, journalist Puja Mehra speaks with economist Anoop Singh about a structural gap that rarely makes headlines: India’s climate ambition far outpaces its institutional readiness.

India has pledged aggressive 2030 climate targets. But, Singh argues, announcing commitments is the easy part. The harder task is constructing the legal, fiscal and administrative machinery required to deliver them.

A key development frames the conversation: the Supreme Court of India recently recognised the constitutional right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change. The judgment elevates climate action from policy preference to rights-based obligation. Yet India remains one of the few major economies without a comprehensive national climate law.

Instead, climate governance is dispersed across sector-specific policies — power, transport, industry, urban development. The result: uneven implementation, weak coordination between the Centre and states, and limited accountability. Without clear statutory backing, climate finance cannot be systematically mobilised, tracked or evaluated. Singh points to the absence of climate budget tagging as a major blind spot in fiscal planning.

And yet, there are “islands of excellence.”

States such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Assam have experimented with climate action plans and institutional reforms. The question is whether these isolated efforts can evolve into a coherent national framework.

The episode ultimately asks: can India move from fragmented climate initiatives to a unified legal and fiscal architecture — before the 2030 clock runs out?

THE MEDIA ROOM

Nasreen Munni Kabir on Why Hindi Cinema Still Travels

In the latest episode of The Media Room by host Vanita Kohli-Khandekar with film historian, author and documentary filmmaker Nasreen Munni Kabir — a woman who has spent decades documenting, archiving and interpreting Hindi cinema for the world.

Before streaming platforms, before YouTube, before diaspora communities could WhatsApp film clips across continents, Kabir was already building bridges. Her landmark Channel 4 series Movie Mahal introduced British audiences to Indian cinema at a time when subtitled films were still niche. Later, her role on the board of the British Film Institute helped position Indian cinema within global film discourse.

Her core argument is deceptively simple: Hindi cinema didn’t just entertain migrants. It sustained identity.

From Shah Rukh Khan to Raj Kapoor, from Lata Mangeshkar to Zakir Hussain, her work maps how individual artistry intersects with national imagination.

Her collaborations with Gulzar and A. R. Rahman reveal something more enduring: great cinema is built on craft discipline as much as emotion.

What Today’s Filmmakers Should Notice

Kabir argues that studying film history isn’t nostalgia. It’s infrastructure.

Understanding authorship, preservation, and criticism equips creators to think beyond opening weekend numbers. It forces a longer view — one measured in decades, not days.

Hindi cinema endures not because it is loud or lavish. It endures because it encodes feeling — in story, in song, in star persona.

Listen to the full episode of The Media Room to explore how film history shapes the future of media — and why cinema remains one of India’s most powerful cultural exports.

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INDIA FINANCE & INNOVATION FORUM 2O26

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

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Trump Tariffs Struck Down: Will It Benefit India?

The US Supreme Court's decision to strike down President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs may have brought major relief to countries including India, but a long road still lies ahead.

President Trump hit back in defiance, calling the 6-3 majority verdict "ridiculous" and immediately announcing a new executive order imposing a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. This section allows for a temporary import surcharge for 150 days (capped at 15%), with any further extension requiring Congressional approval.

Why the Court Ruled Against Trump

The Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law intended for national emergencies, did not give Trump the authority to impose the tariffs.

What It Means for India

But what does this mean for India, which issued a joint statement with the US about an interim trade agreement on February 7? According to a CNBC report citing White House sources, all countries with trade agreements will now drop to a 10% tariff rate, replacing the IEEPA duties.

Meanwhile, since the tariffs took effect in early 2025, the US Treasury has collected an estimated $175 billion in duties now deemed unconstitutional, raising questions over refunds to importers.

More Tariff Measures Could Follow

This may not stop President Trump from adopting more measures, with various reports suggesting he may use Section 301 and Section 232 to impose more sectoral tariffs. The Supreme Court decision does not apply to sectoral tariffs like steel, aluminium, and automobiles. However, those statutes require new investigations and public justification, delaying action and inviting further legal challenges. Such measures also cannot serve as a universal enforcement tool, said Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).

India Should Reassess Its Trade Deal: GTRI

GTRI has also said that India should reassess its trade agreement with the United States following the Supreme Court ruling, even as Indian officials are due to travel to Washington on February 23 to finalise the agreement's text.

Tax Experts Welcome the Move

Meanwhile, tax experts have welcomed the Supreme Court ruling. The decision brings significant legal clarity and reduces tariff uncertainty for India, reinforcing limits on unilateral tariff actions, said Manoj Mishra, Partner and Tax Controversy Management Leader at Grant Thornton Bharat.

"Notably, under the interim trade arrangement, the US had agreed to reduce reciprocal tariffs on India to 18%, which shall no longer remain relevant following the Court's decision. Any attempt to levy such tariffs would now require Congressional approval. This is likely to give much-needed relief and a competitive boost to Indian exporters," he added.

Krishan Arora, Partner and Indirect Tax Leader, said: "While in recent times President Trump has been negotiating tariff reductions, this decision would provide much-needed relief to global trade with the US. India was one of the worst hit, with tariffs as high as 50%, which had recently come down to 18%."

Section 232 Tariffs May Endure

Both experts note that Section 232 tariffs may endure despite the ruling, and this remains a key area to watch as India and the US continue trade negotiations.

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The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

Dear Reader,

I was sick through most of the reporting for this story. It started with sniffles and eventually turned into a full-blown infection. My doctor prescribed antibiotics, and they worked.

The irony did not escape me.

Because as I learned while reporting this piece, nearly one in two antibiotic prescriptions in India may be unnecessary.

Not just that, potentially harmful.

Recent research from the Indian Council of Medical Research and The Lancet points to a sharp rise in antibiotic resistance across India. The Lancet study found that 83.1% of certain bacterial samples collected in India showed resistance to commonly-used antibiotics, the highest proportion among the countries studied.

In simple terms, bacteria are learning to outsmart the drugs designed to kill them.

Modern medicine depends heavily on these drugs. Doctors use antibiotics to treat everything from urinary tract infections to pneumonia. Surgeons rely on them to prevent post-operative infections.

This isn’t a niche product. The domestic antibiotics market is now worth nearly three billion dollars, reflecting just how widely people use these medicines.

If antibiotics lose effectiveness, modern medicine comes to a standstill. 

“Globally, a few million people are dying from antimicrobial resistance,” said Dr Ranga Reddy, president of the non-profit Infection Control Academy of India. “Within India, we don’t have hard and fast data, but this is likely causing a few lakh deaths each year.”

Dr Reddy uses the broader term antimicrobial resistance, which includes resistance to antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitic drugs. But in India, most of the current burden–and most of the deaths–are due to antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

While antibiotic resistance is a global issue, certain factors make it especially concerning here in India.

First, some inexperienced doctors, sometimes under duress by patients, overprescribe antibiotics. Second, some patients turn to quacks or self-medicate, or don’t complete the entire course of antibiotics. Third, farmers sometimes overuse antibiotics to cure infection and to promote growth. 

When I visited chemist shops in central Mumbai, pharmacists told me they ask new customers for prescriptions. But if someone insists, or if they are familiar with the customer, they often dispense antibiotics anyway. One pharmacist added that some customers do not complete the full course because they cannot afford it.

Regardless of the reason, the biological effect remains the same. Partial exposure allows the most resilient bacteria to survive and multiply. Over time, those bacteria can evolve further, and eventually become resistant to multiple drugs. 

This is not a distant, abstract crisis. It is unfolding right now across the country. And while policy and enforcement matter, everyday decisions matter too. Decisions by doctors, by chemists and by us.

In the latest episode of The Signal Brief, I speak to physicians, pharmacists and industry experts to understand how we got here and what needs to change before we run out of options.

You can find The Signal Brief on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Thank you once again for listening and supporting us. We’d love to hear from you; write to us at feedback@thecore.in or find us on Instagram or X at @thesignaldotco.

Best,
Kudrat
on behalf of The Core

THE CORE POLL

INDIA FINANCE & INNOVATION 2026

India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, and industry leaders at a moment when India’s financial architecture is being actively reshaped. Over three days, the Forum will focus on fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance, and innovation-led growth—grounded in real-world challenges and institutional decision-making.

Designed for senior decision-makers, IFIF 2026 combines on-stage dialogue with curated networking, innovation labs, and collaborative working sessions. The focus is on understanding what is changing, what is working, and what comes next for India’s financial system.

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