The Latest
Business
India's Manufacturers Paid 27.5 Percent More for Inputs and Still Grew Profit 21 Percent
In the April to June 2026 quarter, listed manufacturers' raw material bill rose faster than their sales. Their operating profit still grew almost as fast as sales. Who absorbed the difference?
October 20, 2026
Geopolitics
The Pipelines That Could Replace Hormuz Carry One Barrel in Four at Best
HSBC's CEO says Gulf investment could make Hormuz redundant in five years. The bypass pipelines that exist today cap out near a quarter of the strait's pre-war flow, and one broken pipe in September sent Brent to $131.
October 20, 2026
Health
India's Tobacco Fight Is Being Won Where the Users Are Not
Fewer young Indians use tobacco, which is the win prevention promised. But in the last national survey, use was 41.4% at 65 and over against 12.4% at 15 to 24, and tobacco-site cancers peak at 70 to 74.
October 19, 2026
Business
India's Oil Bill Rose Nearly $29 Billion Without Buying More Oil
India's crude import bill jumped from $61.9 billion to $90.6 billion in the first half of the fiscal year, on almost identical volumes. The headline overstates the net hit, and understates what comes next.
October 19, 2026
Business
India Misses the 5 Trillion Dollar Line in 2028 by Four Billion Dollars
The IMF has India at $4,996 billion in 2028, a hair under the $5 trillion line, and at $5,542 billion in 2029. Growth is not the swing factor. The exchange rate is.
October 19, 2026
Markets
SEBI Kept the Closing Auction but Took It Out of Expiry Settlement
SEBI did not scrap the closing auction. It cut it to 10 minutes and moved expiry settlement back to a 30-minute average. Its own expiry-day data show a short window drawing more option trading per minute than the long one it replaced.
October 19, 2026
Business & Markets
Business
India's New Apple Quota for New Zealand Is Already Smaller Than This Season's Shipments
New Zealand's apple exports to India have reached 45,000 tonnes this season, against a year-one quota of 32,500 tonnes at the lower duty. The quota caps the discount, not the trade, and the window and price floor shape the rest.
October 20, 2026
Business
India's Manufacturers Paid 27.5 Percent More for Inputs and Still Grew Profit 21 Percent
In the April to June 2026 quarter, listed manufacturers' raw material bill rose faster than their sales. Their operating profit still grew almost as fast as sales. Who absorbed the difference?
October 20, 2026
Business
India's Oil Bill Rose Nearly $29 Billion Without Buying More Oil
India's crude import bill jumped from $61.9 billion to $90.6 billion in the first half of the fiscal year, on almost identical volumes. The headline overstates the net hit, and understates what comes next.
October 19, 2026
Technology & Science
Technology
The Supreme Court Wants Children Online, and India's Data Rule Will Need Their Parents' ID
The Supreme Court declared children's internet access a fundamental right and warned that age checks on every user invite surveillance. It left the consent design to the Union. The DPDP Rules already wrote one, and it runs on the parent's identity and age.
October 17, 2026
Technology
Starlink's Real Rival in India Is Jio's Home Broadband, Not Its Cheap Mobile Data
Mobile data costs Rs 7.51 a gigabyte, a price no dish can match. The exposure is home broadband, where wireless lines now add subscribers as fast as every wired line combined.
October 11, 2026
Technology
India Lost Its Cheapest Phones to the AI Memory Boom, and Almost Nothing Else
India's smartphone market fell 11.1% in Q2 2026. Strip out phones under US$100 and the rest of the market did not shrink at all. AI data centres are repricing one band of buyers, not everyone.
October 6, 2026
Health, Culture & Geopolitics
Health
India's Tobacco Fight Is Being Won Where the Users Are Not
Fewer young Indians use tobacco, which is the win prevention promised. But in the last national survey, use was 41.4% at 65 and over against 12.4% at 15 to 24, and tobacco-site cancers peak at 70 to 74.
October 19, 2026
Health
Why a 30 Percent Margin Cap Can Cut Cancer Drug Prices by Up to 70 Percent
The regulator capped what the trade can add on top of a drug's price, yet expects shelf prices to fall by as much as 70 percent. That gap is the story.
October 18, 2026
Health
WHO Bars Obesity Drugs for Children Under 10 as Cheaper Versions Reach India
WHO's new guideline rules out obesity drugs and surgery for children aged 0 to 9, on thin evidence. In India, generic semaglutide at Rs 1,300 to Rs 4,200 a month has removed much of the price barrier, leaving guidance as the main one.
October 8, 2026