1) Auto reset
RC Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki
India’s automobile trade is caught on a progress plateau, and RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki, believes it’s as a result of the market has ignored a elementary demographic: two-wheeler homeowners. In an unique interview, Bhargava unpacks why India’s automobile possession pyramid is so sharply skewed, how affordability stays the elephant within the room, and why coverage, product design, and financing fashions should align to catalyse a brand new wave of middle-class automobile consumers. His take is a critique and a roadmap for the next phase of auto growth in India.
2) Silent disruptor
Akshay Arora (seated), chairman, with son Shiven Arora, managing director, Blue Jet Healthcare Ltd Picture: Mexy Xavier
For years, Blue Jet Healthcare operated in stealth mode—quietly constructing a worthwhile enterprise in a selected area of interest: Distinction media, the chemical brokers utilized in diagnostic imaging like MRIs and CT scans. With deep technical experience, a strong patent portfolio, and a capital-light mannequin, the corporate, based in 1968, is now reaping the rewards of staying area of interest and world. Its current IPO was greater than a liquidity occasion; it signalled the rise of a new kind of Indian pharma story, rooted in specialisation, not scale.
3) On the sting of inexperienced manufacturing
Hitesh Doshi, chairman, Waaree Group. Picture courtesy: Waaree Vitality
Waaree Energies, one among India’s largest photo voltaic panel producers, is on a mission to place the nation on the worldwide clear vitality map. With a 13.3 GW manufacturing capability in 5 manufacturing amenities unfold throughout 143 acres in India, and plans to ramp up back and forth integration, the corporate is driving the twin wave of India’s home push for renewable vitality and world diversification away from Chinese language suppliers. In October 2024, Waaree Energies listed on the Indian bourses at a 70 p.c premium to its preliminary public providing. Its story is emblematic of how India’s green industrial policy is powering up real businesses.
Discover
1) Blurring the strains
Colossal1 was began in 2021 by serial entrepreneur Ben Lamm, a 43-year-old Texan, and the corporate describes itself as being within the “de-extinction” enterprise. Picture: John Davidson
Ben Lamm isn’t simply one other tech entrepreneur chasing moonshots—he’s attempting to carry again the woolly mammoth. His startup, Colossal Biosciences, is backed by big-name VCs and even celebrities like Paris Hilton and director Peter Jackson. It goals to make use of gene modifying to resurrect extinct species. However behind the spectacle lies a severe software of biotech, with implications for conservation, local weather science, and artificial biology. Within the course of, Lamm is creating a completely new trade that blurs the line between science fiction and sustainable science.
2) Underneath the scanner
Gensol Engineering and BluSmart Mobility are grappling with allegations and a Securities and Change Board of India (Sebi) investigation. Illustration: Chaitanya Surpur
The current public controversy involving Gensol Engineering and BluSmart Mobility—two corporations as soon as hailed as poster kids of India’s electrical mobility revolution—has sparked deeper conversations about governance, transparency, and the true worth behind ESG tags. As buyers look past shiny inexperienced credentials, this incident underscores the necessity for sharper scrutiny, better due diligence, and stronger regulatory frameworks to avoid impact-washing.
3) The good playbook
Picture: REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh
Zudio—Tata Group’s low-cost trend chain—has quietly rewritten the script for reasonably priced retail in India. With over 400 shops and a hyperlocal design-to-shelf mannequin, Zudio is successful the quantity recreation by retaining costs beneath ₹999 and churn charges excessive. Its no-frills, high-turnover technique appeals to budget-conscious and Gen Z buyers and delivers enviable revenue margins in a notoriously tight section. In an period of self-importance valuations and scaling woes, Zudio’s story is one among uncommon readability: Make trendiness cheap, make operations lean, and watch money pour in.
4) Sky-high ambitions
Lieutenant Shivangi Singh of the Indian Air Power (IAF) attending an interview with AFP on the Air Power Museum in New Delhi. Picture: Arun SANKAR / AFP
The primary time Lieutenant Shivangi Singh took the controls of a fighter jet, it was a MiG-21. She has already made historical past as one of many first girls to fly the Indian Air Power’s supersonic Rafale jets. Now, she’s aiming for orbit. Singh has set her sights on India’s area programmes and astronaut coaching missions. Her story is one among resilience, precision, and refusal to be boxed into conventional roles—echoing the aspirations of countless young Indian women entering aviation, defence, and STEM.