Beyond Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India's new data protection regime makes a seemingly simple promise: if an app can take consent in a tap, it must allow users to withdraw it just as easily. But in digital lending—where loans are priced, monitored and sometimes recovered using a steady stream of personal data—that promise is already running into the realities of regulated credit.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected]. The demand for instant deliveries has intensified competition in India’s fashion retail industry, pushing platforms and startups alike to bet on speed as a key differentiator, setting the stage for a more execution-intensive battle in 2026.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BENGALURU : Swiggy’s private-label brand, Noice, which debuted on its quick-commerce platform Instamart, has expanded rapidly by adding contract manufacturers across various categories, including bakery, snacks, confectionery, dairy, eggs, and other perishable foods.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BENGALURU : Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) is attempting to shake off its reputation as a staid IT outsourcer. In the last three months alone, the company has announced its largest acquisition since going public, committed billions of dollars to data centre infrastructure, and moved closer to securing a rare billion-dollar contract.

The prices of various items such as footwear, clothing, consumer durables (such as air-conditioners and TV sets) and automobiles (cars, two-wheelers, etc) have fallen post-GST rationalization. Our calculations suggest that inflation in India’s GST-basket (weight of 17%) decelerated to 2.1% year-on-year in October 2025 and further to 1.8% in November from a stable 3% in the previous 14 months.

The unfolding crisis in Venezuela draws into sharp relief a less-recognized feature of the modern global economy: the movement of expectations often matters more than that of physical goods. Venezuela has long been a distant yet symbolically important pillar of India’s energy security framework.

₹12 crore and going beyond ₹15 crore. Its Bandra Bay project is a Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) society redevelopment venture.“What makes Bandra Bay truly distinctive is that it combines the aspirational legacy of Bandra with the openness of bay front living, a rare offering in a land-constrained city like Mumbai,” Hiranandani added.Adani Properties will launch its largest luxury project in the area, featuring sea-facing apartments that will be sold by invitation only in the initial phase.

The economy appears to be on a stable footing ahead of the Union budget. Growth clocked 6.5% in 2024-25, public capital expenditure crossed ₹11 trillion, its highest share of GDP in 15 years, and inflation has largely stayed within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tolerance band.Yet, a troubling imbalance lies beneath the macro aggregates. Private capital has not responded with the breadth or momentum one would expect at India’s current stage of development.

₹76, Ola Electric’s stock price has plunged to around ₹40 - a staggering 47% decline - and investor patience is wearing thin.So, where did Ola go wrong? The primary diagnosis is a chronic lack of focus. In the management classic Good to Great, James Collins uses a Greek parable to distinguish between two leadership types: the fox, who pursues many complex paths, and the hedgehog, who simplifies a complex world into a single organizing idea. Collins argues that greatness is achieved through a "Hedgehog Concept" which is a singular focus found at the intersection of three circles: what a company can be the best in the world at, what it is deeply passionate about, and what drives its economic engine.

challenges this approach, highlighting how unreliable recent performance can be for future returns.The study tracked the top 10 equity mutual funds in 2014 and mapped how their rankings shifted annually through 2025. It also analysed rankings based on three-year returnsThe findings illustrate why investors should dig deeper into historical returns, not just stop at funds’ recent performance, and why investors must even go beyond returns for their fund selection.The study does not disclose fund names, instead tracking rank movements over time.

₹1.77 trillion, surpassing the 2024 high of ₹1.73 trillion.“A key catalyst was the primary market cycle, including widely recognised names such as Tata Capital, Meesho, Lenskart, LG Electronics, PhysicsWallah and ICICI Prudential–where familiar brands significantly lowered entry barriers for first-time investors across smaller towns,” said Ankit Mandholia, head equity and derivatives, wealth management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.The growth in new investors from some of these states comes even as the active investor count has fallen from the post-pandemic highs amid global uncertainty and the Sebi’s crackdown against retail trading in the futures and options (F&O) markets.While state-wise data for individual investors is not available, the number of investors pan-India who traded in the cash segment at least once a year fell 8% in 2025. But those trading in the equity derivatives segment fell 25%, showed NSE data, indicating that new investors are participating in the cash market.Across regions, the entry pattern is consistent: the vast majority of new investors begin in cash equities and IPOs, while F&O participation remains a relatively small fraction, said Arief Mohamad, chief business officer-direct business, Angel One.

Mint.During the hour-long meeting, X executives explained how the image-editing feature functioned. They offered an example: if billionaire Elon Musk appeared in a photograph alongside other technology executives and users prompted the tool to remove “the most racist person”, Grok might remove Musk, this person said.The explanation failed to reassure regulators.

₹10,000 could be put in tax-saving mutual funds. The rest had to go elsewhere — PPF, insurance, NSC, whatever. The government, in its wisdom, had decided that equity mutual funds were risky and citizens needed protection from their own enthusiasm.

EV users as well as technical and maintenance support for commercial fleets,” said the first official.The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) is examining changes to its guidelines for way-side amenities (WSAs) on expressways to formally include EV-focused infrastructure, including rapid diagnostics, minor repairs, battery support, towing and real-time assistance through integrated control centres, the second official said, adding that the under-construction 1,300-km Delhi–Mumbai Expressway is likely to be the first long-distance corridor where the model could be rolled out, providing an end-to-end EV-supportive route between two major metropolitan regions.“The idea is to move beyond charging points and create a full ecosystem that supports EV users on highways, similar to how air traffic control and ground handling work together in aviation,” said the first official. “Control and command centres can coordinate roadside assistance, track vehicle issues, manage response times and offer confidence to EV users undertaking intercity travel.”Queries emailed to MoRTH, National Highways Authority of India, and EV makers Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai, Kia, and JSW MG on 31 December remained unanswered.Since the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is an access-controlled expressway, a commuter expects the EV charging infrastructure along the route for convenience, said Ashish Modani, senior vice-president and group head, Icra.

₹638 crore penalty order from the office of the additional commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax, Ahmedabad. The company said it does not agree with the order and will pursue legal remedies.The disclosure came close on the heels of developments around its long-running adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, which have kept the stock volatile.The Centre has reportedly approved a relief package that freezes Vodafone Idea’s pre-FY18 AGR dues, estimated at ₹87,700 crore, and grants a five-year, interest-free moratorium, pushing payments out to FY32-41.

Homegrown carmakers JSW Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) are open to adopting range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs) if India’s policy framework expands incentives beyond pure electric vehicles, even as experts warn against equating the technology with battery-electric cars.REEVs, also called REX (range extender) hybrids, are always driven by an electric motor but carry a small internal combustion engine (ICE) whose sole role is to generate electricity when the battery charge runs low. Comparatively, strong hybrids have both an electric battery and a powerful ICE engine, both of which can run the vehicle.To be sure, no carmaker in India manufactures or sells REEVs currently.

Stock market recap: Indian equities ended mixed on the first trading day of 2026, as stock-specific moves and a lack of fresh triggers kept sentiment subdued. The Sensex slipped marginally, while the Nifty 50 closed slightly higher.

India’s quick commerce battle is set to turn even more intense in 2026 even as companies delivering groceries to electronics within minutes chase customer loyalty and improve unit economics.The ongoing year saw an explosion of the rapid delivery segment as companies expanded beyond metros to tier 2 and 3 cities, added more warehouses and went beyond everyday essentials, burning even more cash to win over customers.Backed by fresh funding, the three dominant players–Swiggy’s Instamart, Eternal’s Blinkit and Zepto–will look to create profitable models to solidify their market position in the coming year, according to industry executives.“Expect sharper credit terms with brands, stricter expiry control, and consolidated city hubs,” said Madhav Kasturia, founder and chief executive officer of hyperlocal delivery platform Zippee. “Capital sets the pace, but execution still decides who can convert density into contribution profit every single week.”Swiggy raised ₹10,000 crore in fresh capital via a qualified institutional placement (QIP) on 13 December, two months after Zepto raised $450 million at a valuation of $7 billion, led by US-based pension fund California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) in October.

Stock market recap: The Indian stock market witnessed healthy cross-segment buying on the last day of 2025, driven by short covering triggered by optimism that the coming year will be better than the current one, due to anticipated earnings growth, a potential India-US trade deal, and the return of foreign investors to the Indian market.The Sensex jumped 546 points, or 0.64%, to close at 85,220.60, with Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Axis Bank as the top contributors to the gains. The Nifty 50 settled at 26,129.60, rising 191 points, or 0.74%.

₹500 per child where creche facilities are not provided, and travel allowances for inter-state migrant workers."These changes reflect a strong emphasis on health, safety, and social security, and businesses should start preparing now to ensure smooth compliance once the rules are finalized," Gupta said.The draft central rules under the four labour codes provide clarity on several operational aspects. The code on social security rules specifies that gratuity will be calculated on ‘wages’ last drawn, excluding components such as annual performance-linked pay, medical reimbursements, stock options, and meal vouchers.

Today, we revisit the biggest data stories featured in Mint’s Plain Facts section through the year. Our coverage spanned socio-economic trends, US tariffs, data quality, politics, cinema and climate, with our trademark charts telling important stories about the India of 2025. Each link in this piece leads to the corresponding story, which offers more charts and in-depth analysis.The second edition of the government’s time-use survey gave an insight into the daily lives and routines of India.