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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.

Mint in an interview.From JSW Paints acquiring AkzoNobel to Torrent Group acquiring J.B. Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals to Bajaj Finance buying out Allianz, growth-hungry Indian business groups are now making substantive M&A moves, he said.“We have seen that capital from global investors is headed towards India, and domestic capital continues to flow unabated.

Mint’s requests for comment.The development comes weeks after InMobi raised $350 million in new financing from Varde Partners, Elham Credit Partners and SeaTown Holdings, according to a report by The Economic Times.The report said most of the proceeds would be used to fund a share buyback from existing investors, primarily SoftBank and other private equity shareholders.Following the transaction, SoftBank’s stake fell to about 5–7% from around 35%. The deal was finalised at a valuation of under $1 billion.Founded in 2007 by Naveen Tewari, InMobi offers mobile display advertising, app-install campaigns and other adtech solutions, increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to serve advertisers.The company works with marketers and publishers, helping them connect with target audiences using data-driven analytics and providing tools for monetization, consent management and user engagement.In 2019, InMobi diversified beyond adtech with the launch of Glance, a lock-screen content discovery platform preloaded on smartphones.

Mint, more than half of SMEs lack access to affordable finance, real-time climate information and insurance products, forcing many to treat resilience spending as discretionary.The findings come as businesses worldwide face rising risks from natural disasters, with climate change intensifying extreme weather and geological events. There are an estimated 358 million SMEs globally.SMEs are often the worst-affected by climate disasters and the least equipped to recover.

The impact of Trump 2.0: The year saw a stark turn in US engagement, with Trump’s approach to the Indo-Pacific characterized by unpredictability at best and rent-seeking at worst.The recently-released US National Security Strategy was emblematic of this ambiguity, prioritizing quid pro quo ties over legacy commitments and the use of muscular rhetoric while offering little doctrinal clarity.This has sent out mixed signals on China, as its deterrence rhetoric coexists with policy fuzziness and even deference in some parts, with US partners struggling to identify US thresholds for action, particularly on high-stakes issues such as Taiwan.Despite the rhetorical turbulence emanating from Washington, alliance architectures did not collapse, although they didn’t sprint forward either.Traditional security partnerships with Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Philippines have endured amid a sobering realization of the magnitude of US capabilities, particularly vis-à-vis strategic concerns about China.Nonetheless, the pace and predictability of strategic cooperation have waned, which is telling in the context of a tenuous regional landscape.Hence, although formal alliances will continue to matter, their political meaning has shifted, with partner countries less willing now to outsource strategy entirely to Washington and more inclined to shape outcomes independently, reflecting a post-‘hub-and-spokes complacency’ mindset.Similarly, multilateral formats like the Quad persisted and adapted, but the coherence of their agenda often reflected leadership from partners as much as from Washington.Initiatives such as maritime domain awareness and cooperation on critical minerals, for example, were driven more on the ground by Canberra,

₹15,000 crore, as per estimates from the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways. The guidelines speak of three to four shipbuilding clusters in coastal states, with only one in each state.

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 year 2025 drew to a close, thousands of spectators braved Delhi’s foul air, made stagnant by the unyielding winter winds, to catch a glimpse of Lionel Messi. Not long back, it would have been a regular meet-and-greet for a legendary footballer.

In what has become the latest entry in a flurry of inbound Japanese deals into India, Aica Kogyo Co. is set to acquire up to 53.12% stake in Indian laminates firm Stylam Industries Ltd for up to ₹2,030 crore.Stylam Industries Ltd’s promoters will sell up to 40% of their stake to the Japanese materials manufacturing major Aica Kogyo Co.

The essential accoutrement for auto executives this year was a cap. As in, of the red baseball variety.

₹500 for a plate of six pieces.“Sushi’s vibrant colour palette and visual presentation make it particularly appealing to younger consumers, many of whom are drawn to dishes that photograph well for social-media platforms such as Instagram,” said Shravan Singh, manager of the two-year-old restaurant.In Kanpur, the dish is the highlight of the menu of another such small restaurant, “Oishi the temple of Wok”. It offers a variety of sushi, including Prawn Tempura, Avocado Cream Cheese, and Smoked Salmon.

Japanese businesses are pivoting towards India as an investment destination promising robust returns—but also, how Tokyo, after over three decades of diplomatic efforts, is ready to walk the talk on deepening strategic relationships with New Delhi as both countries want to develop a meaningful counter to China’s might.For India’s financial sector, the deals in 2025 mark a moment worth noting. Foreign investors are returning with conviction, and Japan—long a steady but cautious partner—appears increasingly willing to deploy serious capital.It is a striking contrast to the dismissive description of India as a “dead economy” offered earlier this year by US President Donald Trump.

Samsung’s India research & development (R&D) arm is the company’s most influential engineering team outside of its global headquarters in South Korea and alongside the US, a top company executive told Mint on Tuesday.According to Jong Bum Park, president and chief executive of Samsung Southwest Asia, Samsung’s India engineering operations account for the core development process of its second-largest revenue generator—smartphones. In fiscal year 2024 (FY24), Samsung generated $219 billion in revenue globally—of which 38% came from smartphones.The company’s semiconductor division, largely based out of the US and Korea, is its highest revenue generator.“The entire camera unit and its software for our flagship smartphones were developed and engineered entirely in India,” said Park in an interview.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Japan was a global bright spot in 2025. Despite much hand-wringing over its debt burden, it is likely to remain so in 2026.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Shareholders around the world have enjoyed another stellar year. Stockmarkets in America, Europe, India and Japan are set to finish 2025 at or near all-time highs, with some closing in on a third consecutive year of double-digit gains.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Stock market recap: Indian stock market witnessed solid buying interest on Friday, 19 December even as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) hiked interest rate and signalled there could be more hikes in the near future. The Sensex jumped nearly 600 points to an intraday high of 85,067, while the Nifty 50 reclaimed 25,993 on the upside.

As January approaches, Ashok Vaswani will begin his third year as managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. Soon after Vaswani joined the bank, it had to start untangling itself for regulatory crosshairs. Since then, the RBI-imposed embargo on enlisting more digital customers has been lifted, it has made a couple of acquisitions, and is now in the race to acquire a big one, but Vaswani unsurprisingly sidesteps talk of IDBI Bank.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Ticker is a weekly newsletter by Vijay L Bhambwani. Subscribe to Mint's newsletters to get them directly in your email inbox. Dear reader, Last week, I wrote that bulls would have to do some significant work to push markets higher.

Russian energy, has also agreed to meet some of its demand from the US. Yet Russia remains relevant, having worked around the trading system through bilateral deals and its shadow fleet.On the other hand, Washington's attempts to derail China’s economy have largely fallen flat.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Bearish forces have been unrelenting and the trends are unable to stage any recovery despite the best intentions. With the trends remaining challenged the road ahead is fraught with uncertainty.

Mint’s requests for a comment.Amid media reports, Shriram Finance informed the exchanges late Tuesday that its board is scheduled to meet on Friday to consider a proposal to raise funds through a rights issue, preferential allotment, qualified institutional placement, or any other permissible mode. The transaction is expected to be carried out through a fresh issue of equity shares and/or other eligible securities, the company had said in the regulatory filing.The development comes on the back of a larger trend by global strategic players looking to enter India with large buyout deals.

India presents a macroeconomic paradox today. GDP growth is among the fastest in the world, inflation is nearly zero and the fiscal deficit is in check. Yet the Indian rupee is Asia’s worst-performing currency.