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Mint.Saraswat also said that specific features and the incentive structure under the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission announced in Union budget 2026 are being worked out.Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the second phase of the mission in her budget speech in February to scale up the country’s capabilities in equipment, materials, design, intellectual property rights and to fortify the supply chain. In the budget for 2026-27, the Centre announced a second tranche of incentives under the mission, five years after rolling out the first ₹76,000-crore programme.India will also strive to explore and produce select critical minerals found domestically despite their low resource intensity making them costlier to extract, to guard against the risk of supply denial by other countries in future, Saraswat said.India’s push to build domestic capabilities in semiconductors and critical minerals, which are vital for IT, clean energy and defence sectors, comes at a time technology is increasingly shaping industrial and military power in a de-globalising world with weakening adherence to the rule of law.

BENGALURU: For most restaurant chains, the goal is to build one blockbuster brand. At IPO-bound Curefoods, the strategy is the opposite.The Bengaluru-based cloud kitchen operator is working on adding brands to its portfolio that can each reach ₹200-300 crore in revenue, spreading its bets across multiple cuisines and consumption occasions.

western disturbances travel eastward with westerly winds. They make for the primary source of rainfall and snowfall in northwest and north India in winter months.Though the number of western disturbances in the last three months was the highest in the last five years, their intensity was lower resulting in the highest rain deficit in the months those years."A majority of the western disturbances that influenced India during the winter season, especially during December to February, were feeble, resulting in below-normal rainfall and limited snowfall activity across large parts of northwestern India," said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).Northwest India recorded rainfall deficits of 86.8% in February and 12% in January.

NEW DELHI: India’s gadget buyers are shunning inexpensive smartwatches, a category that saw a massive surge in demand until two years ago. A lack of customer enthusiasm for barebone alternatives to the benchmark Apple Watch as well as existing buyers finding them unworthy of a second-time purchase, have caused smartwatch sales in the country to drop to its lowest in sales volumes and revenue in four calendar years.Data sourced by Mint from market researcher International Data Corporation (IDC) India showed that 28.9 million smartwatches were sold in 2025, generating net revenue of $780 million.

The day after the Union Budget on 1 February, US tariffs on Indian exports fell from 50% to 25%, and further to a promise of 18% through a trade deal. Later, the US Supreme Court verdict against ‘reciprocal’ tariffs resulted in a uniform levy of 10% on all countries, including India, possibly rising to 15%. Wherever it settles, there is some reprieve for labour-intensive export sectors.

₹815 crore on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overseas visits since he took office in 2014, covering 78 countries across 99 trips, according to data shared in Parliament last month.The disclosures offer a detailed snapshot of how frequently he travels, which countries dominate his itinerary and what that outreach has cost the exchequer. Overseas travel has been a central plank of Modi’s diplomatic strategy, with the prime minister frequently engaging global leaders in person.A Mint analysis of the data shows that, adjusted for inflation, the total outlay amounts to just over ₹1,000 crore in current prices. In all, Modi has spent 352 days abroad across his three terms.

₹12,195 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme was introduced in February 2021 to encourage the local manufacture of equipment such as network switches, transmission gear and set-top boxes.Out of the scheme's 42 applicants, 19 including Samsung have not claimed or received any incentive, data showed. Only 15% of the scheme's outlay was actually disbursed, even as its five-year run ends this month.Companies which have chosen FY23 as base year will have one year left (FY27) to claim incentives on incremental sales, whereas investments under the scheme were only allowed till FY26 for all the scheme participants.Samsung India Electronics, which applied for the scheme in 2022, chose to withdraw because it found local manufacturing unviable given limited customer demand for its telecom gear, an industry expert said.

Companies Act requires every listed company to appoint independent directors constituting at least one-third of its board. The report shows that the highest number of independent directors on a single board in the last four years (FY22-FY25) was eight in FY22, a level seen in three listed companies. The number is down to five, seen in a single company.Gender diversity on boards also remained skewed.

₹5.24 trillion as of January, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds of India (Amfi). Over the past year, there were 37 new fund offers in these categories, compared with 19 across the broader equity segment.While Sebi permits only one scheme per category in most equity segments, there is currently no limit on the number of sectoral and thematic funds that an AMC can launch. This had led to a surge in offerings built around similar stocks packaged under different narratives.With the 50% cap in place, maintaining multiple differentiated active strategies within a constrained universe may prove difficult.

India’s energy regulator is moving to plug a widening hole in the country’s gas supply chain as the conflict in West Asia threatens supplies of natural gas that is vital to power, fertiliser and city gas distribution networks.According to two people aware of developments, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is preparing to propose overground storage facilities for natural gas near the country’s existing LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals—India currently has eight such terminals. The storage would be used for both commercial purposes and for strategic requirements during exigencies, they said.“PNGRB may propose the government to set up storage reserves for LNG, preferably near existing terminals to support India’s growing demand at times of exigencies and ensure energy security,” one of the two people said on the condition of anonymity, adding that the regulator would approach the ministry of petroleum and natural gas to frame rules under the PNGRB Act.The urgency follows a halt in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries more than half of India’s LNG imports, and a spike in prices of LNG after an attack on QatarEnergy’s Ras Laffan complex on Monday.The move assumes significance considering India imports 55% of its gas requirement and holds barely 20 days of inventory—including supplies in transit.

₹345.47 trillion ($3.93 trillion)—3.26% lower than the ₹357.14 trillion estimate published in January under the 2011-12 series.The downward revision stems from those earlier overestimations. In an interaction with Mint, the statistics ministry confirmed that proxy indicators used in the older series had led to overestimations, validating concerns raised by economists, policymakers and researchers for nearly a decade.But the shrinkage is only part of the story.

Information technology services has been among the most talked-about sectors in the Indian market over the past few days, driven by sharp swings in sentiment and price action.On Tuesday the Nifty IT Index slipped nearly 4% to its lowest in about 10 months, highlighting the extent of the pressure on technology stocks. However, the trend seemed to reverse on 25 February, when Indian IT stocks staged a strong rebound.

₹9,200 crore, in annual revenue by 2030, by which time it aims to build 350 megawatts (MW) of operational capacity. The strategy contrasts with peers announcing gigawatt-scale investments, even as demand for AI infrastructure accelerates across the country.“We of course hope that in the next five years, we can scale our business up to $1 billion in annual revenue.

A multi-year deal of more than $300 million from Daimler Trucks that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. snatched from Infosys Ltd last week has one common thread: Ravi Kumar.Kumar, Cognizant’s current chief executive, was also instrumental in securing the Infosys contract during his stint at India’s second-largest software services provider in 2020, according to a person familiar with the matter.

ETFs (exchange traded funds).While fund houses are preparing to launch offerings under the new category, the key question is whether these products meaningfully improve outcomes for investors.At its core, the structure is simple: risk reduces automatically over time.In the early years, for instance, 15 to 30 years before maturity in a 30-year fund, portfolios can hold high equity exposure, typically between roughly 65% and 95%, with smaller allocations to debt and limited exposure to gold and silver. As maturity approaches, equity allocation is gradually reduced while debt exposure rises to cushion volatility and preserve gains.

₹195.55 during Friday’s trading session. The decline reflects persistent weak growth: the company’s year-on-year revenue expansion has remained below 5% for eight consecutive quarters, and the absence of clear near-term triggers is weighing on investor sentiment.There is little immediate evidence of a sharp turnaround.

Mint at the Air Cargo India 2026 being held in Mumbai.“So, we will have a total of five freighters weekly into India once we add the new freighter frequencies,” he said. When asked about shifting operations as Mumbai airport will close its freighters operations, Abbas said, “Yes, we will adapt as needed”, and will consider moving to the new airport in the state, Navi Mumbai.Currently, Emirates carries around 600 tonnes of pharmaceuticals and 500 tonnes of perishables from India each week, out of a total weekly uplift of 3,000 tonnes.Mint earlier reported that five foreign freighters, including FedEx and a DHL-Lufthansa joint venture, are expected to start operations at Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) from May.

₹1.53 trillion annually.The push was outlined during a meeting chaired by the secretary of the ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI), according to a government statement on Tuesday, and reflects a broader attempt to modernize the farm economy by shifting value creation away from raw produce toward processed and packaged foods. Policymakers say the approach could stabilize farmer incomes, reduce wastage and strengthen exports through investments in infrastructure, technology adoption, and value addition.As India seeks to modernize its agriculture, expanding processing capacity has emerged as a key policy focus.

Slow capital expenditure by the government in Q3 amid elusive private capex, a high credit-deposit ratio, the rupee continuing to underperform among EM peers even as foreign portfolio investors have turned net buyers in equities, and manufacturing activity cooling, here are five signals from the economy this month.After maintaining a high level of capital expenditure in the first half of the current financial year, benefitting from a low base, the Centre fell short in the third quarter of the financial year.This, economists said, proved to be a drag on the Indian economy, which is expected to see a slower growth of 7.4% in Q3 compared to 8.2% in the previous quarter. The Centre’s capex declined 23.4% year-on-year in Q3 compared to a growth of 30.7% in the previous quarter.To be sure, the decline has come against the backdrop of high capex during the same quarter last year, following a delayed spending due to Lok Sabha elections.

The monetization of state-owned assets is a good idea in principle. It could trigger fresh capital formation that accelerates economic growth if implemented right.

investors may consider a loan against securities (LAS) to meet liquidity needs.Each of these strategies works differently and must align with your holding period, asset mix and financial objectives.Let us examine two specific strategies: tax-loss harvesting and using a loan against securities (LAS) instead of redeeming investments.Tax-loss harvesting tends to work best in volatile markets, particularly when indices correct sharply after a rally—as seen between October 2024 and February 2025. LAS, on the other hand, may be useful in rising markets when short-term liquidity is required, for example to exercise employee stock option plans (ESOPs).Consider Rajesh, an IT professional in his late 40s with a seven-year-old equity mutual fund portfolio.