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The Indian government has tasked the country’s top management institute, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), to find out why its flagship scheme to promote domestic manufacturing in various sectors has not delivered as expected, and suggest remedial measures.According to two government officials aware of the development, the study—to be conducted under the aegis of federal think tank NITI Aayog—will examine 14 production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes that have attracted around ₹2.16 trillion in investments since they were launched during the covid-19 pandemic in 2020.PLI schemes offer companies incentives linked to incremental domestic production, rewarding them for increasing output over a base year, rather than providing upfront subsidies.Despite a large outlay, the schemes have seen limited traction—of the nearly ₹1.91 trillion allocated for incentives, only about ₹28,748 crore or 15% had been disbursed by December 2025, according to a 20 February commerce ministry statement.“The study will undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the scheme and focus on their impact on production growth, export expansion, job creation, and their role in enhancing India’s position in global supply chains,” the first official cited above said, requesting anonymity, adding that the study will also help understand whether the schemes need expansion or restructuring.Early indicators already point to uneven performance across sectors.Jaijit Bhattacharya, president of the Centre for Domestic Economy Policy (CDEP) Research, said that industries such as mobile phone manufacturing and food processing have done relatively well, largely because they require lower investments and are easier to scale.

Mumbai/Bengaluru: Fast-food chains serving dosas and momos to pizzas across India have found out that switching away from cooking gas amid the ongoing supply squeeze is difficult. The piped gas network is confined to a few cities, and the transition to electric cooking is hampered by higher operating costs and a spike in upfront equipment prices.“Over the past three weeks, we have made conscious efforts to reduce our dependency on gas by increasing the adoption of electric equipment across locations,” said Ankur Sharma, co-founder of Rebel Foods, which operates cloud-kitchen brands such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani and Oven Story Pizza.“In some areas, we continue to face constraints due to limited availability of equipment from vendor partners,” he said.

Fertilizers are vital to India’s economy as they underpin the agricultural sector, which financially supports nearly half the population. Companies from the sector ensure food security by providing essential nutrients for crop yields.Fertilizer stocks are currently in the spotlight because the escalating West Asia conflict has triggered a massive supply shock, driving global prices to three-year highs and forcing a strategic shift in India's domestic production.Here are three beaten-down stocks from the fertilizer space that investors can watch.

Wow! Momo Foods Pvt. Ltd, the Tiger Global-backed quick-service restaurant chain, is turning packaged foods into a major revenue driver.

The scarcity of LPG cylinders has hit India’s engineering, management and medical colleges hard. Institutes are adopting diverse workarounds to manage the crisis— shifting to online classes, using diesel burners, switching to induction cooktops, or simply letting students order their meals via food delivery platforms.The crisis is due to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which nearly 90% of India's LPG imports pass. The country sources about 60% of its cooking gas from overseas.

The Centre’s decision to renew the Indian central bank’s Flexible Inflation Targeting (FIT) framework for another five years till March 2031 is no surprise. Given today’s climate of uncertainty, with no clarity on when the war in West Asia will end, any change at this juncture would have risked rocking the boat. Needlessly.

Vetic, to name just three. These clinics epitomize a big shift that is playing out across urban India: the corporatization of veterinary services.Until a few years ago, India’s petcare market was a highly fragmented affair, dominated by neighbourhood pet stores, standalone vets and a handful of product brands.

FMCG) companies are now embedding protein into everyday items—from burgers and coffees to staples like chapatis—to drive frequency and mainstream adoption.“We see protein as a long-term shift rather than a niche trend, especially as consumers become more aware of nutritional gaps in everyday diets. However, for this to truly scale in India, it has to be accessible,” said Enakshi Dasgupta, head of new product development, iD Fresh Food.

disrupted trade routes and spiked freight and insurance costs.India's annual edible oil demand is around 26 million tonnes (mt), with domestic production meeting only up to 40% of this.According to latest trade data, India imported 14,963 tonnes of palm oil and 175,502 tonnes crude soybean oil from China between November 2025 and February 2026, as against a total of 36,000 tonnes of edible oils in the entire year ended October 2025.This is still a modest figure, given India’s total edible oil imports of around 16 mt. However, the sharp rise in shipments shows a growing willingness among importers to explore non-traditional sources amid tightening global supply conditions.Industry experts see Chinese edible oil imports rising further, as competitive pricing and lower logistics costs will give them an edge over the country's traditional exporters.According to traders, on an average, retail prices have risen by ₹15-20 per litre across edible oils including soybean, rice-bran, cottonseed, palm, groundnut and sunflower over the past one month.

₹60 per cylinder hike has added to household stress and squeezed small businesses.The primary driver, experts say, is global instability.According to Adhil Shetty, CEO of BankBazaar, the increase reflects continued pressure from international markets where crude oil and natural gas prices remain elevated due to geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions."India imports a large share of its LPG needs, so any rise in international prices or freight costs tends to flow through to domestic cylinder rates," Shetty noted. He added that the latest global escalation has made cooking fuel more expensive, and with deliveries taking longer in some areas, households must prepare for higher and less predictable expenses.For several years, LPG prices in regulated markets remained relatively steady, with only minor fluctuations.

Mint's requests for a comment till the time of publishing.Everstone owns a majority stake in Subway India, which also counts Norwest Venture Partners and Playbook Partners among its investors.Nearly a year ago, Mint reported that Everstone was exploring a partial stake sale in the fast-food chain’s local operations as part of a $100 million private fundraising round. Those plans have since evolved, with the company now preparing for a public market listing.Everstone operates the master franchise of Subway restaurants in India through Eversub India, giving it the right to open and operate Subway restaurants in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

marriage or in common law relationships for financial reasons.”In addition, 80 per cent of Canadians say life is more affordable in a relationship versus being single.Nearly one in four (23 per cent) of surveyed Canadians also said they like the idea of a “five-year renewable relationship contract” instead of getting married.The survey states that four in 10 Canadians (40 per cent) say marriage is “mainly about practicalities for those planning or already have children.”This view is higher among Canadians who identify as male (at 45 per cent) versus female (36 per cent).In addition, 83 per cent believe that couples often stay together for the sake of their children.Clay Jarvis, a financial expert at NerdWallet Canada, said marriage is a “major financial decision” that should encourage couples to evaluate their financial situations.“I think if the conversation is about determining whether to have kids because you can afford them now, I think that’s because your reality now is what you’re basing all of your decisions on,” he said.

The India-European Union free trade agreement (FTA) has reduced tariffs on many agricultural exports, but these alone won’t secure market access unless our exporters meet high EU import standards and sustainable production requirements. The EU, through its Green Deal and subsequent directives such as those on deforestation (EUDR) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (EUCS3D), has implemented stiff regulations covering food safety, soil health and environmental and labour standards, including rules on greenhouse gas emissions and the wages, health, gender balance, age adequacy and work conditions of workers.

financial health is keeping a close watch on your budget—especially in uncertain times. Start by separating essential expenses such as food, housing, transport and debt repayments from discretionary spending.Once this is clear, identify areas where you can cut back or delay non-essential expenses. Postponing big-ticket spends like a new car or an international holiday can significantly ease financial stress and improve peace of mind.

You might have heard that the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz is going to leave poor countries starving. That’s not quite right. The reality may be almost as serious, though—and China will be the victor.The theory stems from the importance of the Persian Gulf in the world’s fertilizer trade.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Unilever plans to spin off its food business, after carving out its ice-cream unit into The Magnum Ice Cream Company, including India’s Kwality Walls. It continues to sell brands such as Hellmann’s, Kissan, Brooke Bond and Horlicks in India.“Looking ahead, our priorities are clear: more beauty and well-being and personal care,” Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez said in July 2025.Later, the Financial Times reported that Unilever and Kraft Heinz held talks about a potential merger of their food businesses.While the future of these deals is uncertain, they reflect a broader global trend of major FMCG companies reducing their food portfolios—a contrast to India, where private capital is pouring into packaged foods.

Bengaluru: A sharp rise in crude oil-linked raw material prices is unsettling India’s plastic packaging industry, but a bigger disruption is being caused by companies securing and stockpiling their supplies, tightening availability and pushing up prices.This is directly impacting packaged food and beverage companies that are preparing for peak summer demand. Most plastics are derived from crude oil and natural gas liquids that are refined to make the raw material for plastic.Prices of key inputs such as PET resin (used for plastic bottles) and polyolefins (used for bottle caps, labels and pouches) have surged by 40% to 80% in weeks, driven by the West Asia conflict that started on 28 February and subsequent global crude oil volatility.

The war in West Asia has raised geopolitical vulnerabilities. These are not only affecting countries in the region that are directly or indirectly involved in the war, but also much of the rest of the world. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has already led to a spike in energy prices and shortage of petroleum products, including gas.

LPG) at about 62%. Fertilizer imports account for roughly 30% of consumption.That headline number masks wide variation across nutrients.

Mumbai: Dairy products like milk, khoya, cheese, and ghee have become the top targets of adulteration and counterfeiting in India’s FMCG sector. Counterfeiting reported a 2.5x jump to 187 reported incidents in 2025 from 2018, per the Aspa-Crisil State of Counterfeiting in India report.Most of these incidents in the FMCG sector focused on milk-based products, the report added.

₹16 crore. So, what difference has the FPO made to the life of a small farmer like Karma? A lot, she said.Karma’s cultivation costs have halved as the FPO helped farmers switch from expensive chemical inputs to bio-nutrients and organic pest repellents. The farmer-run company now supplies staples like wheat, maize and pulses to a host of corporate buyers like ITC, AWL Agri Ltd (formerly Adani Wilmar) and Safe Harvest, among others.