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The AI scare has come knocking on the doors of Indian IT sooner than expected. Spooked by rapid advances in agentic AI, the Nifty IT has erased 20% of investor wealth this month, even as the broader market has remained flat.But as doomsday theories proliferate, the other side of the story is being ignored – that AI’s impact will be multi-layered and will depend on how India Inc adapts. Let’s discuss.

I recently asked Claude to help me think through the structure of my next book. I already knew where the weak point was—I just wanted to see what Claude would come up with. I was amazed by its response: Claude didn’t just correctly identify the problem.

NEW DELHI: The timelines for peak fossil fuel consumption—including oil and coal in both India and globally—may be delayed further amid geopolitical tensions that are pivoting the focus towards energy security and countries deviating from their climate commitments, Shell plc's chief economist Mallika Ishwaran said.While decarbonization in road transport is under way, there is little progress in aviation, marine and steel, which would delay the energy transition journey and eventually, peak oil timelines, Ishwaran said in an interview."We are seeing oil persisting. Electrification of road transport happens anyway, and that displaces anywhere between 40% to 60% of oil demand in road transport, so that's the significant displacement.

School textbooks rarely get recalled after their rollout, but it happened this week with a social science book withdrawn by India’s National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), a government institution. Of the 38 copies sold on Monday at an NCERT counter in Delhi, 16 had been taken back by Wednesday, as reported, with UPI data trails being sought to retrieve a few proving hard to trace. This recall followed a swift order from the education ministry in response to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s objection to a part on “corruption in the judiciary.” A thin online sample suggests two kinds of reactions popped up on social media to the court’s intervention.

A surge in domestic and international travel by Indians has turned India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) luggage sector into a magnet for venture capital investment over the past few years, even as legacy players struggle under their own weight.According to data from the tourism ministry’s India Tourism Data Compendium 2025, Indians recorded 2,948.19 million tourist visits in 2024, a 17.5% increase over the previous year, while overseas trips rose 10.8% to 30.89 million.A host of startups are looking to cash in on this boom. Uppercase, a digital-first luggage and travel gear maker based in Bengaluru, is in talks to raise about $20 million in a Series C round as it sharpens its plans for overseas expansion and accelerates its offline retail rollout, Sudip Ghose, the company's founder, said in an interview with Mint.

A NITI Aayog report seeking to promote small cars and hybrids to reduce vehicular pollution has again brought the spotlight on India’s divided automobile industry.Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd has objected to the report prepared by a government panel under NITI Aayog to promote small cars under the upcoming fuel efficiency norms, and increase the adoption of multiple-fuel vehicles and hybrids, alongside electric vehicles (EVs).However, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd, the Indian joint venture of Japan’s Toyota Corp., praised the plan for a phased electrification approach and the inclusion of biofuel powertrains as zero-emission vehicles, according to a letter reviewed by Mint.The contrasting views mirror differences within the industry over whether to offer other cleaner or lower-emission vehicles parity with EVs, and if small cars should receive concessions under the corporate average fuel efficiency (CAFE 3) norms. While Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Toyota seek support for a wider range of vehicles, including small cars, Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, which have invested heavily in EVs, have opposed it.The panel, set up by think tank Niti Aayog, comprised representatives from the ministries of road transport and highways, heavy industries, petroleum and natural gas, power, railways, and shipping, along with think tanks and industry representation from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).

NEW DELHI: With a new duty slapped on solar module exports to the US, Africa may become an alternative destination for India-made solar power equipment, a government official said.To push solar module exports and project exports, Indian developers can also set up green energy projects through the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model, Santosh Kumar Sarangi, secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy, said in an interview."I believe Africa would emerge as a good destination for India. Not only module exports, but also for project exports, where people are able to go and set up projects as RESCO developers," the secretary said.Under RESCO, a company installs, operates and maintains a solar energy system on a consumer’s property.

Mint in an interview. “India may not be a Top 6 market for us by revenue today, but we believe it will be a Top 6 market for us long-term.

Tata Sons, and Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Infosys, struck a more optimistic note, arguing that IT services firms would remain relevant, playing a critical role in integrating AI technologies into clients’ back-end systems.Amid deepening fault lines, at least two IT CEOs put on a brave face during the Nasscom event, hinting at a turbulent short-term outlook.While Vijayakumar highlighted the human cost of automation, Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS) K. Krithivasan pointed towards revenue cannibalization.“See, we don't have to really incentivize because everybody wants to learn this tech.

Last week’s AI Impact Summit ended the way these gatherings routinely do. This time with a ‘New Delhi Declaration,’ a non-binding hymn to cooperation and the hope that “AI could be made to serve humanity.” It’s the sort of empty language that dozens of countries and international organizations can sign up to without changing a thing.The most revealing statement came from the industry. Hours before the declaration, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman offered a bit of moral arithmetic in an interview with the Indian Express.

renewable energy. "So, our companies will have to challenge that in the appellate forum; but until then, this will continue, this 126% which has been imposed," he said.

Mumbai: At 3:50 am on a quiet Kolkata morning, 35-year-old numerologist Vivek Baid woke up to a string of notifications that would upend his day. One message became two, then three. By 4 am, he had received eight transaction alerts for his forex card.

₹106.12 crore.According to the deal-related documents accessed via Propstack, a real estate data analytics firm, the agreement to sell (development rights) has been signed by the developer and the seller, Sorabji Kanga Charity Trust, through its trustees.As part of the deal, Lodha will be entitled to develop 5,017 square metres of carpet area (saleable area), along with 150 car parking spaces and a 42.5% share in the trust overseeing the project.The market value of the land is approximately ₹621.71 crore, according to the deal document, and Lodha has paid ₹37.42 crore in stamp duty for the transaction that was executed on 7 January.“Lodha will likely develop a high-end residential project there,” said a person on the condition of anonymity.The total land area of the property is 17,403.20 square metres (roughly 4.3 acres), and it has a chawl, Palacimo Co-operative Housing Society, and six bungalows. Lodha will redevelop the land, except for the housing society, as per the agreement.

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.

On Tuesday, information technology industry body Nasscom projected a flat pace of growth for India’s tech services sector in the coming fiscal years. The previous day, brokerage firm Jefferies reduced its target prices of India’s Big Four IT firms.

ABB India Ltd’s shares have risen over 7% in the past four trading sessions, led by better order inflow prospects and early signs of demand improvement.In the December quarter (Q4CY25) earnings call, the management said that demand is rebuilding after a slack in early 2025, supported by traction in emerging industries such as data centres and electronics, favourable macro environment led by the government’s capital expenditure, and a gradual pick up in private-sector investments. This bodes well for 2026.

. Employees get an AI competency score from one to five—scoring a five if they create systems that improve the workflow of others. He has also created a new award: Whoever comes up with the most effective AI-driven process wins a vacation stipend worth several thousand dollars.He won’t consider hiring candidates without AI fluency.

When discussing Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and penny stocks, it’s a classic case of ‘big money’ playing a very different game than the average retail investor.While LIC is famous for its blue-chip holdings, it actually maintains a long tail of low-priced stocks. However, low-priced stocks are sometimes not active buys but holdings that have eroded over years.Here are three penny stocks that LIC holds.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. IDFC First Bank’s investors are shaken, pulling the stock down as much as 20% following reports of a fraud at the fast-growing lender. What began as a disappointing de-empanelment of IDFC and AU Small Finance Bank by the Haryana government—affecting 0.5% of their deposits—quickly evolved into something far more unsettling.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. CIE Automotive India Ltd’s shares are up about 7% since its December quarter (Q4CY25) results last week, as growth momentum continued to gather pace. Consolidated revenue increased by 13% year-on-year, clocking the best growth in many quarters, to ₹2,393 crore on the back of a good show from the India business and a favourable exchange rate in Europe.

In his book Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy, economist W. Brian Arthur explains how institutional outcomes often persist not because they are efficient, but because early deviations alter the payoff structure of future choices. Once a sub-optimal equilibrium is reached, coordination effects and adaptive expectations lock it in.