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rabi crops. "The cold wave conditions in north and other parts of the country are currently conducive to rabi crops and we don't see any major impact," said Ratan Tiwari, director, Indian Council of Agricultural Resrach-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal.India’s rabi crop sowing in 2025–26 has recorded a notable increase in coverage compared to the previous year, with total area sown rising by more than 8 lakh hectares, according to data released by the Union ministry of agriculture & farmers’ welfare on Monday.

Mint explains what the government’s NOC actually signifies, and why these approvals are unlikely, by themselves, to change the current structure of India’s aviation market any time soon.No. An NOC does not allow an airline to fly, sell tickets, or commence operations. It merely permits a company to begin the formal process of setting up an airline.Air Kerala illustrates the gap between approval and execution.

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rare earth magnets, a key input for sectors ranging from defence and electronics to renewable energy and electric vehicles.Mint unpacks the committee's recommendations and India's ambitions for rare earth magnets.Critical mineral security assumes significance amid geopolitical uncertainties and trade wars as nations try to leverage their resources to disrupt supply chains.China’s export ban on rare earth magnets in April 2025, which disrupted manufacturing supply chains globally, resulted from an escalating trade war, with the world’s second-largest economy retaliating to steep US tariffs.Beijing used its dominance in the sector–60% of the world’s rare earth mining and 90% of the world’s processing capacity–as a tool to disrupt supply chains, pushing manufacturers across the globe into a frenzy.The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in its Sustainable Development Goals Pulse 2025 report in July this year, noted that minerals required for the energy transition – copper, zinc, germanium, tin, and nickel, among others – faced higher export restrictions compared to other traded critical minerals. “This trend reflects rising geopolitical sensitivities and growing domestic value chain ambitions in producing countries,” the report noted.The International Energy Agency narrowed and simplified this sentiment, focusing on how critical minerals are shaping the energy transition.

The Asian Drama, Gunnar Myrdal introduced the concept of the ‘soft state.’ He was really writing about South Asia, especially India, with barely any mention of the ‘miracle economies’ of East Asia.He characterized the Indian state as a ‘soft state,’ implying a government with limited capacity, unable to unwind a gridlock of competing interests that sucked up and dissipated scarce resources. This pre-empted the high growth necessary for reducing widespread poverty.India is now a fast-growing economy and poverty is much reduced, but regulatory failure to clean up the air in Delhi under successive governments suggests that the ‘soft state’ still prevails.Of late, the soft state has also been very visible in the awful tragedy in Arpora, Goa, where a fire at an unauthorized night club, Birch by Romeo Lane, killed 21 persons.

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] hits and mid-budget flicks alike lit up Indian cinemas in 2025, proving that viewers flock to theatres regardless of scale or star value, and raising hopes of an encore in the coming year.While trade experts expect 2025 to close with collections of ₹13,000-13,500 crore across languages, about 10-14% higher than the previous year, the failure of films such as War 2 and Sikandar featuring big stars, and franchise films like Thamma, signals that big names alone aren't enough.That said, surprise hits such as Chhaava, Saiyaara and Tere Ishk Mein, along with the breakout numbers of industries like Gujarati, Marathi and Malayalam, underscore the growing space for all kinds of content in theatres, unlike the perception built immediately after the pandemic when only larger-than-life titles were finding draw in cinemas.Devang Sampat, managing director of Cinepolis India, identified three highlights of the year.

When the new tax regime was first introduced in the Union Budget 2020-21, it did not attract many takers that fiscal year.This new optional tax regime offered taxpayers lower tax rates in exchange for foregoing most tax deductions and exemptions under the then-prevailing old tax regime. Its newness and the fact that the old regime still remained more attractive for most people made the shift infeasible.However, the government brought in changes to make the new regime more attractive, encouraging more people to adopt it.

By 2027, the world's electricity consumption is expected to rise by about 8300 TWh, with emerging economies making the largest contribution.India's 1700 TWh electricity demand is predicted to increase by more than 20% by 2027 due to industrialisation and the ambitions of the country's expanding middle class.India's power transmission market is expanding significantly due to the country's electrical grid modernisation and expansion, which support its growing industrial base and rising electricity demand resulting from urbanisation and economic growth.With growth rates much higher than the global average, the nation is one of the most vibrant and quickly expanding power transmission markets in the world.However, certain stocks in the power transmission sector have seen significant declines, dropping by as much as 55% from their 52-week highs.Let's discuss four of these stocks. Please note, this is neither a stock recommendation nor a fundamental analysis of these companies.Transformers and Rectifiers (India) has established itself as a top partner for high-voltage power transformers and reactors for customers worldwide, with three cutting-edge transformer manufacturing facilities.Its wide range of products includes power transformers up to 500 MVA and 1200 kV class, furnace transformers, rectifier and distribution transformers and speciality transformers for a variety of uses, including locomotive traction, series and shunt reactors, and mobile substations.

For India’s affluent, convenience never sat in apps or bookings but in the privilege of things done for them—access to anything, anywhere with no friction or complexity and satisfaction guaranteed. That was traditionally delivered by humans: house managers, executive assistants, and trusted fixers who served the everyday world to the wealthy.Now, a new set of startups is attempting to sculpt that quiet operating system into a product.Over the past year, personal concierge services have drawn renewed attention from founders and large consumer platforms alike.

Artificial intelligence has emerged as the fastest-growing segment for large IT services companies, but with a twist. Experts and industry leaders both say that the red-hot technology is not materially expanding revenues, instead improving efficiency while cannibalising current revenue visibility.For Accenture Plc, the world’s biggest IT services company, advanced AI revenue more than doubled year-on-year (y-o-y) to $1.1 billion, against a 5.95% y-o-y rise in quarterly revenue of $18.74 billion in the September-November quarter.

₹5,500 crore in FY27 from ₹2,800 crore this fiscal year, according to two people aware of the discussions. This will underscore policy continuity in India’s electric vehicle (EV)-led transition, even as disbursals trail targets and newer automakers remain excluded.A proposal to this effect has been submitted by the heavy industries ministry to the finance ministry for the PLI scheme that has a ₹25,938 crore outlay over five years (FY25-29), and consultations are underway for the same, the people cited above said.“The scheme’s outlay is expected to be around ₹5,500 crore for FY27,” said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity.Notified in 2021, the PLI-Auto scheme aims to boost domestic manufacturing of advanced automotive technologies and position India as a global electric vehicle hub.

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] a year marked by punishing US tariffs, climate-linked disruptions, and global uncertainty, India may finally be approaching a payoff phase.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai: Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) will restructure its operations to manage debt and enhance its appeal to investors ahead of its planned public listing next fiscal year, its top official said. Also called Mahavitaran, the state government-owned power distributor will be split into two entities, with one taking over electricity supply to the farm sector along with ₹75,000 crore in outstanding dues from farmers, Lokesh Chandra, the chairman and managing director of MSEDCL, said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Almost every corner of the power sector has rallied this year. Can that winning streak continue? The list of power-sector winners is long.

What is Santa’s secret? How did Santa become one of the world’s most powerful brands? Not the cookies. Not the sleigh. Nor the flying reindeer with suspiciously high fuel efficiency.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi/Karnal: In 2002, Rakshit Jagdale, a young MBA student, went pub crawling in Glasgow, Scotland. Not on a drunken soiree with batchmates but on a more onerous task, assigned by his father.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mutual funds are pushing back against the Indian market regulator’s proposal to introduce a fee linked to good performance, citing the difficulty of calculating these amounts.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Payments banks are an odd hybrid—part bank, part wallet, part financial marketplace. They accept deposits like banks, but unlike full-service lenders, they are not allowed to lend.

To mark National Consumer Day on 24 December in honour of India’s Consumer Protection Act of 1986, the government has made “efficient and speedy disposal through digital justice” this year’s theme.It aims to highlight the consumer’s right to grievance redressal under that law’s 2020 update, which set up adjudicatory bodies at the district, state and national levels to look into disputes. Given the judiciary’s overload of cases, this expansion was welcome.This January saw the launch of e-Jagriti, a unified platform for online redressal that explains the 2025 theme’s digital aspect.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A shopper tries on earmuffs at a Goodwill store. This year, some of Santa’s gifts have been given before.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Stock market recap: Domestic frontline indices, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, ended flat on Tuesday, 23 December, on profit booking at higher levels, even as mid and small-cap segments ended with modest gains amid mixed global cues. The Sensex ended with a minor loss of 43 points, or 0.05%, at 85,524.84, while the Nifty 50 closed 5 points, or 0.02%, up at 26,177.15.