Newspaper Summary 260226

 India’s solar manufacturers unfazed by US’ 126% tariff

SUNNY OUTLOOK. Firms are confident of domestic demand, supply chain diversification

M Ramesh, Chennai

The US Department of Commerce has announced a steep 125.8 per cent countervailing duty on solar cells and modules imported from India, Indonesia, and Laos as a preliminary measure pending a final determination. Indian manufacturers have, however, shrugged off the move, broadly stating they have other business options.

Market Reaction and Allegations Despite the manufacturers' confidence, the US move sent shock waves through renewable energy stocks, with shares of Waaree Energies and Premier Energies dropping sharply. The US action followed a petition by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, which alleged “unfair” market-distorting subsidies were provided to Indian manufacturers. A final determination on the matter is expected on July 6.

The Alliance stated its petition aimed to halt “ongoing pattern of market-distorting and anti-competitive practices”. It further alleged that after South-East Asian dumping was addressed, some Chinese-backed firms shifted operations to Laos and Indonesia, with companies in India joining in to undercut American producers.

Strategic Alternatives The National Solar Energy Federation of India remains optimistic, noting that a trade deal with the US is being fine-tuned and could supersede these duties. Federation CEO Subrahmanyam Pulipaka highlighted that the government has already initiated a process allowing solar units in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to sell products in the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA), calling it a “robust alternative”.

Individual firms have also expressed resilience:

• Vikram Solar: Chairman Gyanesh Chaudhary stated the company can sell in the US from other geographies thanks to a diversified supply chain, while its growth strategy remains “firmly anchored in India”.
• Premier Energies: The company reported “no material impact” because it had already reduced its exports to “almost nil”.
• Emmvee Photovoltaics: Stated the duties would have “no impact” as its business is primarily aligned with domestic demand.

Vinay Rustagi, Chief Business Officer, noted that manufacturers have had a long time to refine their sales strategies since the US investigation began in August 2025.

Import Data According to the US Department of Commerce, solar imports from India reached 2.3 GW in 2024, valued at $792.64 million. This is a significant increase from 2022, when imports from India were valued at just $84 million. Overall, the US imported 56 GW of modules and 13.8 GW of cells in 2024, with a total import value of $15.2 billion.

No plan to extend deadline on SIM-binding rules, says Scindia

ADHERENCE TO RULING. On AGR issues raised by Airtel, Minister said the government is abiding by SC’s verdict

S Ronendra Singh, New Delhi

The government on Wednesday asserted that there would be no extension of the deadline for implementing SIM-binding norms for over-the-top (OTT) communication platforms such as WhatsApp, Sharechat, Jiochat, Signal, Meta, and Telegram.

Security Measures Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia stated, “On national security issues, there can be no compromise. On revenue implication issues, I am very clear in terms of the mandate and where our responsibility lies... Users will have to log out in six hours”.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) mandated in November 2025 that OTT platforms must implement continuous SIM-binding, requiring apps to remain strictly linked to an active, physical SIM card in the device. Furthermore, web and desktop versions must automatically log users out every six hours to force fresh re-authentication. The government maintains these steps are essential to prevent remote account hijacking and “digital arrest” scams.

Satellite and Telecom Dues Regarding the allocation of satellite spectrum to Starlink, Scindia noted the government is eager to begin services but emphasized that companies must first comply with security regulations and the government must finalize spectrum assignment pricing.

On the issue of Bharti Airtel's request for relief on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, the Minister ruled out executive intervention. He suggested the carrier pursue legal recourse, stating, “We are operating under a verdict of the Supreme Court. As far as AGR is concerned, it is based on that verdict that we have taken whatever action”.

Background on Repayment The Cabinet had previously approved Vodafone Idea’s AGR dues at ₹87,695 crore on December 31, 2025, featuring a staggered 10-year repayment plan from FY32 to FY41. The DoT has also initiated a reassessment of that company's liabilities for the FY07-FY19 period following Supreme Court rulings that allowed for recalculation.

Outward remittances under LRS dip for 2nd straight year in FY26

DATA FOCUS. Consumption-linked flows register broad-based decline, while asset allocation abroad sees a surge

Yashaswani Chauhan, New Delhi

Outward remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) have declined for the second consecutive year. In FY26 (April to December), they fell by 4.1 per cent to $21.37 billion from $22.28 billion a year ago. This follows a sharper 10.1 per cent contraction in FY25, after remittances had peaked at $24.8 billion in FY24.

Economists attribute this moderation to a combination of cyclical pressures and structural shifts in flow composition after a strong post-pandemic surge. Anil Sood of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Complex Choices (IASCC) noted that stagnant returns in Indian financial markets and high net-worth individuals moving to low-tax jurisdictions are driving structural shifts toward overseas property and financial assets.

Decisive Tilt Toward Assets While overall flows declined, there was a significant shift toward asset allocation abroad:

• Immovable Property: Remittances surged 77.2 per cent to $0.38 billion.
• Equity and Debt: Investment rose 58.6 per cent to $1.77 billion.
• Deposits: Increased by 11.6 per cent.

In contrast, consumption-linked categories saw broad declines. Travel, the largest component, fell 5.5 per cent to $12.38 billion. Maintenance of close relatives dropped by 5 per cent, gifts by 13.5 per cent, and medical treatment by 34.3 per cent.

Education and Discretionary Spending Remittances for studies abroad fell sharply by 22.3 per cent to $1.72 billion. Sood described this as a likely cyclical decline fueled by rupee depreciation, changes in international immigration policies, and employment uncertainties. However, he suggested immigration regimes might become more supportive as demand for skilled talent clarifies over the next few years.

The drop in travel and discretionary spending reflects wider uncertainty regarding professional employment in high-paying sectors.

Future Outlook Analysts expect investment-related remittances to remain resilient, while growth in consumption-related flows may remain stagnant. Future trajectories could be influenced by policy; the RBI and the government may discourage outward remittances if the rupee remains under pressure or trade performance fails to improve.

The changing face of the factory

What distinguishes advanced factories is process discipline, continuous improvement, digital connectivity and data-driven intelligence

INDUSTRY PUSH. India’s aim to raise manufacturing’s share to 25% of GDP will depend on the design of factories and the people who run them

VIPIN SONDHI G SUNDARARAMAN

For decades, manufacturing in India has struggled with a perception problem; one that affects career choices, productivity growth, export competitiveness and long-term economic resilience. For many young people and often their parents, it still evokes images of repetitive shop-floor work and limited mobility. That perception, shaped by legacy experience and the rise of services, no longer reflects operational reality.

Across the world and increasingly in India, factories are evolving into technology-rich environments where decisions are data-driven, problems are addressed systematically and value is created through design, intelligence and operational leadership at scale. The shift is less about technological spectacle and more about raising productivity through disciplined systems and execution. Factories of the future are not about robots replacing people but about amplifying human capability through technology. This is an evolution visible to anyone who has watched a modern plant floor shift from manual supervision to data-led decision-making.

The recently concluded AI Summit underscored a shift in India’s technology discourse; from experimentation with artificial intelligence to its application in core economic sectors. While attention often gravitates toward consumer-facing AI tools, its more durable impact may lie in manufacturing, where data-driven systems can enhance reliability, optimise processes and raise productivity at scale. The real measure of AI’s promise may not be novelty, but whether it strengthens the competitiveness of India’s industrial base.

FUTURE FACTORIES Factories of the future are often labelled ‘smart factories’, a phrase that reduces them to automation and artificial intelligence. Technology is central, but not the defining feature. What distinguishes advanced factories is process discipline, continuous improvement, digital connectivity and data-driven intelligence. Technology enables performance, while organisational culture and execution discipline sustain it. Those who have led plants through disruption will recognise how quickly sophisticated equipment can underperform without operating rigour.

Plants that layer automation onto weak foundations rarely achieve durable gains, while those with strong operating systems compound advantage when technology is introduced. In this sense, factories of the future are organisational systems as much as technical ones. Modern manufacturing spans products, plant design and supply chains. Mechanical products increasingly integrate electronics and software, making design-for-manufacture inseparable from digital simulation and validation. Factories are designed virtually before capital is deployed, using digital twins to optimise layouts, throughput and energy use.

Artificial intelligence is embedded in these systems powering predictive maintenance, dynamic quality control and real-time process optimisation. In production environments, AI translates data into measurable productivity gains rather than abstract insight. It is less a standalone technology than an enabler of ‘learning factories’, systems that adapt and improve with each production cycle. Supply chains, once treated as support functions, are now strategic assets shaped by real-time visibility and predictive planning, particularly amid geopolitical volatility. On the shop floor, computer vision, predictive maintenance and digital dashboards are replacing manual inspection and reporting. The objective is not output alone, but simultaneous improvement in yield, reliability and responsiveness.

CHANGING LEADERSHIP As factories evolve, so do roles. Operators and engineers increasingly use structured problem-solving tools and digital systems. Supervisors rely on live performance metrics rather than retrospective reports. Leadership requires balancing cost, quality, delivery, safety and sustainability under constraint. Systems thinking and cross-functional coordination become core managerial capabilities.

India’s ambition to raise manufacturing’s share of GDP from around 15-16 per cent to 25 per cent reflects an economic and strategic imperative. It is central to employment creation, economic resilience and India’s negotiating leverage in a fragmented global economy. Achieving this shift will depend less on capacity alone and more on how factories are designed, run and continuously improved; and that makes young people central to the effort.

Manufacturing today accounts for roughly one-sixth of India’s output, compared with over 25 per cent in several East Asian export-led economies. The debate is often framed as manufacturing versus services. The more relevant distinction is between economies that build high-productivity systems and those that assemble capacity without institutional depth. In a capital-scarce environment, the return on manufacturing investment will matter as much as the scale of new capacity. Policy initiatives from PLIs across electronics, automotive and pharmaceuticals to renewed emphasis on defence manufacturing seek to strengthen domestic capability while integrating India more deeply into global value chains. The objective is to become more atmanirbhar while remaining globally connected and competitive.

Beyond automobiles and electronics, several other sectors in India are quietly becoming laboratories for factories of the future. Aerospace and defence manufacturing are advancing in precision machining, digital quality systems and secure supply chains. Pharmaceuticals and medical devices are integrating automation and data integrity to meet global regulatory standards. Renewable energy equipment demands tightly controlled processes and rapid scale-up. India’s growing export orientation will reinforce this shift.

This transition will however not be frictionless. Many firms, particularly MSMEs, face constraints in capital, digital capability and managerial bandwidth. Raising manufacturing’s share of GDP will therefore require investments in skilling, supplier development and institutional strengthening. Productivity gains will ultimately depend on managerial and technical depth within firms.

Manufacturing offers immediate feedback from reality, something every plant leader encounters sooner or later. Production shortfalls, quality defects and safety incidents demand resolution. This makes factories powerful leadership training grounds, requiring individuals to translate strategy into execution and manage trade-offs in high-stakes environments. Factories of the future reinforce this through decentralised problem-solving and disciplined continuous improvement. Leadership emerges from the ability to learn, influence and deliver results.

The factories of the past demanded compliance. The factories of the future will demand creativity, systems thinking and leadership. In building globally competitive factories, India will strengthen not only industrial output but also its economic resilience and bargaining power. As it did for the West, sustained industrial capability will ultimately underwrite our national confidence and strategic voice as we march to 2047.

Sondhi is former MD & CEO of Ashok Leyland and JCB India; Sundararaman is Chief Scientist and Head of Wipro Research. Views are personal.

Seeding farms with tech

AGRISTACK. Provides farmers with an integrated digital profile

AgriStack is re-coding the future of farming in India

Omprakash Subbarao

Indian agriculture is going through a critical and transformative period. Traditionally, farmers made decisions on how to farm based on their past experiences and the changing seasons. This way of farming has been replaced by an increase in precision, electronically-based, and data-driven farming decisions. The new technology available to farmers is AgriStack, which will allow for better delivery of services, money and knowledge by creating a new type of Digital Public Infrastructure that focuses on farmers so they can improve the way they do things in rural India.

DIGITAL PROFILE

AgriStack provides farmers with an integrated and trustworthy digital profile, which alleviates the historically disorganised nature of land and beneficiary data. By creating this trusted base of data, AgriStack provides farmers with easy access to subsidies, credit, crop insurance, and advisory services. As a result, over 8.4 crore farmers are accessing money directly from their digital accounts, reducing corruption and increasing transparency. Therefore, not only does AgriStack improve administrative efficiencies, but also creates enhanced financial inclusion and greater trust in institutions.

Productivity, not welfare delivery, will be the defining change. Farmers adopt farm management practices based on artificial intelligence, satellite-based remote sensing, and precise geolocation soil analysis. These help reduce input expenses, protect and retain the quality of soil, conserve water, grow more food per acre, and preserve resources in an environment of increased climate variability.

The management of both pests and diseases is changing — from reactive to being proactive. Through the use of AI-based diagnostic tools, farmers can utilise mobile devices to identify the early signs of pest or nutrient stress. Additionally, alerts provide farmers with timely information to help them provide precise treatment to their crops to minimise damage and use fewer chemicals than otherwise necessary.

Smallholder farmers experience decreased financial risk as a result of these changes and will be more resilient due to the improved management of their crops.

Also key in terms of innovative development is its decentralisation. New innovation hubs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas are creating locally appropriate, affordable technologies that are tailored to both small landholdings as well as to many diverse agro-climatic zones. The bottom-up model of innovation development helps ensure digital transformation is both inclusive and adaptable rather than uniform and from the top down.

Research organisations are linking cutting edge science with agricultural realities. Examples like the GRAMA project by IISc or the Agri Vaahan platform show that AI can help farmers by assisting with crop decision-making, price forecasting, and creating market access. Making these tools available to Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and researchers allows the decentralised collaborative intelligence ecosystem to develop through the use of data to help the whole group grow. A growing number of predictive models are being developed by combining genomic research, soil health records and weather data so that seeds can be developed to withstand changing conditions and crop strategies can be adapted for long-term sustainability.

Training rural youth in areas such as drone operation, data analytics, and climate-smart agronomy will produce a new class of agri-entrepreneurs that can support and grow the use of digital agriculture within their communities.

The AgriStack framework is based on the concept of consent-based data governance. The protection of farmers’ sovereign control over their data will enable agricultural innovation that will guide India’s transition to a more resilient and equitable rural economy.

The writer is Chief Executive, FSID CORE, IISc

Housing Price Index up 1.2% driven by major cities

Our Bureau, Mumbai

The All India House Price Index (HPI) rose to 115.6 in Q3 (October-December) FY26, up from 114.2 in the previous quarter, reflecting a growth of 1.2 per cent. According to a statement from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), this increase was driven by a rise in housing prices across major cities such as Jaipur, Kanpur, and Chennai.

The HPI is compiled based on transaction-level data obtained from registration authorities in 18 cities.

Year-on-Year Growth On a year-on-year basis, the All India HPI grew by 3.6 per cent in Q3 FY26. This represents a moderation compared to the 6.9 per cent growth recorded in the same quarter of the previous year. The RBI noted that cities such as Nagpur, Chandigarh, and Jaipur were primary drivers of this year-on-year growth.

Index Expansion In the first quarter, the index was expanded to include eight additional cities: Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Pune, Ghaziabad, Thane, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Chandigarh, and Nagpur. This new series uses 2022-23 as the base year.

Newspaper Summary 250226

Claude shock: IBM rout sinks Nifty IT

Sanjana B Bengaluru

Shares of IBM tumbled over 13 per cent on Monday, wiping out more than $30 billion in market capitalisation and dragging Indian IT stocks lower, after a blog post by Anthropic stoked investor concerns that AI-led tools like Claude Code could accelerate COBOL modernisation.

The decline weighed heavily on Indian IT stocks, with the Nifty IT index dropping nearly 5 per cent on Tuesday. Individual stock performances saw LTIMindtree fall 6.43 per cent, Tech Mahindra decline 6.17 per cent, and HCLTech slip 5.83 per cent, while industry giants Infosys and TCS both ended down 3.56 per cent.

ANTHROPIC EFFECT

Analysts attributed the aggressive sell-off to an Anthropic blog post highlighting the fragility of legacy COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) systems. Anthropic noted that hundreds of billions of lines of this decades-old, poorly documented code still power critical infrastructure, even as the pool of qualified engineers shrinks.

Traditionally, modernising these systems required massive costs, large consulting teams, and multi-year timelines. Anthropic argued that AI tools like Claude Code can compress these cycles from years to just quarters.

Responding to a businessline e-mail, IBM stated: “IBM has been investing in code modernisation for years... Translating COBOL is the easy part. The real work is data architecture redesign, runtime replacement, transaction processing integrity and hardware-accelerated performance built over decades of tight software and hardware coupling". IBM emphasized that AI is the most powerful tool they have ever had to solve these fundamental engineering challenges.

Pareekh Jain, Founder and CEO of EIIR Trend, suggested that while the market sell-off may be an overreaction, the underlying risk is real. He noted that the prospect of AI completing work in as little as two weeks threatens traditional effort-based billing models used by the IT services industry.

Banks up scrutiny of large-value branch transactions post IDFC First Bank scam

Piyush Shukla Mumbai

Lenders have stepped up the scrutiny of high-value, cheque-based transactions generated by branches, after IDFC First Bank reported a material ₹590 crore fraud from its Chandigarh branch last week, senior bankers say.

“We plan to put in an explicit system for high-value transactions. For branch-based transactions exceeding a threshold, we will require explicit confirmation via a verified digital channel or app. We will also use AI. Currently, a branch manager physically clears cheques, but we will implement a system where AI performs initial checking, followed by human confirmation, to better handle exceptions. This was a physical, manual cheque fraud — the most traditional type. We will improvise and put new controls in place,” said V Vaidyanathan, MD and CEO, IDFC First Bank.

A senior private sector banker said that following the IDFC First Bank disclosure, all banks are reviewing their internal controls, especially for high-value transactions.

“At the branch level, we are reviewing and upgrading maker-checker system, scrutinising repeat transactions extensively and adding various layers of authentication, apart from a confirmation call to ensure authenticity of transaction,” the banker said.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

Sources said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is understood to be satisfied with the IDFC First Bank management’s prompt disclosures and corrective actions post the occurrence of the fraud, and the central bank is unlikely to bring in any policy change for branch-led operation.

The regulator, however, may engage with the bank bilaterally to identify gaps and the persons behind the fraud.

Another senior banker noted that mid-sized and small lenders may see a short-term impact in terms of government entities parking their money with State-owned lenders, but this may not last long, as public sector banks, too, have faced material frauds in the past and are relatively less agile than private banks on technology infrastructure.

“The IDFC First Bank fraud, it appears, occurred due to connivance between bank employees, third-party broker and possibly Haryana State government department officials. Banks can build all the processes, but when employees act in connivance with third-party individuals, it becomes tough to spot frauds,” they said.

The banker observed that most frauds in the banking industry were on the advances side in the past, but, over the last five years, frauds have increased on the deposit side. These include mule accounts, digital frauds, micro-deposit schemes fraud, cheque fraud, and account takeover fraud, among others.

“A customer used to trust her banker as much as her doctor. But over the last 10-15 years bankers have lost that trust. Some engage in quick money-making schemes, and often lose money by trading in risky instruments like F&O. Under severe debt stress, they engage in fraudulent practices. Sometimes they may act in connivance with private individuals, as was seen in IDFC’s case, and sometimes they may move money from dormant accounts,” the banker said.

How the ₹590-crore fraud unfolded at IDFC First Bank

Our Bureau Mumbai

Over the past four days, IDFC First Bank has faced a series of setbacks. Its shares hit the lower circuit, the government of Haryana has de-empanelled the bank from handling State government business, and the lender has appointed KPMG to carry out a forensic audit. These developments follow the ₹590 crore fraud uncovered at one of the bank’s branches in Chandigarh. businessline explains how the bank faced a material fraud:

What was the modus operandi of the fraud?

According to public statements made by the bank’s management, this was a cheque-based fraud, perhaps the oldest kind in the banking industry.

While an investigation is awaited to unearth the details, forged physical cheques may have been used by an external party, who was allegedly acting on behalf of the government department, and manipulated entries may have been made by bank employees to siphon off or transfer funds out of the government department’s bank accounts.

The bank’s controls (like maker-checker approvals and SMS alerts) apparently failed to catch these until the discrepancies were noticed. The bank management suspects that the external party, supposedly representing the government department, acted in connivance with bank employees, who cleared the cheques without extensive vetting.

How was the fraud identified?

The scale of the fraud was identified when a certain department of the Haryana government sought closure of its deposit account at IDFC First Bank and transfer the remaining funds to another bank. IDFC First Bank then observed certain discrepancies in the amount claimed by the department against the actual balance in the account.

From February 18, 2026, certain other Haryana government entities engaged with the bank with regard to their respective accounts. During this process, differences were observed between the balances in the account and the balances mentioned by the Haryana government entities holding accounts with the bank.

Post review, the bank said the scope of the fraud did not extend to other customers of the Chandigarh branch. It has still not clarified the period during which the amount was transferred to other accounts.

What action has the bank taken?

The bank has placed four branch officials under suspension pending investigation. Additionally, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini said the government will form a high-level committee to identify and punish the perpetrators of this fraud, be they bank officials, third-party brokers or any government department official.

Agentic AI is projected to significantly compress white-collar labor in India, particularly within the information technology (IT) and services sectors, by shifting the focus from human productivity to task replacement.

The following factors detail how this compression is expected to unfold:

Stagnant Headcount Growth

Industry experts and reports from Nasscom indicate a decisive shift toward non-linear growth, where revenue can increase without a corresponding rise in headcount.

• Net additions for FY26 are projected at a growth rate of only 2.3%, translating to just one lakh (100,000) new jobs across the entire sector.
• Nasscom anticipates that job additions will remain stagnant for the next fiscal year and beyond.

Shift to Task Replacement

The evolution from generative AI to agentic AI marks a transition from simple task automation to systems that can enable decision-making and execute "next-best actions".

• Markets are increasingly viewing these advanced models as task-replacement engines rather than just productivity enhancers.
• AI agents are being formally integrated into teams to act on behalf of users, accessing files and executing workflows that previously required human intervention.
• If a task is digital and does not require physical labor, AI is now increasingly capable of handling "micro-jobs" that once took a human an hour to complete.

Vulnerability of the "Middle Layer"

Experts are divided on which segment of the workforce will be most affected, but many point to the middle layer of the talent pool as the most vulnerable.

• While younger generations may adapt quickly, the middle tier must transition and upskill at an accelerated pace to remain relevant.
• Displaced middle-layer workers may increase competition for lower-end roles, potentially freezing wage growth and widening income inequality.

Disruption of Traditional Business Models

The IT services industry’s traditional effort-based billing models (based on man-hours) are under direct threat.

• AI tools like Claude Code can compress modernization cycles for legacy systems—which traditionally required large teams and multi-year timelines—down to just quarters or even weeks.
• As AI handles up to 90% of code generation, software becomes significantly cheaper to produce, leading to "massive perturbations" for legacy players.
• Analysts warn of deflationary risks to sector revenues, as clients may demand a share of these efficiency gains, leading to lower realizations per man-hour.

** Gradual vs. Sudden Transition**

Despite these pressures, some leaders, such as HCLTech CEO C. Vijayakumar, argue that the transition will be gradual rather than dramatic due to the "big lag" between technological capability and actual enterprise deployment. They suggest that meaningful gains may take years to materialize as firms must first modernize legacy technology stacks to support AI.

Banks grapple with changing savings behaviour

K Srinivasa Rao

Banks need to deal with structural liquidity mismatches created by money moving into alternative investments from bank deposits.

The deepening of financial markets, along with increased financial literacy and quick access to bank savings through digital channels, has fuelled a gradual shift of bank deposits into alternative investments, including mutual funds, equities, bonds, small savings, G-secs, gold, silver, real estate, and derivatives.

The customer profile of banks is shifting toward young, tech-savvy customers having a higher risk appetite for exploring non-bank investment options. The increased flow of bank deposits moving back and forth between alternative investments in financial markets and the banking system in a different form is creating risks. The business model may need to be recalibrated to align with the evolving transformation in asset and liability composition, tenor, and pricing.

THE DEPOSIT CHURN

A common argument is that deposits that move to other institutions should eventually return to the banking system after the round trip, as the receiving institutions will use banks to route them. If a bank customer moves funds from a savings account to alternative financial instruments, the system’s liquidity might eventually recover, but the ALM structure and interest rates will change drastically. The flight of deposits from banks to financial markets and their return to banks will be subject to certain “liquidity leaks” and a major “pricing trap”.

While most money remains in the banking “pipes”, a significant portion leaves the system temporarily or permanently. Even when that money returns to the bank via a Mutual Fund Institution’s bank account, it is placed in high-cost bulk deposits or CDs (Certificates of Deposit), where the bank might have to pay 7.5 per cent or more.

Thus, banks might be losing low-cost retail deposits and replacing them with “expensive” wholesale funding, which narrows their net interest margin (NIM). This is why many banks introduce differentiated deposit schemes with attractive interest rates to prevent deposit outflows and protect their NIM.

LEAK OF LIQUIDITY

Not all deposits that leave the bank may return to the banking system, as some may go as taxes that get parked with the RBI, effectively withdrawing that money from the commercial banking system until the government spends it. As of early 2026, government cash balances have hovered between ₹1.5 lakh crore and ₹4 lakh crore, creating a temporary liquidity shortfall.

Physical cash withdrawals have surged, with currency withdrawals amounting to ₹4.4 trillion in the 14 months leading to January 2026—three times higher than the previous year’s trend. Every rupee held in a physical wallet cannot be multiplied as a bank deposit. Additionally, the RBI often sells dollars to stabilise the rupee, which permanently removes liquidity from the banking system.

The “churn” of money moving between banks and alternative investments creates constant friction, often choking banks’ lendable resources and slowing the velocity of money. Deposits don't simply “revolve” into alternative investment instruments; they create structural liquidity mismatches, higher funding costs, and systemic risks—despite total household savings remaining stable in the long run.

The RBI’s support through liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) can be only temporary. Ultimately, banks will need to recalibrate their business models to manage their operations while protecting their NIM. Through non-core banking services, banks should galvanise institutional accounts of wealth management entities and serve them with a priority tag.

Similarly, non-funded products should be used to serve corporate accounts actively raising funds through bonds and the ECB route, with specially trained employees to improve retention of funds. SLBC forums and lead bank relationships should be explored for government accounts. Banks will have to gear up for higher liquidity and pricing competition as deposits flee to other investment channels and lose much of their sheen on their return journey back to banks.

The writer is Adjunct Professor, Institute of Insurance and Risk Management. Views expressed are personal.

‘Per capita income acceleration faster than GDP growth rate’

Our Bureau Mumbai

The acceleration in India’s per capita income growth has been faster than its GDP growth, driven significantly by a decline in population growth, according to RBI Deputy Governor Poonam Gupta.

Speaking at the 14th Foundation Day Lecture of the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram on February 20, Gupta explained that while India’s population growth was traditionally much higher than the global average, it has declined rapidly over the years. Since 2014, India’s population growth has been on par with the world average.

DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFT

Gupta attributed the slowing population growth to a rapid decline in fertility rates since the 1980s, which has outpaced the decline in death rates. She noted that these trends reflect the impact of increasing prosperity and education levels on demography and are expected to continue, further aiding the rapid increase in per capita incomes.

INCOME MILESTONES

India’s per capita income has seen a dramatic rise over the last few decades:

• 1981: $274
• 1991: $306
• 2024: $2,700 (a nearly 10-fold increase from 1981 levels)

The pace of this growth has accelerated significantly. While it took 23 years to double the per capita income starting from 1981, it increased almost five-fold in the subsequent 22 years.

FUTURE PROJECTIONS

Citing the IMF’s October 2025 World Economic Outlook, Gupta stated that per capita income is projected to continue its upward trajectory:

• 2025: $2,818
• 2026: $3,051
• 2030: $4,346

GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

Since the early 1990s, the Indian economy has consistently outpaced global growth. Consequently, India’s share of the global economy has tripled, rising from 1.1 per cent in 1991 to 3.5 per cent in 2024.

Furthermore, India’s per capita GDP as a percentage of world per capita GDP has increased from 7 per cent in 1991 to nearly 20 per cent in 2024 in current US dollar terms. Gupta emphasized that in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, India’s per capita GDP relative to the world average is even larger.

Tiruppur targets $10 billion exports to Europe

Our Bureau Chennai

India’s knitwear hub Tiruppur is positioning itself for its next growth leap as free trade agreements (FTAs) with the UK and the European Union near fruition, industry leaders said at a summit in Chennai on Tuesday.

“We have set an ambitious target of $10 billion in apparel exports by 2030,” said N Thirukkumaran, Chairman, Esstee Exports India Ltd, Tiruppur, and Secretary of the Tiruppur Exporters Association.

Currently, India’s total apparel exports stand at about $16 billion, with Tiruppur alone contributing nearly $5.2 billion—roughly a third of the country’s shipments. With the Prime Minister setting a national target of $40 billion in apparel exports by 2030, Tiruppur is expected to play a pivotal role.

GAME CHANGER

Exporters believe Europe will be a “game changer”. While India has already signed trade agreements with the UAE and other GCC countries, duty-free access to the UK and the EU could significantly improve Tiruppur’s competitiveness against rival sourcing hubs. Industry representatives noted that FTAs with a few European countries often open doors across the wider European market, multiplying export opportunities.

SUSTAINABILITY EDGE

A key differentiator for Tiruppur is its cluster-level sustainability framework. Unlike other global apparel hubs where compliance is limited to individual firms, Tiruppur operates common effluent treatment plants and shared ESG infrastructure, making it one of the few clusters globally aligned with emerging environmental and social disclosure norms. As sustainability becomes a baseline requirement for doing business, this advantage is expected to gain prominence.

STRATEGIC SHIFT

The Tiruppur cluster is also reorienting its growth strategy towards man-made fibre garments, athleisure, and value-added products, reflecting global consumption trends. Industry leaders expressed confidence that new investments in fibres such as lyocell in Tamil Nadu would strengthen competitiveness. Sunil Jhunjhunwala, Co-Founder of Techno Sportwear Pvt Ltd, added that the free and fair availability of raw materials and the mobility of the labour workforce will be critical for the industry's success.

59% winter rain deficit hits east & central parts badly

Vinson Kurian Thiruvananthapuram

Winter precipitation between January 1 and February 23 is 59 per cent below normal for the country, with only the South Peninsula (-24 per cent) seeing marginal benefit among the four regions, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

East and North-East India recorded the steepest deficit at -92 per cent, followed by Central India at -81 per cent. The shortfall is attributed to fewer western disturbances carrying adequate moisture along the international border across Gujarat, south-west Rajasthan and Punjab.

BELOW-NORMAL VIEW

North-West India fared relatively better at -48 per cent, though the systems failed to penetrate eastward. Moisture supply from the Bay of Bengal remained weak, unlike the north-east Arabian Sea, which partly aided North-West India.

In its short-term outlook for February 26-March 4, the IMD said one or two feeble western disturbances may bring light to moderate rain/snow at isolated to scattered places over the hills of North-West India on a few days, but these would be insufficient to alter the overall situation.

Light precipitation may extend eastward to isolated areas of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, but rainfall is likely to remain below normal across most parts of the country. Isolated rain/snow is expected over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Friday and Saturday.

BETTER PROSPECTS

Long-range guidance from the Climate Forecast System and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts indicate improving conditions from mid-March.

Western disturbance activity is expected to strengthen between mid-March and early April, peaking around March 25-April 3. Likely beneficiaries include Gujarat, west Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh.

Rainfall may be heavier over the hills of North-West India, parts of East and North-East India, and in the South over coastal Karnataka, Kerala and the adjoining Western Ghats, including south-west and south Tamil Nadu.

Kerala to be renamed Keralam soon

Shishir Sinha New Delhi

The Union Cabinet has approved the renaming, pending further legislative action and Presidential nod.

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday held its first meeting at ‘Seva Teerth’, the new office of the Prime Minister. It approved a proposal to rename Kerala as Keralam, among other decisions related to the Railways, power and agriculture.

“After the approval of the Union Cabinet, the President of India will refer a Bill, namely the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala for expressing its views under the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution,” Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the media after the meeting.

According to an official release, after the receipt of the views of the Kerala Assembly, the Government of India will obtain the recommendation of the president for the introduction of the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, in Parliament. The State Assembly had on June 24, 2024, adopted a resolution to change the name of the State to ‘Keralam’.

“The name of our State is ‘Keralam’ in the Malayalam language. States were formed on the basis of language on the 1st day of November 1956. The Kerala Piravi Day is also on the 1st day of November,” the Kerala Assembly resolution read.

“Since the time of the national independence struggle, there has been a strong demand for the formation of United Kerala for the people speaking the Malayalam language. But in the First Schedule to the Constitution, the name of our State is recorded as ‘Kerala’. This Assembly unanimously appeals to the Central government to take urgent steps as per Article 3 of the Constitution for modifying the name to Keralam,” the resolution added.

Thereafter, the Kerala government requested the Central government to take the necessary steps to amend the First Schedule to the Constitution by altering the name of ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralam’, according to Article 3 of the Constitution.

PIQUANT PROBLEM

Meanwhile, ahead of the official announcement, Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor wrote in a social media post: “All to the good, no doubt, but a small linguistic question for the Anglophones among us: What happens now to the terms “Keralite” and “Keralan” for the denizens of the new “Keralam”? “Keralamite” sounds like a microbe and “Keralamian” like a rare earth mineral…! @CMOKerala might want to launch a competition for new terms resulting from this electoral zeal".

The Software Upgrade in Chinese Civic Behaviour

 In the provided sources, "software" is defined as civic behaviour, or what is domestically referred to in China as "civilisational levels" (wénmíng shuǐpíng). The evolution of this software is framed as a significant upgrade that has occurred alongside the country's massive "hardware" (infrastructure and building) improvements over the last two decades.

The Evolution from "Village" Norms to Urban Etiquette

In the early 2000s, Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, were described as having "much of the village about them". Civic behaviour during this era was characterized by several "lacunae" in social etiquette:

• Public Habits: Casual spitting, littering, and disorderly queuing were common.
• Social Interactions: Scant awareness of others’ personal or aural space, manifested through loud phone conversations and "Beijing-style name-calling".
• Physical Deportment: Locals often hitched vests over their bellies in warm weather, and children frequently wore kaidangku (open-crotch pants) for convenience.
• Sanitation: Public toilets were often unclean, and users frequently squatted on top of Western-style toilet seats.

By 2026, the sources describe a marked transformation. Observations at places like the Fragrant Hills in Beijing show improved crowd management and relative order despite massive tourist numbers. Public spaces have become "spick and span" with no litter in sight, and toilet seats are generally free of footprints, indicating a shift from squatting to sitting.

Drivers of the "Software Upgrade"

The sources identify several key factors that have propelled this evolution:

• Economic Growth: As per capita income in Beijing rose from approximately USD 2,600 in 2005 to USD 13,000 in 2025, the population moved from "survival norms" toward "bourgeois self-regulation". Higher incomes have fostered a middle class with reputational stakes who care about refinement and social scrutiny.
• Settled Urbanisation: The process of moving from rural to urban areas has transitioned into a "settling into" of urban norms, moving past the phase where the "village lingers in the city".
• Hardware Influencing Software: The physical environment itself shapes behaviour; for instance, targeted afforestation (adding 2.19 million mu of green space) and the provision of ample dustbins and clean waterways encourage more respectful use of public space.
• Increased Surveillance: The "panopticon" of pervasive surveillance cameras—estimated at 370 per 1,000 people in large cities—creates a sense of being constantly observed. This results in self-policing and reduces "behavioural slippage" into old habits like spitting or littering.

"Upgrade with Chinese Characteristics"

Despite these changes, the sources clarify that the evolution is an "upgrade with Chinese characteristics," rather than a total transformation into a nation of "synchronised swimmers". Some traditional behaviours persist:

• Taoist Spirit: The "way of the Tao" remains alive in the intuitive and sometimes rule-bending habits of bicyclists who ignore one-way roads or zebra crossings.
• Informality: "Pajama couture" is still seen in older neighbourhoods, and "nappers" can still be found on display beds in IKEA.

Ultimately, the Chinese are described as "natural loophole-finders" who exist in a constant state of tension between individualistic, jugaad-oriented instincts and the order-seeking, paternalistic dictates of the state.

The sources identify the "software upgrade" in Chinese civic behaviour—domestically referred to as "civilisational levels" (wénmíng shuǐpíng)—as a complex transformation driven by a combination of economic, social, environmental, and technological factors.

The primary drivers of this change include:

1. Economic Growth and "Bourgeois Self-Regulation"

The dramatic increase in wealth over two decades has significantly altered the public psyche.

• Income Increase: In Beijing, per capita income rose from approximately USD 2,600 in 2005 to USD 13,000 in 2025.
• Shift in Values: This fivefold increase facilitated a shift from "survival norms"—where people focus on getting by in a "dog-eat-dog world"—to "bourgeois self-regulation".
• Reputational Stakes: A new middle class has emerged with "reputational stakes," leading individuals to care more about refinement and the social scrutiny of others.

2. Settled Urbanisation

The sources describe a "temporally compressed process of urbanisation" that has moved beyond mere physical migration.

• Completion of Transition: While early 2000s Beijing was an "agglomeration of urban villages" where the "village lingered in the city," the current era marks a "settling into of urban norms".
• Abstract Civic Space: Interactions have evolved from being based on personal reciprocity to being governed by abstract concepts of civic space.

3. Hardware Shaping Software

The physical environment is presented as a direct determinant of behavior, where "upgraded hardware has also boosted the software".

• Infrastructure Design: The presence of ample dustbins, clean waterways, and broad roads naturally encourages more respectful and considered behavior.
• Targeted Afforestation: The massive addition of greenery—2.19 million mu of green space and 103 million trees between 2012 and the early 2020s—has changed the "look and feel" of the city, promoting less littering and better public conduct.

4. The "Panopticon" of Surveillance

Technological monitoring acts as a powerful deterrent against "behavioural slippage".

• Pervasive Monitoring: Large Chinese cities now have approximately 370 cameras per 1,000 people, many of which were installed during the pandemic and never removed.
• Self-Policing: Because every infraction is potentially recorded, citizens anticipate being observed, which creates a sense of "someone is always watching". This ensures that even if surveillance didn't create the behavior, it prevents people from reverting to "bad but easy habits" like spitting.

5. Paternalistic State Directives

The government has played an active role in engineering behavior through specific indices and public messaging.

• Civilisation-Evaluation Index: Authorities historically used a ranking system for neighbourhoods, rewarding traits like shared housework and book collections while penalising "black marks" like spitting or raising livestock at home.
• Rule-Announcing: Public spaces, such as the Fragrant Hills, use loudspeakers for "strident rule-announcing" to manage massive crowds and maintain order.

Despite these drivers, the sources note that this remains an "upgrade with Chinese characteristics". The "Taoist spirit" persists in a constant tension with "Confucian bodies," meaning that while people are more disciplined, they remain "natural loophole-finders" who occasionally indulge in "rule-bending" or "pajama couture".

Despite the significant "software upgrade" in civic behavior, the sources emphasize that China has not become a "nation-sized team of synchronised swimmers". Several persistent characteristics remain deeply ingrained in the social fabric, leading the author to describe the transformation as an "upgrade with Chinese characteristics".

Key persistent characteristics include:

• Ongoing Public Habits: While reduced, behaviors such as spitting, "chaos-shuffling," and rule-bending still occur frequently enough to remain recognizable to those familiar with older iterations of Chinese cities.
• "Pajama Couture": In older hutong neighborhoods, wearing pajamas as public attire remains a "haute fashion" staple.
• IKEA Napping: A specific tradition from the mid-2000s that persists is the sight of local residents napping on display beds in flagship stores like IKEA.
• The "Taoist Spirit" of Bicyclists: The behavior of Beijing cyclists is cited as proof that a rebellious, intuitive spirit remains "alive and kicking". These cyclists often operate with a logic that ignores "trifles" like zebra crossings, one-way roads, and even security cameras.
• "Natural Loophole-Finders": The sources conclude that the Chinese are fundamentally "natural loophole-finders" rather than strict rule-followers. They are described as being in a constant state of tension between their "individualistic, jugaad-oriented instincts" and the paternalistic, order-seeking demands of the state.

Ultimately, while surveillance and wealth have disciplined public deportment, these persistent traits suggest a population that remains "Taoists trapped in Confucian bodies," balancing personal convenience and intuition against a cultural conditioning toward obedienc

Average IPL first innings score by season

 Here’s a season-by-season summary of the average IPL first-innings score from the tournament’s inception in 2008 through the 2024 season, based on season-level run averages obtained from available statistical compilations: (X (formerly Twitter))

Season	Avg. First Innings Score (runs)
2008	160.9
2009	150.2
2010	164.7
2011	152.3
2012	157.4
2013	155.8
2014	163.1
2015	166.2
2016	162.6
2017	165.7
2018	172.4
2019	166.4
2020	169.5
2021	159.3
2022	171.1
2023	182.7
2024	189.5

Top Tax collecting countries

 Here’s a concise table summarizing the top countries by total government tax revenue in nominal USD (latest available 2024/2023 data, rounded and converted into billion USD) — based on country economy tax data: (countryeconomy.com)

Country	Total Tax Revenue (≈ billion USD)
United States	~ 7,481.4 billion USD
Germany	~ 1,781.5 billion USD
United Kingdom	~ 1,252.3 billion USD
France	~ 1,373.6 billion USD
Japan	~ 1,426.0 billion USD
Italy	~ 1,017.9 billion USD
Spain	~ 633.0 billion USD
Austria	~ 232.0 billion USD
Belgium	~ 282.9 billion USD
Australia	~ 530.4 billion USD

Sources & context:

• Figures reflect total government tax revenues collected in the most recent year available (mainly 2024, with some 2023 figures for Japan) in current USD. (countryeconomy.com)

• “Tax Revenue ($ M)” from the sourced dataset was summed and converted to billions for clarity (divide the $ M value by 1,000). (countryeconomy.com)

• These totals include all major categories of taxes (income, corporate, consumption, property, social contributions, etc.) as reported in national and comparative fiscal datasets. (countryeconomy.com)

Tourist arrivals by country

 Here’s a concise summary of top countries by international tourist arrivals per year, using the latest available global tourism data (primarily from UNWTO and related rankings): (Reference.org)

Country	International Tourist Arrivals (millions)	Data Year / Source
France	102.0 M	2024 UNWTO rankings (Reference.org)
Spain	93.8 M	2024 UNWTO rankings (Reference.org)
United States	72.4 M	2024 UNWTO rankings (Reference.org)
Turkey	60.6 M	2024 UNWTO rankings (Reference.org)
Italy	57.8 M	2024 UNWTO rankings (Reference.org)
Mexico	45.0 M	2024 UNWTO rankings (Reference.org)
United Kingdom	41.8 M	2024 UNWTO rankings (Reference.org)
Germany	37.5 M	2024 UNWTO rankings (Reference.org)
Japan	36.9 M	2024 UNWTO rankings (Reference.org)
Greece	36.0 M	2024 UNWTO rankings (Reference.org)

Notes:

• This table is based on 2024 international arrivals data (the most recent complete year from UNWTO and tourism compilations). (Reference.org)

• Figures are in millions of arrivals and represent inbound tourists (people crossing international borders to visit).

• Rankings may vary slightly depending on source and year updates (e.g., 2023 vs 2024 data), but France and Spain consistently top the list. (Reference.org)

Here’s a summary table of the top countries by international tourism revenue (receipts) — i.e., money earned from foreign visitors’ spending — based on the most recent global data (2024 figures):

Country	International Tourism Receipts (USD billion)	Data Year / Source
United States	215.0	UN Tourism receipts (2024) (Reference.org)
Spain	106.5	UN Tourism receipts (2024) (Reference.org)
United Kingdom	84.5	UN Tourism receipts (2024) (Reference.org)
France	77.1	UN Tourism receipts (2024) (Reference.org)
Italy	58.7	UN Tourism receipts (2024) (Reference.org)
United Arab Emirates	57.0	UN Tourism receipts (2024) (Reference.org)
Turkey	56.3	UN Tourism receipts (2024) (Reference.org)
Japan	54.7	UN Tourism receipts (2024) (Reference.org)
Australia	52.0	UN Tourism receipts (2024) (Reference.org)
Canada	49.9	UN Tourism receipts (2024) (Reference.org)

Notes:

• International tourism receipts represent foreign visitors’ spending on accommodation, food, shopping, transport, and related services in a destination country. (Reference.org)

• The U.S. leads by a significant margin, earning more than $215 billion from international visitors in 2024. (Reference.org)

• Figures are measured in current US dollars and rounded to the nearest tenth of a billion where reported. (Reference.org)

Top Indian banks

 Here’s a current summary of the top Indian banks ranked by market capitalization with their approximate market cap in billion USD (most recent estimates available): (FactoData)

Bank Name	Market Cap (approx., USD billion)	Notes / Source
HDFC Bank	~ 157 billion	India’s largest bank by market value as of Feb 2026; RBI data indicates ~ $157 billion market cap. (Reuters)
ICICI Bank	~ 110.5 billion	Market cap estimated from broader ranking data. (FactoData)
State Bank of India (SBI)	~ 78 billion	SBI is the largest public sector bank by market cap. (FactoData)
Kotak Mahindra Bank	~ 48 billion	Ranked fourth in India by market cap. (FactoData)
Axis Bank	~ 38.6 billion	Fifth-largest bank by market cap. (FactoData)

Context:

• These figures represent approximate market capitalizations in USD based on the latest publicly reported data (2025–early 2026 estimates from financial data aggregators). (FactoData)

• Market cap values constantly change with stock prices and exchange rates.

India Tax collections

 Here are total consolidated tax revenue figures for India from the Government of India’s official budget sources:

Financial Year	Total Consolidated Tax Revenue (Gross Tax Revenue) ₹ crore	Notes / Source
2023-24 (Actuals)	34,37,211 crore	Gross Tax Revenue actual (Central Government) from Union Budget Receipt Budget 2024-25 data. (indiabudget.gov.in)
2024-25 (Budget Estimate)	38,30,796 crore	Gross Tax Revenue estimated for FY 2024-25 in Union Budget Receipt Budget 2024-25. (indiabudget.gov.in)
2024-25 (Provisional Net Tax Receipts)	30,36,000 crore (approx)	Net tax receipts reported by Government (provisional actual to March 2025). (Press Information Bureau)

Clarifications

• Gross Tax Revenue (GTR) refers to the total tax collections before deductions such as devolution to states. These figures represent the centre’s consolidated tax revenue for the entire financial year. For FY 2023-24, the actual gross tax revenue is from audited government documents. For FY 2024-25, the budget estimate reflects how much tax revenue the government expected to collect; provisional actual net tax receipts (~₹30.36 trillion / ₹30,36,000 crore) was published later. (indiabudget.gov.in)

• Net tax receipts differ from gross tax revenue because they subtract transfers and devolutions (e.g., share given to states), while gross figures include all tax receipts collected at the central level.

• All figures are in ₹ crore. 1 trillion = 1,00,000 crore. vē

India's richest people

 Here’s a summary table of the top richest people in India based on the latest available Forbes list (2025/2026 estimates) with their estimated net worth in USD and source references: (Forbes)

Name	Net Worth (USD, approx.)	References
Mukesh Ambani	$105 B	Forbes India’s 100 Richest (Oct 2025) (Forbes)
Gautam Adani & family	$92 B	Forbes India’s 100 Richest (Oct 2025) (Forbes)
Savitri Jindal & family	$40.2 B	Forbes India’s 100 Richest (Oct 2025) (Forbes)
Sunil Mittal & family	$34.2 B	Forbes India’s 100 Richest (Oct 2025) (Forbes)
Shiv Nadar	$33.2 B	Forbes India’s 100 Richest (Oct 2025) (Forbes)
Radhakishan Damani & family	$28.2 B	Forbes India’s 100 Richest (Oct 2025) (Forbes)
Dilip Shanghvi & family	$26.3 B	Forbes India’s 100 Richest (Oct 2025) (Forbes)
Bajaj Family	$21.8 B	Forbes India’s 100 Richest (Oct 2025) (Forbes)
Cyrus Poonawalla	$21.4 B	Forbes India’s 100 Richest (Oct 2025) (Forbes)
Kumar Birla	$20.7 B	Forbes India’s 100 Richest (Oct 2025) (Forbes)

Notes:

• These values are approximate and based on Forbes India’s 100 Richest list (Oct 2025) — the most recent detailed compilation available publicly. (Forbes)

• Net worth estimates can change rapidly due to stock market movements, asset revaluations, and currency exchange fluctuations.

• Variants of these rankings appear in other India-focused reports (e.g., Indian Express, Times of India), but the Forbes list provides a widely referenced global benchmark. (The Indian Express)

Newspaper Summary 240226

 

SOCIAL MEDIA CURBS: WILL THEY HELP KIDS?

BY NANDITA VENKATESAN & RUPANJAL CHAUHAN

India has joined the growing list of countries weighing restrictions on children’s access to social media. Speaking on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit last week, information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the government is discussing age-based restrictions on social-media platforms. The remarks follow closely after the Economic Survey 2025-26 flagged the need to address “digital addiction” among the young.

At the state level, Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala are also examining similar curbs. The push reflects rising concerns over online safety risks and mental-health challenges among children. Yet serious questions remain over whether such measures would deliver the intended results. Enforcement could prove difficult given how easily age verification can be bypassed on shared devices. Restrictions could also drive minors towards smaller, less regulated platforms, while limiting access to learning resources.

GLOBAL PUSH

Australia became the first country in December 2025 to ban adolescents under 16 years from using certain social media platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, and Meta-owned Instagram and Facebook, setting a global precedent. Since then, more countries across Europe and Southeast Asia such as Indonesia and Malaysia have announced plans to tighten rules. While France (under 15) and the UK (under 16) have gone farthest with one chamber of their Parliament voting in favour of the ban, others are toying with the idea. The proposed curbs fall into the following buckets: an outright ban for minors or a requirement for certain ages to obtain parental consent before opening an account.

INDIA’S CASE

India is the biggest market for WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. YouTube has 500 million users in India, according to DataReportal, a platform that tracks global digital behaviour, which amounts to over a third (35.5%) of India’s population. Instagram counts over 480 million users in India, thereby used by over 34% of India’s population, followed by Facebook (403 million), Snapchat (213 million), and Reddit (30.8 million).

Some platforms have introduced child-friendly measures. Instagram, in 2025, rolled out safety features for users under 16 years such as default private accounts, restrictions on messaging and tagging among others. Given the centrality of India to the platforms’ growth strategies, experts argue that the answer lies not in shutting children out but in compelling technology companies to fundamentally rework their platform design and content moderation that make their platforms addictive. “The burden of proof has to be on these companies to show what they are doing differently and what they are doing better,” Isha Suri, independent researcher and a fellow at European AI & Society Fund, said.

A sticking point in the debate is what the law will define as ‘social media’ and which social networks should be covered or proscribed. The Australian ban, for instance, does not include messaging services such as WhatsApp and Telegram and generative AI apps. Experts said nuances of each platform need to be examined, even while opining that there is a risk of pushing behaviour underground. “By using escalatory bans to control access to platforms, people could be pushed towards smaller, less regulated services that are even more unsafe and far less moderated than the larger platforms,” said Prateek Waghre, head of programmes at Tech Global Institute.

A NUANCED DEBATE

Research has shown that excess social media usage among children has a directional link to problems of sleep disruption, reduced attention spans, and body image issues. However, enforcement can be a challenge in India’s context. A recent survey of 1,277 Indian teenagers by non-profit Rati Foundation found many teens used shared devices. Many accounts are created with the help of family members or friends and are not tied to personal email addresses, which undermines the assumption of individual account ownership on which most age-verification mechanisms rely.

Moreover, India lacks specific data and research, causing a data gap in this segment. Large scale surveys on social media that reflect the reality of Indian households is needed, experts said. “Internet use in India is gendered, with females facing more restricted access,” Suri pointed out. The government will need to be careful to not limit access to important tools such as menstrual health tracking apps. “Requiring parental consent would be a challenge in this case, given that menstrual health remains a taboo subject,” she added.

Additionally, social media also has an “emancipatory factor”, experts pointed out. A systematic review of studies on this topic across various countries by researchers at Manipal Academy of Higher Education found that while social media usage “can be a significant source of distraction”, they also have a positive impact on language development and communication skills among young adults. The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) in December 2025 noted that social media has become “a lifeline providing access to learning, connection, play, and self-expression”.

THE WAY FORWARD

Suri said young people ought to be at the centre of this decision-making process. “Age-appropriate consent mechanisms must be co-designed with the community—children, teachers, counsellors, civil society, and the government,” she said. “The autonomy and agency of children also needs to be taken into account.”

India, France offer clarity on double tax avoidance treaty

India and France decided to amend DTAC during president Macron’s visit last week.

BY ANUBHAV MUKHERJEE & GIREESH CHANDRA PRASAD

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), on Monday announced that India and France have signed a protocol to amend the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC), which was originally signed back in September 1992, in an effort to boost tax certainty in the economy. CBDT has announced that during French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent visit to India, both nations agreed to amend the double tax avoidance treaty, which provides full taxation rights to capital gains from the sale of company shares.

“The Amending Protocol will provide greater tax certainty to the taxpayers and boost flow of investment, technology and personnel between India and France, and thereby strengthen the economic relationship between the two countries,” said CBDT in its statement. The DTAC Amending Protocol will also remove the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) clause, which exists in DTAC, in turn, bringing rest to issues relating to the same.

The changes are also implemented in the taxes on the income from dividends. The amendment replaces the earlier single tax rate of 10% with split tax rates. The authorities have now imposed a split rate of 5% for those holdings which are at least 10% of the capital, and another split rate of 15% tax for all other cases of holdings. “It also modifies the definition of ‘Fees for Technical Services’ by aligning it with the definition in India US Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, and expands the scope of Permanent Establishment by adding Service PE,” said CBDT in its announcement.

The intent of amending DTAC seems to serve the twin purpose of addressing ambiguity in provision of treaty benefits as well as equitable distribution of taxation rights, said Abheet Sachdeva, Partner-M&A Tax, Nangia Global, a professional services firm. He said dividends emanating from India are subject to 10% tax deducted at source (TDS), and this outflow could be reduced with the MFN clause. The Supreme Court of India recently ruled that for application of MFN under a tax treaty, a separate specific notification should be issued by the Indian government, Sachdeva added.

Coffee packs must prominently disclose chicory level from July

BY PRIYANKA SHARMA

How much chicory does your favourite coffee have? Come July and you will be able to answer that question readily, as coffee powder packs will need to prominently display that figure from that month. India’s apex food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), wants to ensure that customers are aware of the volume of chicory in their preferred brew. The mandate aims to ensure that the buyer does not mistake blended coffee for 100% coffee.

As per the mandate, font sizes of these declarations that need to appear on packs starting 1 July must be proportionate to the dimensions of the brands’ logos. Chicory is a coffee additive that makes the brew darker and gives it an earthy taste. It is caffeine-free and significantly less expensive than high-quality coffee. Most coffee brands in India’s $2 billion coffee market contain 30% to 35% chicory.

FSSAI took the decision at its 48th meeting in September where it approved the final notification of the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Amendment Regulations, 2025. While existing regulations allow up to 49% chicory in coffee, the labelling was often hidden on the back of the packaging. To improve transparency, the new amendment mandates that these ratios be moved to the "front of the pack". Pure coffee remains exempt from these requirements.

The domestic coffee market is dominated by Nestlé India‘s Nescafé brand, followed by Hindustan Unilever, known for its Bru range. Other significant players include Tata Coffee, ITC’s Sunbean brand, and Continental Coffee. “Our products currently declare the chicory content clearly and transparently,” a Nestlé spokesperson said in an emailed response, noting the company remains committed to complying with any regulatory changes. A Hindustan Unilever spokesperson stated their products are fully compliant with existing FSSAI regulations and they will update declarations if revised regulations come into effect.

Hillhouse Investment acquires minority stake in Quest Global

BY PRIYAMVADA C.

Hillhouse Investment has acquired a minority stake in Quest Global, an engineering services company in Singapore, in a mix of primary and secondary share purchases, the companies said in a statement on Monday. The companies did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.

“Their investment reinforces the strength of our differentiated value proposition, financial and operating discipline, and long-term growth strategy,” said Ajit Prabhu, co-founder and chief executive officer of Quest Global. “We look forward to partnering with Hillhouse as we further invest in advanced engineering capabilities that will help our clients”.

Backed by the Carlyle Group, Quest Global will use the additional capital to achieve its strategic priorities. The investment will be made through funds managed and advised by Hillhouse Investment Management. Quest has also been backed by private equity firms including Advent International, Bain Capital, ChrysCapital, True North and GIC.

“The company’s focus on mission-critical programmes, long-term customer relationships and disciplined execution has enabled it to scale sustainably across high-growth sectors such as aerospace, automotive, energy and semiconductors,” Sean Carney, partner and co-head of global buyout at Hillhouse Investment, said in the statement,. “Quest Global is well positioned to benefit from increasing global demand for advanced engineering and technology-led transformation”.

Founded in 1997 by Prabhu and Aravind Melligeri, Quest operates in more than 18 countries including India, with over 93 global delivery centres. It operates in sectors such as aerospace and defence, automotive, energy, hi-tech, med-tech and healthcare, rail and semiconductor industries.

Singapore-based global alternative investment manager Hillhouse has more than two decades of expertise and a range of investment strategies that span public equities, private equity, private credit and real assets. Its private equity portfolio spans 30 countries and manages assets on behalf of institutional clients such as university endowments, foundations, family offices and other long-term institutional investors based in the US, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Jefferies served as the exclusive financial adviser to Quest Global on the transaction.

Jio set to disrupt eyewear with low-priced AI glasses

Jio is looking to replicate its mobile data tariff strategy in smart eyewear, betting on aggressive pricing and scale.

BY JATIN GROVER

IPO-bound Jio Platforms is set to disrupt India’s eyewear market with the commercial launch of its smart glasses, enabling users to enjoy music, make calls, and capture photos—marking an aggressive foray into the country’s fastest-growing wearables segment. The telecom and digital arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is looking to replicate its mobile data tariff strategy in smart eyewear—betting on aggressive pricing and scale to bring artificial intelligence (AI)-powered glasses to a wider audience, analysts and industry executives in the know said.

JioFrames AI smart glasses, unveiled last year at RIL’s annual general meeting, are expected to hit the market in the next two to three months, an industry executive said, adding that prices are likely to be significantly lower than the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that are available in the market. Analysts expect Jio Platforms to price its smart glasses below ₹10,000, roughly a third of the starting price of the Gen 1 variant offered by market leader Ray-Ban Meta, which sells at around ₹30,000.

Smart glasses combine traditional eyewear with built-in speakers, microphones, and AI features, allowing users to listen to music, take calls, capture photos and access digital assistance without pulling out a phone. As per International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates, smart glasses have now become the fastest-growing category in the wearables market in India. In 2025, the shipments of smart glasses to retail stores and dealers grew 10 times from a year earlier to over 200,000 units in India. Market research firm Counterpoint Research also said that smart glasses are in the “hyper-growth” phase, noting that India's shipments rose more than 11x in 2025 off a smaller base, which signals a market that’s waking up fast.

“With the success of Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses and Lenskart’s audio-only smart glasses, the category is already witnessing healthy growth. We expect Jio to enter the market at an estimated price below ₹10,000, and the same could unlock exponential growth,” an industry executive said. Lenskart already has audio-only smart glass Phonic priced at about ₹5,000, and is gearing to launch B—its new smart glasses by March. Similarly, at the recently concluded AI Summit in New Delhi, Sarvam showcased its Kaze smart glasses, which it expects to launch in May.

India’s smart eyewear market size reached $115.7 million in 2025 and is expected to swell to about $1.24 billion by 2034, according to market research firm IMARC Group. In December last year, Meta launched its Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) AI glasses in India at a starting price of ₹39,900. Similarly, Jio is looking to launch two variants—audio-only and audio with camera including other features. The smart glass uses the company’s in-house Reality OS (operating system) and will support various Indian languages.

Why hit movies don’t guarantee brand traction for actors anymore

Experts said strong storytelling, nostalgia or a powerful subject can pull crowds, but then, attention shifts elsewhere.

BY LATA JHA

Despite the unexpected box office success of some small and mid-budget films, their lead stars are yet to gain social media visibility or see traction from brands. Actors who have featured in controversial but successful films such as The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story, or those like Sunny Deol making a comeback via hits like Gadar 2, have found that box office performance alone is neither a sufficient nor a decisive criterion for brand association.

Experts emphasize that while a powerful subject can pull crowds into theatres, once the curtains fall, attention quickly shifts elsewhere. The buzz belongs to the moment, not necessarily to the actors behind it. “Many films today are subject-led hits rather than star-led hits… Endorsement value depends on whether a star can carry attention beyond a release window and stay visible in everyday culture,” said Gaurav Arora, co-founder of digital marketing agency Social Panga.

The Off-Screen Persona

What matters to brands is how clearly an individual’s off-screen personality is understood and whether their public image aligns with the brand’s values and target audience. Prof. Nitika Sharma, assistant professor of marketing at the International Management Institute, pointed out that brands seek an actively cultivated off-screen identity.

According to experts, if an actor’s social presence is limited to movie posters and promotional posts, the audience doesn’t emotionally invest in them as individuals. Avishek Mukherjee, creative director at BC Web Wise, noted that brands today look beyond opening weekends to assess whether an actor can stay relevant in the long run. Unless an actor carries a strong, recognizable personal narrative, a single successful film rarely becomes a decisive factor for brand deals.

The Social Media Divide

Social media has amplified the divide between box office success and brand appeal. Some box office audiences simply do not overlap with advertiser target groups, meaning a film's success is real but not always aligned with brand priorities.

While a surprise hit can create a strong recency spike that some brands might ride for measurable attention, these short-term spikes are quite different from long-term brand building. As the industry shifts, the burden remains on actors to remain consistently visible and relevant beyond their time on the silver screen.

CAN RETURNING TECH MINDS FUEL INDIA’S RISE?

The growing ambiguity around H-1B visas is driving a surge in interest in job opportunities back home.

BY MASTUFA AHMED

Selva S. spent 17 years in the US semiconductor industry before returning to India through an internal transfer. Although his H-1B visa remains valid until December 2027, he felt that the growing uncertainty around long-term work authorization made the trade-off of earning less money in India worthwhile. His decision reflects a broader rethink among specialized tech hands who once viewed a Silicon Valley job as the ultimate dream.

CHANGE IN THE AIR

A proposed $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas has made it commercially unviable for many American companies to hire from India. Rating agency Crisil estimates this change could add $150–$550 million in annual costs for top Indian IT companies, while profits could shrink by 1.5% per H-1B worker. Additionally, clients are beginning to reprice contracts based on AI-driven productivity gains, as automated workflow tools replace core outsourcing tasks.

Experts are seeing nearly a five-fold increase in US-based talent actively exploring opportunities across India. Their globally trained expertise is considered invaluable for scaling businesses and building robust organizations. However, compensation remains a challenge, with professionals typically facing salary adjustments of 25–50%. Indian salaries generally range from one-third to two-thirds of US earnings, and returnees are advised to focus on the cost of living rather than direct currency conversion.

The shift is also visible in education, as Indian student arrivals in the US plunged 44.5% in August 2025, the steepest drop since the pandemic. Sudhanshu Kaushik, founder of the North American Association of Indian Students, notes that the "American dream" is now substantially more difficult, causing students to rethink their choices.

EMERGING FAULTLINES

Returnees with advanced AI and product experience have an edge because of a significant skills gap in India’s talent pool. While India produces over 1.5 million engineering graduates annually, industry body Nasscom and staffing firm TeamLease estimate only half are employable in core tech roles. Curricula often lag behind, failing to reflect modern fields like gen AI, cybersecurity, or cloud architecture.

Furthermore, India’s innovation ecosystem still lacks depth in deep-tech test-beds and early-stage capital. While more than 1,800 global capability centres (GCC) operate in India, experts suggest only 30% to 40% of their activity is truly innovation-led. Prominent tech investor Mohandas Pai argues that the primary issue is a lack of capital rather than a lack of talent.

SWADESHI TECH PUSH

This talent shift is occurring as India sharpens its self-reliance narrative. Recognized startups have jumped from about 50,000 in 2020 to more than 200,000 today, making India one of the world's top three hubs. While funding has cooled from its 2021 peak, deep-tech is leading a rebound, with roughly 3,600 startups raising $1.06 billion through July 2025.

The government’s second ₹10,000 crore Startup Fund tranche will focus entirely on deep-tech, and industry players have pledged $1 billion for AI and semiconductor ventures. Founders now view US H-1B tightening as a signal for a structural shift, allowing India to build at home what it once exported.

PAIN POINTS

Infrastructure remains a major pressure point, as India’s cloud, chip, and AI compute backbone is not yet at the required scale. The number of GCCs in India is expected to grow 30% over the next five years, with major names like HSBC, Morgan Stanley, and Biocon setting up engineering and data analytics processes.

The influx of experienced professionals is driving the government to accelerate development, such as the ₹4,500 crore cleared to upgrade the semiconductor fab in Mohali. Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw projects chip parity with the US and China by 2032, with new units starting production in early 2026.

For returnees like Selva, the opportunity to build within this evolving ecosystem makes the trade-offs clear. The real test for India will be whether it can turn this returning talent into a sustained competitive advantage that shapes the next decade of its tech story.

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MINT SHORT STORY

• What: Indian engineers’ dreams of working in the US are in disarray due to policy changes, leading many to return home.
• Why: A $100,000 H-1B fee and AI-driven automation are making traditional US hiring commercially unviable.
• So: Talent is shifting to India's startup ecosystem, which has grown to over 200,000 recognized firms.

A 100-year-old philosopher’s secret to lasting health

BY KIM HYUNG SEOK

I was born with a frail constitution. My family didn’t believe I would ever live a normal, healthy life. My mother used to say in my presence, ‘I would be happy if you make it to twenty’. But I fought the illnesses and won. From the age of fourteen, I began to hope I might not die young after all. By the time I finished middle and high school, I was confident that with effort, I could live and work in good health. Compared to others my age now, I’m arguably doing better than most.

I’m deeply grateful that I’ve never been hospitalised, nor have I ever undergone surgery. I’ve rarely had to put my work on hold due to illness. For this, I’m beyond grateful. At thirty, I grew confident in my ability to work in good health. After fifty, I felt I could maintain my health as well as anyone else. And by seventy, I was considered healthier than my peers.

There’s no special secret to it. I simply took care of myself as though it were my duty. I needed to stay healthy in order to fulfill my work. Those born with physical vulnerabilities often have one hidden advantage: they learn early not to overexert themselves. Although I’ve accomplished a great deal, I always took on responsibilities slightly below my maximum capacity. If I could manage 100, I only committed to 90. That way, I’d often end up doing 120. Commit to 120, and you’ll likely fall short of 100.

These days, we’re bombarded with health advice from all sources. Chief among them is exercise. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to enjoy exercise until I turned fifty as I was simply too busy. I never even considered fishing, golf or hiking, all of which my friends enjoyed, because I couldn’t spare the time.

After fifty, I began playing soccer with university friends. It’s a rather rough sport, but I’d spent my youth in Pyongyang playing soccer, so I enjoyed it for several years. Eventually, I hit my physical limits and switched to tennis at my children’s suggestion. But tennis requires coordinating schedules with a tennis partner, so I eventually took up swimming, where I never over-exerted myself. If I could swim 100 metres, I’d stop at 90. One of the reasons I chose swimming was skin care, so I paid close attention to that too. As long as there’s a pool nearby, I’d like to keep swimming for a few more years.

As one grows older, walking becomes the best exercise. But rather than walking for health’s sake or to exercise, I prefer to venture out to the mountain path to enjoy its beauty. Once walking becomes an everyday habit, it’s so enjoyable you hardly notice you’re doing it.

Still, the body inevitably ages. A friend who was a few years ahead of me once said, ‘In my seventies, I aged every year. In my eighties, I could feel myself aging every month. And after ninety, I feel a little older every day’. Aging is unavoidable. But from my sixties onwards, I’ve found that a peaceful heart and a healthy mind improves physical stamina, too. Though the body may age, the decline of emotional intelligence doesn’t come as quickly.

People often say, ‘Though my body has aged, I feel just the same as before’. As we age, we must pay attention to staying young of mind and maintaining mental wellbeing. The old saying goes, ‘Sound body, sound mind,’ but in old age, it’s perhaps the other way around: ‘Sound mind, sound body’.

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MINT INSIGHT

• Perspective: Those with physical vulnerabilities often learn early not to overexert themselves.
• The 90% Rule: Take on responsibilities slightly below maximum capacity to achieve more in the long run.
• Mental Link: From the sixties onwards, a peaceful heart is seen as a key driver of physical stamina.