The following is the full text of the article titled "India’s quiet container transformation," written by Ram Singh and published on page 4 of the August 13, 2026, edition of The Hindu BusinessLine.
India’s quiet container transformation
SCALING UP. India must now create a ‘container economy’ by developing leasing, financing markets, repair and maintenance hubs, and logistics parks
RAM SINGH
India’s first internationally compliant shipping containers, manufactured at Dadri and followed by Maersk’s repeat order of nearly 1,000 units, mark a strategic breakthrough in a global industry long dominated by a handful of manufacturers while signalling confidence in India’s industrial capabilities. Ranked among the twentieth century’s most transformative innovations, shipping containers, with their uniform dimensions, enabled seamless multimodal transport, dramatically slashed shipping costs and cargo losses and became the backbone of world trade.
Historically, Malcolm McLean, a US-based trucking entrepreneur, pioneered the commercial use of standardised containers in 1956, while ISO standardisation in 1968 universalised their dimensions, enabling them to be transported interchangeably across ships, railways and trucks.
Today, the industry is seeking deeper engagement through FTAs, modernisation of port infrastructure and improved multimodal connectivity, containers being at the heart of this significance. ISO-standard containers, supported by ICDs, CFSs and Land Customs Stations (LCSs), help in effective multi-modalism, warehousing and cargo movement while optimising logistics and transaction costs. Let us decode India’s container manufacturing landscape, exploring opportunities and the challenges that lie ahead.
INDIA’S BOX MOMENT
Manufacturing an ISO-compliant international-standard container requires higher engineering precision than producing steel boxes; it marks the emergence of a high-tech engineering industry that underpins global trade, demanding structural integrity and resilience. The importance of this industry was underscored during the Covid-19 pandemic, when global container shortages disrupted global supply chains and led to container prices soaring several-fold, exporters struggled to find space, and shipping schedules became highly unpredictable. This crisis exposed the risks of excessive dependence on a geographically concentrated manufacturing base, with China, producing over 90 per cent of the world's containers, exercising overwhelming influence over container availability, production cycles and pricing. As global shipping recovered, the need to see containers increasingly become a strategic rather than merely a commercial asset became clear.
Against this backdrop, domestic container manufacturing can catalyse an ecosystem of high-grade ‘container-class’ steel, precision castings, corner fittings, high-quality specialised flooring, marine coatings, locking systems, testing and certification, specialised fabrication, container design and innovation. Beyond manufacturing, India must build a ‘container economy’ by developing leasing and financing markets, asset management companies, repair and maintenance hubs, depots, multimodal logistics parks, API-enabled digital tracking platforms, warehousing, recycling industries and specialised containerised units. This strategy will transform imported containers from imported equipment into a strategic domestic logistics asset.
UNBOXING THE BOX
Two rules make it work. First, a shipping container is an important beginning, but not the end. Second, the container industry has already arrived. Indicative cost comparisons tentatively show that a standard 20-foot container (TEU) may cost about $1,700-2,050 in India, against roughly $1,450-1,700 in China, while a 40-foot unit (FEU) may cost $2,200-2,500 in China versus $2,800-3,200 in India. This gap reflects more than labour or steel prices; it reveals differences in scale, supplier depth, automation, finance, leasing demand and lifecycle infrastructure.
Correspondingly, India must move beyond just making boxes, toward building a complete ‘container’s ecosystem’. This requires competitive access to weather-resistant steel, standardised components, automated production lines, testing laboratories, international certification, repair yards, refurbishment centres and recycling facilities. It also demands leasing companies, low-cost asset finance, insurance products, residual-value markets, digital tracking platforms and predictable demand from trade community, shipping lines, rail operators, ICDs, CFSs and logistics parks.
More specifically, specialised segments such as reefers, tank containers, high-cube units, collapsible and smart containers must also be developed. The first container proves technical possibility; repeat orders prove commercial credibility; scale will require integrated policy, finance and infrastructure. Final success, however, will come only when India can settle the interval, reposition, repair, track, reuse and export containers competitively across their entire lifecycle.
WAY FORWARD
First, India must avoid the temptation to measure success merely by the number of containers manufactured. The true measure will be the scale, resilience and global competitiveness of the ecosystem it creates. Accordingly, first and foremost, India must strategically expand its merchandise exports, containerised imports and transshipment volumes, because sustained cargo movement, not manufacturing capacity alone, is the principal driver of container demand, logistics efficiency and commercial viability.
Second, India must establish dedicated container manufacturing clusters near ports/dry ports, industrial corridors and export-oriented zones (EOZs), integrating Corten steel production, advanced fabrication units, testing laboratories, fabricators and finishing units to achieve economies of scale.
Third, India should build a globally competitive container finance and leasing ecosystem, offering low-cost capital, innovative insurance products, maritime banks, brokerage firms and secondary markets.
GIFT City can evolve into Asia’s hub for container financing, ship leasing and maritime insurance, while regulated asset-management firms, infrastructure investment trusts, asset-backed securities and digital tracking platforms and derivatives can attract domestic and global investors, deepen the secondary market and significantly reduce India’s dependence on international leasing giants.
Fourth, India should build a sustainable container-lifecycle ecosystem encompassing repair, maintenance, refurbishment, recycling and digital asset management to maximise container utilisation and extend their operational lifespan. The proposed Nicobar Transshipment Port, alongside existing hubs at JNPT, Chennai and strategically located logistics hubs, should function as an integrated network for container maintenance, repositioning and refurbishment, enabling India to become the preferred container service and logistics hub operating across the Indian Ocean Region.
Fifth, India should invest in R&D for next-generation shipping containers, focusing on smart containers, reefers, tank containers, high-cube units, collapsible units and lightweight designs made from composite materials, thereby competing through technology and specialisation rather than volume alone.
Finally, India should leverage its FTAs, trusted geopolitical partnerships and the China-plus-one strategy to integrate Indian-built containers into global leasing fleets and shipping networks, ensuring long-term sovereign, maritime resilience, supply-chain security and Vision 2047 goals for India becoming a global manufacturing and logistics hub.
The writer is Professor & Head (CDOE), IIFT New Delhi
The following is the full text of the article titled "India to focus on finance architecture at BRICS summit," written by Amiti Sen and published on page 12 of the August 13, 2026, edition of The Hindu BusinessLine.
India to focus on finance architecture at BRICS summit
The summit will bring together about 27 invitees, including 10 BRICS members, 12 partner countries and five outreach countries.
Amiti Sen NEW DELHI
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are among the heads of state who will arrive in New Delhi on Wednesday for the BRICS Summit to be hosted by India on September 12-13, which is expected to take up projects with priorities of developing and emerging nations at the centre of its agenda.
The summit is expected to push to strengthen the grouping’s development finance architecture with focus on the New Development Bank (NDB) and implementing various projects in eligible countries, a source told BusinessLine. “Proposals for a common BRICS currency are unlikely to find much traction. Neither is much movement expected on taking in new members as the ones recently added are still in the process of being integrated into the settle in,” a source tracking the development said.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is also expected to visit the summit but he may have to return early to attend his country’s elections. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has already arrived in New Delhi, and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have also confirmed their presence, the source added.
PARTICIPANTS
“The summit will bring together about 27 invitees (including India), including 10 BRICS members, 10 partner countries and five outreach countries and a couple of international organisations and some other nations. The invitations are still coming in,” the source said. Russia assumed the official BRICS chairmanship on January 1, 2024, marking its fourth time leading the group. India will take over the presidency from Russia in 2027. The summit is also likely to focus on the functioning of the BRICS NDB, which has approved 139 development projects with total financing of around $35 billion, according to the source.
CURRENCY DEBATE
While India is likely to focus on strengthening the bank’s role in mobilising resources for infrastructure and supporting projects with high priority across member countries and eligible countries, the source said.
It is also unlikely to be much discussion on the idea of a common BRICS currency at the summit, as the proposal has not been the subject of significant deliberations within the grouping. However, some discussion on the possible mechanism of de-dollarization could find a mention, with some members expected to flag the potential for increased use of local currencies in cross-border trade and payments, another source pointed out.
The following is the full text of the editorial titled "Shifting sands," published on page 4 of the August 13, 2026, edition of The Hindu BusinessLine:
Shifting sands
Chandrasekaran’s move heralds a new era
The decision by N Chandrasekaran not to seek reappointment as Chairman of Tata Sons brings a troubling signal from one of India’s most consequential corporate institutions. Once again, the group finds itself grappling with a leadership transition marked by fundamental differences between the Chairman of Tata Sons and the leadership of Tata Trusts.
The late Cyrus Mistry was abruptly removed as Tata Sons Chairman in October 2016 following sharp differences with then Tata Trusts Chairman Ratan Tata. A decade later, Chandrasekaran has decided to step down at the end of his term in February 2027 after a six-month impasse over his continuation, triggered by reported differences with current Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata. In both instances, the rift exposes the unresolved structural fault line at the heart of the conglomerate: who ultimately determines the strategic direction of Tata Sons — its executive board and professional management, or the Trusts that hold a controlling 66 per cent equity stake? The immediate areas of friction are substantial. Noel Tata is reported to have sought assurances that Tata Sons would never be publicly listed, a position Chandrasekaran was unwilling to guarantee. Questions were also raised regarding board representation and the massive volume of capital committed to new, high-gestation ventures.
Chandrasekaran inherited a Tata Group in considerable distress. His first term focused on cleaning up the balance sheets, and stabilising legacy businesses. Backed by Ratan Tata, he pushed through critical reforms that restored stability and confidence across group companies. That success earned Chandrasekaran the belt to move into a bolder second term. That second phase entailed massive investments in aviation, semiconductors, electronics, e-commerce, and digital platforms. While strategically critical for future growth, these capital-intensive sectors require patient capital and long-term operational focus. Losses at these businesses have doubled between FY25 and FY26. Compounding the challenge, the group’s traditional cash engine, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), faces a period of moderating growth.
Chandrasekaran’s upcoming departure leaves the group at a critical, if delicate juncture. Will his successor maintain his investment priorities, or will capital allocation pivot toward a conservative posture? Will Tata Sons’ stance on an IPO evolve? Most critically, will the next leader be an independent professional capable of challenging the Trusts when necessary? These questions carry implications well beyond Bombay House. With 26 listed entities, a combined market capitalisation exceeding $300 billion, and over a million employees, the Tata Group’s trajectory is inextricably linked to the country’s industrial ambitions — given its footprint across steel, automobiles, power, electronics, aviation, and technology sectors.
The following is the full text of the article titled "Apollo Hospitals reports 34% jump in Q1 profit on healthcare services growth," published on page 12 of the August 13, 2026, edition of The Hindu BusinessLine.
Apollo Hospitals reports 34% jump in Q1 profit on healthcare services growth
Our Bureau Chennai
Healthcare major Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd reported a 34 per cent jump in net profit at ₹581 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2024 (Q1FY27) as against ₹434 crore in Q1FY26 driven by broad-based growth across healthcare services and pharmacy.
Consolidated revenue for the quarter stood at ₹7,043 crore, a 21 per cent growth over ₹5,842 crore in Q1FY26.
Healthcare revenue for Q1FY27 was at ₹3,567 crore, up 15 per cent from ₹3,097 crore year-on-year. Profitability grew faster at 20 per cent and stood at ₹480 crore. As on June 30, 2024, Apollo Hospitals had 8,352 operating beds across the network, excluding AHLL and managed beds, with an overall occupancy at 70 per cent versus 65 per cent in Q1 FY26. The increase was driven by its services division continuing to scale new technologies and with a y-o-y revenue growth across its speciality and higher in recent quarters.
ROOM FOR GROWTH
"The hospital segment saw a 20 per cent y-o-y growth in soft tissue robotic surgeries this quarter, highlighting our robotic-led growth," Dr Madhu Shashidhar, President and CEO, Hospital Division, Apollo Hospitals, said in a conference call. "While we've had substantial volume growth, our occupancy is still at a level where we have room to scale up as we move into the second half of the year".
Apollo Health and Lifestyle (AHLL) revenue grew 15 per cent to ₹409 crore, driven by performance in diagnostics and diagnostic centres. Net loss stood at ₹14 crore against ₹18 crore in Q1FY26. Its online-offline platform, Apollo 24/7, handled through digital health subsidiary Apollo HealthCo, reported a net loss of ₹40 crore on revenue at ₹2,977 crore with EBITDA margins of 1.5 per cent in the first quarter.
"We have secured the shareholder approval and look forward to the Keppel merger of Apollo HealthCo, which we expect to complete by Q4FY27," Krishnan Akhileswaran, Group CFO, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, said.
Madhu Shashidhar said the business of Apollo Hospitals is on a solid path, and "we will work on progress and maintain this growth in this next the year," he added.
The company expects the momentum to continue in the coming quarters. It expects capacity growth momentum to continue with an 180-bed hospital in Varanasi and another in its Gurugram facility remaining on track in Q3FY27, a statement said.
Scorecard (₹ cr)
| Result | Q1 FY27 | Q1 FY26 | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 7,043 | 5,842 | 21 |
| Net profit | 581 | 434 | 34 |
| Margin % | 16.65 | 15.0 | - |
The following is the full text of the article titled "The support that closing auction session needs," written by V Shunmugam and Rushikesh Ugale, and published on page 4 of the August 13, 2026, edition of The Hindu BusinessLine.
The support that closing auction session needs
The buy side of the imbalance needs cash, which anyone can arrange. The sell side needs stock, which is harder to get
V Shunmugam Rushikesh Ugale
On every first day of the new closing auction, the indices closed well away from their 3:15 pm levels. Dealing with the imbalance had everyone guessing who traded and where. Since then, the market has watched the last 15 minutes more closely than it has in years, and trading strategies have been sharpened that watch. The street calls this period the 'closing auction session'. It is, in fact, behaving exactly as an auction should, and the mechanisms behind it are worth unpicking.
An auction is not a price; it is a book. For fifteen minutes, the exchange’s system finds the price at which the most shares can change hands and the books close. With both sides present, the price moves as it must and holds. With only one side, it travels until it meets the last willing counterparty.
The exchanges have given the market a closing auction with a price band, a discovery phase, and a findable equilibrium price. The safeguards are in a place that should provide a way for a counterparty to show up. Start with order types. Today, only market and limit orders are available, and both want to be filled, so orders clustering on one side move the price with them. India needs an order type built to lean against the crowd. Nasdaq offers an Imbalance Only order, which trades only against the surplus already in the book. It cannot start or widen an imbalance; it can only absorb one. It carries a price, since a liquidity provider will buy the surplus, but not at any price. It would be priced strategically against orders, with the indicative equilibrium price as the limit.
TWO RULES
Two rules make it work. Nasdaq accepts market-on-close orders until 3:55 pm; then it allows Imbalance Only (IO) orders, which cannot be cancelled, are accepted. Late liquidity does not spoil a good close; it is most of it. The New York Stock Exchange allows its Closing Discretionary Order to be amended until seconds before the bell, and by August 2024, that order accounted for over 46 per cent of its closing auction volume. Everyone may be doing the same thing. Nasdaq publishes the paired quantity, the imbalance, and the side every 10 seconds from 10 minutes before the close. The New York exchange updates every second and, in 2024, took late orders into that feed. There is a new transparency today in the content, and simultaneous release to retail terminals and co-located servers. A trader can then act on a visible imbalance, not a guess.
Should someone be obliged to stand there? In New York a designated market maker absorbs the residual with its own capital. India has a comparable mechanism, the Liquidity Enhancement Scheme in Chapter 2 of the Master Circular for Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations, which lets an exchange put its own capital on any security with its governing board’s approval. Present schemes pay for two-way quotes through the day, nothing for the auction. The obligation should cover that book too, perhaps with a requirement within a band around the reference price.
But the buy side is easier. Any cash-rich seller can assist at all. A fill in the auction is cash today against delivery tomorrow; the seller does not need the stock. He must own the stock or have borrowed it. For the buyer, the cash leg is the hurdle they already hold. Equity savings schemes are allowed to take positions within a band. Each is bounded by what is available in the stock lending market. Fund may sell what it does not own, and even then it must borrow.
The auction was the right choice. It now needs an order type that safely absorbs an imbalance, real-time data that everyone can see, and a pool of liquidity written for an auction market, deep enough to carry the seller.
Shunmugam is partner; Ugale is Associate Consultant, McQube, Mumbai
The following is the full text of the article titled "FSSAI issues prohibition orders against three food companies," written by Meenakshi Verma Ambwani and published on page 12 of the August 13, 2026, edition of The Hindu BusinessLine.
FSSAI issues prohibition orders against three food companies
Meenakshi Verma Ambwani NEW DELHI
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has prohibited three firms—Shyam Foods, Bharat Food Products and KDP Food Industries in Rajasthan from manufacturing and selling of "unsafe" food items in Rajasthan for two months.
It also imposed penalties on Dhirwad Mishra Petha and Food Processing Industry, Karnataka, and Shree Chemfood Pvt Ltd, Kutch, Gujarat, for violations involving substandard and misbranded iodised salt respectively.
In a social media post, the food regulator noted that samples of green chilli sauce manufactured by Shyam Foods at its Bharatpur unit were declared "unsafe" as per analysis by a Public Health Lab, Jaipur.
The lab also declared samples of "Ghee" manufactured by Bharat Food Products at its Alwar unit as "unsafe" for human consumption.
The Public Health Lab in Alwar tested samples of ghee manufactured by KDP Food Industry under the brand Dutry Saras and declared it "unsafe".
REMOVAL FROM SALE
"The continued sale, distribution, manufacture, storage, display and offering for sale of such "unsafe" food products is likely to pose grave risk to public health. Accordingly, the sale, distribution, manufacture and storage of these products shall be prohibited with immediate effect throughout the state of Rajasthan for a period of two months," the FSSAI noted in its social media posts.
It said it had directed retailers, distributors, whole-sellers and warehouse to immediately remove it from the shelf and dispose of it.
PENALTY IMPOSED
Meanwhile, the FSSAI said penalty had been imposed on Dhirwad Mishra Petha and Food Processing Industry, Karnataka, for manufacturing substandard and misbranded food products in violation of the regulations. In the case of Shree Chemfood Pvt Ltd, it said its iodised salt was "substandard" and was also declared "misbranded" under the FSS Act, 2006.
The following is the full text of the article titled "India to focus on finance architecture at BRICS summit," written by Amiti Sen and published on page 12 of the August 13, 2026, edition of The Hindu BusinessLine:
India to focus on finance architecture at BRICS summit
The summit will bring together about 27 invitees, including 10 BRICS members, 12 partner countries and five outreach countries.
Amiti Sen NEW DELHI
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are among the heads of state who will arrive in New Delhi on Wednesday for the BRICS Summit to be hosted by India on September 12-13, which is expected to take up projects with priorities of developing and emerging nations at the centre of its agenda.
The summit is expected to push to strengthen the grouping’s development finance architecture with focus on the New Development Bank (NDB) and implementing various projects in eligible countries, a source told BusinessLine. “Proposals for a common BRICS currency are unlikely to find much traction. Neither is much movement expected on taking in new members as the ones recently added are still in the process of being integrated into the settle in,” a source tracking the development said.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is also expected to visit the summit but he may have to return early to attend his country’s elections. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has already arrived in New Delhi, and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have also confirmed their presence, the source added.
PARTICIPANTS
“The summit will bring together about 27 invitees (including India), including 10 BRICS members, 10 partner countries and five outreach countries and a couple of international organisations and some other nations. The invitations are still coming in,” the source said. Russia assumed the official BRICS chairmanship on January 1, 2024, marking its fourth time leading the group. India will take over the presidency from Russia in 2027. The summit is also likely to focus on the functioning of the BRICS NDB, which has approved 139 development projects with total financing of around $35 billion, according to the source.
CURRENCY DEBATE
While India is likely to focus on strengthening the bank’s role in mobilising resources for infrastructure and supporting projects with high priority across member countries and eligible countries, the source said.
It is also unlikely to be much discussion on the idea of a common BRICS currency at the summit, as the proposal has not been the subject of significant deliberations within the grouping. However, some discussion on the possible mechanism of de-dollarization could find a mention, with some members expected to flag the potential for increased use of local currencies in cross-border trade and payments, another source pointed out.
The following is the full text of the article titled "Data centres: The watts and the water," written by Sanchit Vir Gogia and published on page 5 of the August 13, 2026, edition of The Hindu BusinessLine.
Data centres: The watts and the water
SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS. The question is not how fast India builds data centres. It is on what terms and whether the masses benefit
SANCHIT VIR GOGIA
A hillside above Visakhapatnam has been stripped to red earth, cut into steps. Here, Google and the Adani Group are raising a $1.5 billion data centre. Less than two kilometres away sits the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary.
In recent weeks, activists and children have marched against it, worried for their water, holding a four-word banner: “Our hill, our water”.
One of India’s most celebrated founders shared his take on X. The AI models we use, he said, are mindset imported from the West, one to which India’s own growth is part of guarding against something real. In parts of the West, projects sit in court for years. India cannot afford that. But the post didn't answer either, and saying so does not put me on the other side. I have cheered build in these pages, and I have watched as India’s base load power and campuses beyond the big cities grow.
However, I do believe topics like these, and the specific questions that they, need a room where both sides are present. It’s how growth is part of the being. The argument is only about how we grow, and what we will be proud to show the masses.
So the question is not how fast India builds data centres. It is on what terms.
THE ASSURANCES
The first assurance is the State’s. In February, the Chief Minister told Parliament the city needs 480 million litres daily and gets 410. That is a 70 million deficit. He promised no crisis, and the project’s approvals went through in record times on line and successors the big project.
The second is the company’s. Google says its facilities are 100 per cent water-fair. Fair enough. In 2024, a Chennai court partly reversed Google’s permit for a facility in Michigan. Not for water, similarly. But a press statement is a promise, not a contract. A breach, in penalties, is a contract.
The third, and most specific, concern is the impact on the environment. It is not 1974, Garhwal’s Chipko movement, when women clung to forest, not against use but against abuse, against being written off and behind. The Chipko movement came 50 years before anyone thought to call it ESG.
Fourth, the biggest claim: that strict rules mean falling behind. Rules are not a tax but the insurance that makes growth survival. Indian banks opened as usual the Monday Lehman collapsed, less because bankers were smarter and because the Reserve Bank of India had been stricter.
That is what rules do. Without them, the record is just as clear. Personal data in India was handled for years without a data protection law. In July, the Delhi High Court had to reach for a copyright statute older than the internet to rule on AI training. Both times, technology arrived first and rules arrived late.
So communities now object early. Our fieldwork at Greyhound Research keeps returning one lesson. Rules rarely stop a project. Neighbours who were never consulted do. POSCO’s Odisha plant, then India’s biggest foreign investment, died over land and consent. The trees were felled anyway; the jobs never came.
Nor is that uniquely Indian. Na-Mo fought closure through the 1990s, and is how systems mend, and only where today that is ordinary practice. Shein was doing the same denying 30 years later. Scrutiny is slow and imperfect, but it is how systems mend, and only where governance treats pressure groups as input, not noise.
That scrutiny is reaching data centres, as it must. Ireland makes newcomers bring their own generation. New York froze hyperscale approvals for a year. Singapore paused in 2019, spent three years writing rules, and reopened to higher standards.
India still has time. Banking survived 2008 because it had a custodian. Data centres have none. Power sits with one ministry and state utilities. Construction is with municipal authority and state boards. Land, with the state. Environment, with centre or state, by classification. No single desk sees the whole. For months in these pages, we at Greyhound Research have argued for what is missing: a National Data Centre Council. A single custodian for water, power, land and clearance.
Now, how a data centre gets cleared. India’s environmental rules, framed in 2006, list what needs appraisal. Data centres are not on it. A campus is caught only above 20,000 built-up square metres. Even then it is appraised as a building, not an industrial user of water and power. The Minister of State for Environment confirmed as much in the Rajya Sabha on August 6.
So nobody formally assesses what a campus draws from the aquifer or the grid. When no institution owns the question, the street and courtroom do. One petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court challenges its water use and distance from the sanctuary. Three more sit with the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The High Court hears the matter on August 24.
None of this was unforeseeable. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology drafted a data centre policy in 2020, time-bound in ministries. Six years on, it is unfinished.
Meanwhile, the sector won infrastructure status and campuses worth tens of billions were approved.
THE COMMITMENTS
The draft was right. It was simply never finished.
This is exactly why what Council matters: one custodian, the water question and the hundred like it settled before ground is broken. Four things it should own.
One, water before watts. First publish the campus’s draw, its source, and who shares it. Amazon Web Services reports 0.22 litres per kilowatt-hour in Ireland, 2.85 in Jakarta. Efficient is not water-positive; neither fills this reservoir in the driest month. A corporate average is a press release. A local number is a commitment.
Two, disclosure that reads like a balance sheet. A borrower reports every year, in public. A campus drawing a city’s water should too, and the council should keep a national registry: every facility, its source, its power and water draw. India today cannot count its data centres.
Three, benefits written into the licence. Grid upgrades, water infrastructure, training for locals; each with a number and a date, inside the approval, not a brochure. Andhra Pradesh has committed land, tariff and tax concessions. When the public invests, the return should be specified.
Four, adjudication with a clock. Delay is not neutral. While a matter waits, work continues; a hillside cannot be put back. A Council must settle these benches to decide in 90 days. Speed survives an aquifer and balance sheet alike; litigation run as a business does no interest to stall.
None of this is hostile to industry. A campus that can answer the water question is easier to finance and harder to stall.
The children of Visakhapatnam are not marching against the future.
They are asking to be counted in it. Growth is sustainable only when it keeps its promises, and the four commitments above are that principle, put in writing.
Lest we forget, we truly cannot drink watts.
The writer is the Chief Analyst at Greyhound Research
The following is the full text of the article titled "Chandra’s exit, crude surge weaken market sentiment," written by Anupama Ghosh and published on page 8 (market.radar) of the August 13, 2026, edition of The Hindu BusinessLine.
Chandra’s exit, crude surge weaken market sentiment
Anupama Ghosh NEW DELHI
The markets closed lower on Wednesday, caught between rising crude oil prices, the news of N Chandrasekaran's decision not to seek reappointment as Chairman of Tata Sons, and an investor caution ahead of key economic data from India and the US.
The Nifty 50 settled at 24,095, down 55.75 points or 0.23 per cent, after briefly dipping to an intra-day low of 24,065 before recovering slightly. The Sensex similarly closed at 77,966.35, lower by 184.25 points or 0.24 per cent.
MID-CAP, AT NEW HIGH
The Nifty Midcap 100 bucked the trend, gaining 0.28 per cent and touching a fresh all-time high, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.18 per cent. Sentiment was weak even as Asian markets gained, led by Korea’s Kospi that surged nearly 4 per cent.
"More importantly, the market priced in the news and the sentiment before earnings did," said Sarvjeet Gaur, Founder of Pocketful, pointing to the broad sell-off across Tata Group stocks following N Chandrasekaran's decision to step down as chairman of Tata Sons after his tenure ends in February. TCS fell around 4 per cent, and Tata Motors and Tata Consumer Products also fell between 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent.
CRUDE SURGE
Crude oil prices surged near the $88.90 per barrel mark.
On the sectoral front, PSU Bank and Realty were the standout performers, with the Nifty PSU Bank index gaining 1.8 per cent, supported by strong institutional buying, improving credit growth and lower provisionings. Pharma, IT and Auto outperformed. However, Nifty IT gave back three sessions of gains, falling 1.9 per cent, while FMCG extended its losing streak into a third consecutive session.
"The region between 24,100 and 24,000 is a bull channel," said Ashish Nanda, Head of Equities Wealth, IndusInd Bank. "Investors are in particular range as investors hold on to their next big bets and wait for fresh cues from the Strait of Hormuz and volatile oil prices persist".
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