The Core Report

On Episode 480 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Viktor Katona, head of oil analysis at energy research firm Kpler as well as Rama Bijapurkar, author, business advisor and researcher of Indian consumer markets. SHOW NOTES (00:00) Stories Of The Day (01:00) Markets hit a 7-month low, some fund managers still wary of valuations (04:45) Rupee slides past 86 to the US...

On Episode 479 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to G Chokkalingam, Founder of Equinomics Research as well as Himanshu Parekh, Partner and Head of Tax (West) at KPMG. SHOW NOTES (00:00) The Take: India’s Diagnostics Industry Is Going to Grow (04:41) Markets stay on weak footing, will midcaps surprise? (07:20) What early market trends for 2025 are telling us about sto...

This week financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj is joined by Vineet Agarwal, Managing Director at the Transport Corporation of India Limited. Agarwal discusses the current state of the logistics sector, from growth opportunities and profitability to the challenges and implications of supply chain disruption. You’ll learn about all things supply chain management whether it be for quick commerce, w...

On Episode 477 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Tarun Pathak, Telecom Analyst and Research Director at Counterpoint Research. SHOW NOTES (00:00) Stories Of The Day (01:09) Markets are sliding away (06:50) The Indian mobile phone market has stagnated, thanks to which half the manufacturing capacity of 500 million phones is lying idle (18:02) RBI wants to improve i...

On Episode 476 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Bjarne Schieldrop, Chief Commodity Analyst at Oslo headquartered SEB as well as Pratik Shah, Managing Director for India and SAARC at F5. SHOW NOTES (00:00) Stories Of The Day (01:00) The stock markets fight back a fresh bout of selling (03:27) ONGC ties up with BP to boost oil drilling output, the IEW segment (09:5...

On Episode 475 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to DK Joshi, Chief Economist at CRISIL. We also feature an excerpt from our interview from episode 465 with Dinesh Kanabar, tax expert and CEO at Dhruva Advisors. SHOW NOTES (00:00) Stories Of The Day (01:00) Markets pause  (04:15) Rupee recovers, rises sharply (05:30) GDP growth slows, advance estimates show (14:25) C...

On Episode 474 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Anindya Banerjee, Head Of Research for FX and Interest Rates at Kotak Securities as well as Dr Ishwar Gilada, infectious diseases expert and Secretary General at the People's Health Organisation-India. SHOW NOTES (00:00) Stories Of The Day (00:50) Markets fall sharply as sellers take charge. (03:28) Rupee hits a...

On Episode 473 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Jay Kothari, Senior Vice President, Global Head International Business and Lead Investment Strategist at DSP Mutual Fund. SHOW NOTES (00:00) The Take (07:14) Markets were down last week, 2025 will be muted. (09:25) CLSA dumps HDFC Bank from portfolio, focusses on Tata Motors and NTPC, among others. (12:12) Crude oil...

In this edition of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj is joined by Amitesh Rao, CEO at Leo Burnett South Asia. They discuss the current state of advertising - how data affects creativity and ideation, the limitations of influencer marketing, premiumisation in India and how that affects the approach to ad campaigns, how story and myth still play a part in communication, the dem...

In this Business Books edition of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj sits down with professors Ravi Bapna and Anindya Ghose to explore the multifaceted impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on education, misinformation, and global technology trends. Their discussion highlights how personalized AI tutors can revolutionize learning, the collaborative role of AI and humans in ta...

🎙️ This week we are joined by Dr. Sanjeev Panchal, Country President & MD of AstraZeneca India, for a deep dive into the transformative innovations shaping the future of healthcare. Dr. Panchal discusses AstraZeneca's global ambition to eliminate lung cancer as a cause of death by 2030 and the groundbreaking work being done in India to bring this vision to life. Discover how early screening te...

In this edition of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj is joined by AK Bhattacharya, Editorial Director at the Business Standard and Shankkar Aiyar veteran economic journalist and author, to look back on the life and times of Dr. Manmohan Singh and his contributions in his various roles as RBI Governor, Finance Minister and Prime Minister of India. Taking a holistic view of his...

In this Special Edition of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj engages with Professor Rajendra Srivastava, former Dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB) and the Novartis Professor of Marketing strategy and Innovation, to dissect India’s evolving business landscape and its implications for economic growth. The episode critiques the Indian business' focus on short-term profi...

In this Special Edition of The Core Report , financial journalist Govind Ethiraj engages with DK Joshi, Chief Economist at CRISIL, to provide a comprehensive analysis of India's economic trajectory. The discussion delves into how investment patterns have evolved since 2019-20, the pandemic’s lasting impact on GDP, and the alternative paths India’s economy could have taken. Joshi sheds light on the...

In this episode of The Core Report's year end Special Editions, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj interviews Samir Arora, a veteran fund manager and the founder of Helios Capital, delving into his perspectives on mutual fund trends, market cycles, and investment strategies. Arora highlights the remarkable rise of direct mutual fund investments, with over 40% of their flows bypassing tradition...

On Episode 465 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Dinesh Kanabar, CEO at tax advisory company Dhruva Advisors as well as Sheetal Sapale, Vice President at Pharmarack. SHOW NOTES (00:00) Stories of the Day (01:19) The stock markets take a pounding on foreign investor selling, the last week has no real good news. (02:54) Rupee hits fresh low, forex reserves drop shar...

With generative AI poised to reshape industries, how can India’s IT sector keep up? In this episode, Rajesh Nambiar, President of NASSCOM, joins Govindraj Ethiraj to explore the transformative impact of AI on the traditional IT model. Reflecting on pivotal moments like Y2K and the importance of learnability, Nambiar discusses how the industry can pivot to seize new opportunities. What lessons from...

On Episode 463 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Krishan Arora, Indirect Tax National Leader and Partner at Grant Thornton Bharat. SHOW NOTES (00:00) Stories of the Day (01:00) Markets fall again, on hawkish US interest rate stance (03:20) Rupee crosses Rs 85 per USD now (04:23) Time to brace, consumer product companies are hiking prices sharply (07:32) An importa...

On Episode 462 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Yves Padrines, CEO at the Nemetschek Group. SHOW NOTES (00:00) The Take (05:00) Markets slip again on Fed fears (07:44) Direct tax collections stay strong (09:23) Institutional investment in real estate is rising (10:38) Trump threatens reciprocal tariffs on India in sign that he has not forgotten his original threa...

On Episode 461 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO (India, South East Asia, Middle East & Africa) at CBRE as well as Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research. SHOW NOTES (00:00) Stories of the Day (01:00) Markets in steep fall on US interest rate fears (02:30) The Reliance stock is now in negative territory f...

On Episode 460 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Ameera Shah, Executive Chairperson and whole-time Director of Metropolis Healthcare as well as Jairam VG, Founder of Hyperlink Brand Solutions. SHOW NOTES (00:00) Stories of the Day (00:41) Markets dip as investors wait for cues (03:29) Gold frenzy grips Indian buyers (07:49) Why the cancer diagnostics market is gro...

On Episode 459 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Mandeep Manocha, Co-founder and CEO at Cashify as well as Jehangir Gai, well-known consumer affairs lawyer. SHOW NOTES (00:00) The Take (06:36) A lucky Friday the 13th changes market sentiment (07:54) India’s rice inventories have hit 5 times the Government’s target (09:03) India’s refurbished phone market is growin...

Video footage courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/user/SaintGobainTV In this episode of The Core Report: Weekend Edition, CEO B. Santhanam reveals Saint-Gobain's ambitious sustainability journey in India. The company is transforming manufacturing through groundbreaking green technologies, with two remarkable world-first achievements: A Chennai glass factory that's electrified 25% of its natural ga...

On Episode 457 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Hemindra Hazari, veteran banking analyst. SHOW NOTES (00:00) Stories of the Day (01:19) Markets slip again, wait for bottom up Santa rally (03:36) OPEC has once again cut oil demand forecasts for next year (06:11) Gold, silver futures rise on speculation, US may put tariffs on their imports too (07:50) Inflation dro...

On Episode 456 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Avinash Gorakshakar, Head of Research of Profitmart Securities. SHOW NOTES (00:00) The Take (04:50) FIIs are back, as markets gear up for Santa rally (06:46) Chief Economic Advisor makes indirect case for bitcoins and crypto day after conservative RBI governor departure (08:31) Rupee hits fresh low on reports of Chi...