The Morning Brief

India's SME IPO market is on a tear, with companies like Amic Forging, Bondada Engineering, and Resourceful Automobiles delivering triple-digit gain multiples and driving a 176% surge in the BSE SME IPO index over the past year. Retail participation is at an all-time high, with applications soaring from 408 in 2019 to over 2.13 lakh per IPO today. But behind the headlines, concerns are growing. Vo...

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu recently met with top CEOs at Sri City, Tirupati, to rally investment, but his unexpected focus on population growth stole the spotlight. Earlier in August, his Cabinet scrapped the two-child rule for local elections, prompting questions about his strategy. Why is a leader known for sharp political and economic insights now zeroing in on population...

Peer-to-peer lending in India was supposed to be a game-changer—connecting borrowers and lenders directly and bypassing banks. But the business is now facing major turbulence. On August 16th, the RBI issued a new mandate that could reshape the future of P2P lending in India, leaving many to wonder if this is a turning point or the beginning of the end. Join The Morning Brief as host Anirban Chowdh...

Payments giant Visa is bullish about India’s fast evolving digital payments landscape, the growth of small and medium enterprises and its fiercely independent women customers and stakeholders. In a riveting conversation at the ET World Leaders Forum, vice chair Kelly MahonTullier talks to ET’s associate editor Arijit Barman about Visa’s new vistas. You can follow our host Arijit Barman on his soci...

Mahindra & Mahindra is on top the SUV game. It’s the market leader by revenue and no. 2 by volumes. The company is on a launch spree. And is heavily invested in the EV story. But with heavy competition in the SUV space, a global slowdown in EVs and sporadic demand in India’s automotibe industry, how will it stay ahead of the game. Hosts Anirban Chowdhury and Shally Seth talk to M&M’s ED an...

The recent incident at R G Kar Medical College has brought the larger issue of women’s safety, particularly in the medical profession, into sharp focus. We hear firsthand accounts from women doctors who recount the harassment and discrimination they face from colleagues, patients, and their families. Host Nidhi Sharma talks to Dr. Ammara Hasan, Radiation Oncologist and Anirban Chowdhury talks to A...

Fractal, India’s first AI analytics unicorn, is poised for an IPO at a reported valuation of $3 billion. From being founded 24 years ago long before AI became a buzzword every business wanted to log on to by five IIM batchmates, the company quickly gained traction amongst Indian and international clients. Within a few years however, it faced a leadership crisis with two of its founders exiting Sri...

Telegram, the bad boy of social messaging, is in deep trouble. Its CEO Pavel Durov has been arrested by the French police on alleged failure to mitigate the misuse of its platform for criminal activities. When Telegram started, it was hailed as a champion of freedom of speech and information sharing. Over the last few years however, it has become a hotbed for the exchange of pirated content, child...

Netflix’s India story is a growing piece of its global saga that spans 278 million subscribers and an annual revenue of more than $34 billion. Indian content on the platform has been attracting subscribers at home and abroad and has pushed into being a profitable entity. But content costs are growing, cinemas are filling and consumer dynamics are rapidly changing. In this episode, Monika Shergill...

Many of us grew up dreaming of becoming astronauts, picturing ourselves floating among the stars. In today’s world, making that dream a reality is no longer the destiny of the select few. With private companies like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic making space travel accessible, anyone can now touch the cosmos. Join host Nirmal John as he sits down with Michael Edmonds of Blue Origin and Gopichand...

Hosur, a town in Tamil Nadu, is on the cusp of a transformation. With Tata Group’s ambitious projects and a rapidly changing landscape, some are calling it the next Jamshedpur. But what does that really mean? In this episode, host Dia Rekhi explores the vision behind Hosur’s development, the parallels with Jamshedpur, and the role of the state government in shaping this industrial town of the futu...

Akasa Air, one of India's youngest carriers, has had a fairly good run so far. The two-year old airline was the fastest in India to start international operations and the fastest to scale up its fleet. It now operates more than 900 weekly flights to India and international locations, has a 4.7% domestic market share and 226 planes on order. But piling losses, ruthless competition from the IndiGo-A...

GCCs or Global Capability Centres are today among the biggest FDI vehicles cum job creators that few are talking about. Target, Maersk and JP Morgan Chase, Accenture, AstraZeneca are investing big on these centres making them the latest phenomenon to push India as a global talent hub. Host Dia Rekhi explores how GCCs are driving digital innovation in India for the world’s biggest brands. With Ramk...

Of late, GST sleuths have come knocking on the doors of real estate and construction companies, tech service providers, foreign airlines, insurance companies and many other conglomerates. Corporate India has cried foul and labelled this an exercise in tax terrorism. Despite being 7 years old, why is the CBIC ramping up tax demands on companies across sectors? What’s leading to the dissonance betwe...

Sharp currency fluctuations and renewed geopolitical tensions triggered a wave of selling across global equities. We explore the factors that led to this near-perfect storm, the Bank of Japan’s crucial intervention, and the lessons investors can learn from this volatile period. Join Host Nishanth Vasudevan has he talks to Ritesh Jain, Co-founder of Pinetree Macro about the recent upheaval in globa...

Bangladesh is facing its worst crisis in recent times. The government has broken down, PM Sheikh Hasina has escaped, law and order is in complete disarray as mob violence and vandalism continue to rattle several parts of the country. As talks of an interim government hang in the air and security concerns loom large, what are the concerns for India, a friend to Sheikh Hasina, but not necessarily to...

On August 1, the Supreme Court of India delivered a groundbreaking verdict, empowering state governments to sub-categorize castes within the Scheduled Castes based on socio-economic backwardness. This 6:1 decision addresses the issue of certain communities monopolising reservation benefits. Host Nidhi Sharma breaks down the complexities of this ruling and its implications. We explore the historica...

IT services major Infosys has been slapped with a pre-show cause notice from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) for alleged tax dues of over ₹32,000 crores, the biggest ever such number for an Indian IT company. Infosys has cited a recent circular from the CBIC to say the services received from its overseas branches are not taxable. Why would the DGGI send the notice? What is Infos...

The highly anticipated IPO of Ola Electric Mobility is set to open for subscription on August 2nd. Backed by Softbank, Ola Electric is India’s leading electric two-wheeler manufacturer, and this IPO marks a significant milestone in the country’s EV revolution. But there are concerns: losses, cash burn and previous incidents with its products.. Listen in as host Anirban Chowdhury talks with ET’s au...

Mankind Pharma has announced it will buy biotech company BSV for a whopping Rs 13,630 crore. The deal brings together a master of mass market products and an intrinsic innovator in the high entry barrier spaces of the healthcare market. It’s an expensive buy and Mankind has gone for broke, raising equity and debt and stalling other planned purchases. Why is the deal so important and how will it tr...

Unrest in Bangladesh has erupted following a controversial court ruling reinstating a 30% government job quota for the descendants of freedom fighters. The decision has led to nationwide protests, over 200 deaths, and severe disruptions. Host Prachi Verma delves into the origins and escalation of this crisis, its impact on regional stability and global trade, with insights from Former Foreign Secr...

Investments, employment, and consumption are the three burning issues facing India in 2024. Did the government’s latest fiscal budget deliver on all three? At a deeper level, should a fiscal budget solve problems on these aspects? You have read, seen and heard all the immediate analysis and number crunching around Budget 24. Listen in for a deeper analysis of what lies beyond these numbers, the al...

There are three kinds of people in the world: those who understand quantum computing, those who dont..and those who do and don’t. Quantum computing goes beyond the world of binaries, into the smallest units of calculations fathomable. It can simulate chemical reactions and optimize AI, financial service and healthcare beyond the range of current human thought. It is into this realm that India wish...

In an unexpected twist, Friday, 19th July, brought a mini tech apocalypse that left air travel, banks, retail, hospitals, TV channels, and stock markets reeling from disruptions. The culprit? A problematic update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which led to widespread system crashes and the infamous Blue Screen of Death. In this special weekend episode, host Anirban Chowdhury breaks down the...

The RBI has set new rules to pre-empt, prevent and penalise banking fraud. Instances of fraud in the sector have nearly trebled in the last year. Interestingly, the central bank’s new guidelines give more scope to the accused to clear their names. The new rules, for instance, give three weeks to the borrower to respond to allegations before it’s tagged as a fraud account. Host Anirban Chowdhury di...