Bullets

A taxi driver-turned-entrepreneur in Haryana, Praveen Mittal, ended his life along with 6 family members after a debt of ₹12 Cr led to asset seizures.

His story echoes a rising trend:

• 4% of India's 2022 suicides were linked to bankruptcy

• Household debt now stands at 42.9% of GDP

Most small businesses (97%) are sole proprietorships or partnerships with no legal shield

India’s insolvency law protects big firms, not individual strugglers.

Also read: What is a debt trap and how to escape it?

• Fidelity marked Lenskart's valuation up by 21% to ₹51,574.5 Cr.

• The Gurugram-based firm is eyeing a $1 billion IPO at a potential 2x valuation of its last funding round. 

• Raised ₹4,936.32 Cr. in Mar 2023 (valuation: ₹37,022.4 Cr.) and ₹1,669.6 Cr. in Jun 2024 (valuation: ₹41,740 Cr.).

• In FY24, net loss shrank to ₹10 Cr, while revenue rose 43% to ₹5,428 Cr.

• Lenskart also won ‘Startup of the Year’ at the ET Startup Awards 2024

Can Lenskart sustain its soaring valuation post-IPO?

• Zomato opened 294 new Blinkit stores last quarter, but 40% remain underused.

• Quick commerce now makes up 28% of its earnings, up from 20% last year, while food delivery's share dropped from 53% to 39%.

• Yet, only food delivery is profitable; quick commerce still burns cash.

• The competition is also rising with Flipkart, Big Basket, Reliance, and Amazon entering the race.

• Despite this, Zomato’s stock soared 40% in a year, outpacing the Nifty 50’s 8%.

Is quick commerce Zomato’s Jio moment, or the start of a telecom-style downfall?

NTPC claims transitioning to clean energy but its numbers say otherwise.

• It is building 33.75GW of new power capacity, with half still based on coal.

• In FY25, coal output from its own mines jumped to 46MMT, a 4x increase in 5 years.

• Coal plants ran at a 77.44% plant load factor, much higher than the national average (67.23%).

• While renewable additions were just 2.9GW, far behind thermal.

• It plans 30GW of nuclear and 21GW of pumped storage, but coal still makes up 78% of its power.

Is NTPC really transforming, or just dressing coal in green packaging?

Amid India's semiconductor push, Tata Electronics sends employees to Taiwan for training.

• Over 200 staff are training with Taiwan's PSMC to run Tata's ₹91,000 Cr. chip fab in Dholera.

• The fab aims to make 50,000 wafers/month and launch chips by Dec 2026.

• A ₹27,000 Cr. OSAT unit in Assam is also underway, creating 47,000+ jobs in total.

• Top global hires from Intel and GlobalFoundries strengthen leadership.

Can India build the talent base fast enough to power its chip ambitions?

Also read: The Tale of Tata: How a Trading Firm Became a Global Giant

Payments and lending firm Pine Labs is set to go public, with a draft IPO filing expected by June-end.

• The Noida-based company aims to raise ₹5,000–6,000 Cr., targeting a $4–5 billion valuation.

• The issue will be managed by Axis Capital, JP Morgan, Citi, and others.

• The firm posted ₹1,743 Cr. revenue and ₹339 Cr. loss in FY24.

• In April, it shifted its headquarters from Singapore to India via a reverse flip.

With peers like Groww and PhonePe also lining up IPOs this year, which fintech will win the sprint to Dalal Street?

Among 17 listed Indian startups, 11 improved Q4 profitability. However, it somewhat of a mixed bag.

• Nykaa achieved positive cash flow and more than 2x its profits. Whereas, Swiggy 2x its net losses (to ₹1,081 Cr.).

• PB Fintech expanded margins by 1% in Q4, while Eternal's profit fell 78% to ₹39 Cr.

• Ola Electric's loss surged to ₹870 Cr. with a 62% revenue drop, whereas Ather Energy narrowed losses by 17% and posted ₹611 Cr. in revenue. 

Can startups balance growth and profitability amid tough market battles?

Royal Enfield is going electric, and quiet, with its new Flying Flea C6, coming in 2026.

• It’s the company's first electric bike, weighing under 110kg (half as heavy as a Classic).

• It revives the Flying Flea, a WWII bike once dropped by parachute.

• It won't have the brand's famous engine sound, but will go up to 120 kmph.

• Expected to cost around ₹2.5 lakh, it targets city riders and younger users.

Will fans still love a Royal Enfield that doesn't roar?

Also read: Royal Enfield: Owner Siddhartha Lal's Success Story

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson says the Tata-backed carrier is midway through a five-year revamp, with over 100 aircraft added since privatisation and major upgrades underway.

IndiGo just announced 10 new overseas routes, aiming to go global by 2030 with 600 planes.

Air India's fleet expansion is slowed by retrofits, layoffs, and Pakistan's airspace ban, but new A350s are setting the standard.

Both airlines eye leadership in the sky, but who will define India's aviation future?

Also read: Reasons why airline industries are always struggling

Here are the points:

• After selling its food delivery to Zomato during the pandemic, Uber’s future in India seemed uncertain. 

• But by 2025, Uber leads India's cab market with 50% share, surpassing Ola.

• Uber stayed in 125 cities, focusing on premium rides, budget options, bike taxis and bus shuttles.

• Ties with Everest Fleet increased Uber's number 2,400% in 4 years, helping it reach 100 Cr. trips annually.

• However, Uber's focus on tech is challenged by zero-commission rivals like Rapido and Namma Yatri.

Can Uber's strategy adapt as India's ride-hailing shifts to new business models?

Google could be forced to separate from its Chrome browser after being found guilty of running an illegal monopoly in online search.

• A US judge is deciding if Google must spin off Chrome to reduce its power.

• Government lawyers say Chrome gives Google an unfair edge, especially with AI growing fast.

• They also want to ban Google’s default search deals with Apple and Samsung.

• Google argues 80% of Chrome users are global, and divesting it would harm innovation.

• Rivals like ChatGPT and Perplexity are already cutting into its traffic

Is splitting Chrome the only way to stop one company from controlling the internet?

India’s health-focused food brands are surging as quick commerce, rising incomes, and health awareness reshape snacking.

• Farmley saw a 60% revenue jump to ₹370 Cr. in FY25 and turned EBITDA profitable.

• The Whole Truth grew over 200% to ₹200 Cr.; its ARR now ₹250–300 Cr.

• SuperYou, cofounded by Ranveer Singh, hit ₹80 Cr. ARR within months

• Venture capital (VC) funding jumped to ₹559 Cr. in early 2025, 4x more than all of 2024

As healthier snacks go from niche to mass market, can they stay tasty and affordable for everyone?

Also read: Is the Indian Food Industry in Danger? The Debate Over Right & Wrong

Here are the points:

• Late-stage funding fell 20% in 2024, even though overall venture capital rose ~40% from 2023 to 2024.

• Only 22 of 90 unicorns were profitable in FY24, about the same as last year; roughly 40% are financially stable.

• Revenue growth slowed to 21% in FY24 from 35% in FY23, with 19 unicorns reporting declines.

• Combined losses dropped 35% to ₹39,361 Cr. in FY24 as startups focus on reducing losses.

Is India's startup scene shifting from rapid growth to cost-cutting?

Fired in 2017 from Infosys for being "too tech-focused", Vishal Sikka is now leading VIANAI, an AI startup backed by SoftBank's Masayoshi Son and Yahoo's Jerry Yang.

• VIANAI raised $190 million in multiple rounds and partners with TCS, SAP, KPMG, and Cognizant.

• Its tool ‘hila’ catches and fixes errors in AI answers, cutting false info from 66% of a sentence to almost zero.

• Sikka's team includes ex-Infosys and SAP execs.

• VIANAI focuses on accurate data and advancing AI that can make independent decisions.

With more accuracy, are we looking at an AI uprising?

Here are the points:

• Jubilant FoodWorks (Domino's India) saw 19% revenue growth in Jan–Mar 2025, beating rivals like Westlife (McDonald's) and Sapphire (KFC, Pizza Hut).

• It runs 2,000+ stores across 407 cities and is Domino's biggest franchise outside the US.

• But with little room left to grow and rising low-cost rivals like Ovenstory and La Pinoz, future gains may slow.

Can the king of ₹99 pizzas win in a country hungry for more than just value?

Rakesh Gangwal, who once slammed IndiGo's governance, saying a "paan ki dukaan" runs better, has sold shares worth ₹11,564 Cr.

• After a fallout with cofounder Rahul Bhatia, Gangwal began stepping away in 2022.

• His stake dropped from 36.6% to 7.8%, earning nearly ₹30,000 Cr.

• IndiGo is now valued at over ₹2 lakh Cr. 

• Gangwal, 71, is now chairman of Southwest, worth ₹1.5 lakh Cr. 

From IndiGo to Southwest, did Gangwal trade paan for peanuts?

Also check: How IndiGo Kills Competition with Scary Hack!

Here are the points:

• Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini are leaving the company they started; Sumit Jain will take over as CEO.

• They’ll now focus on AirLearn, a language learning app with 70,000 daily users and a ~₹16.61 Cr. yearly revenue run rate.

• Unacademy dropped its ~₹6,846.4 Cr. deal with Allen Career Institute and is now focusing on offline coaching.

• Unacademy made ₹840 Cr. in FY24 but lost ₹631 Cr. The company still has ₹1,200 Cr. in the bank.

Will this bold move help them bounce back in the tough edtech world?

Also read: Is EdTech the next big export from India?

Here are the points:

• Nestlé India is going through big changes as it drops out of the Sensex 30 list on June 23.

• Manish Tiwary becomes MD in August 2025, replacing Suresh Narayanan, who led after the Maggi ban in 2015

• Sales have grown only 7% a year recently; profits fell 5% last quarter

• The stock has grown 8% yearly in 5 years, while the Sensex grew 15%

• Still trades at a high 65x price-to-earnings ratio—many say it’s too expensive

Can the new leader bring back growth and trust for this household name?

Here are the points:

• A new battle is on in the AI world—this time, over who writes your code.

  • Google launched Jules

  • Microsoft released GitHub AI

  • OpenAI added Codex 

• These tools rival startups like Cursor, Bolt, and Lovable—Cursor alone earns ~₹2,491.41 Cr. annually.

• Google and Microsoft say 30% of their code is AI-written; InMobi says it’s already at 50%.

• The market for AI coding tools is set to hit $12.6 billion by 2028.

Will AI turn developers into copilots—or passengers?

Also Read: Is ChatGPT making you an AI Slave?

Bengaluru’s 60-minute fashion delivery startup, Slikk, just raised ₹85 Cr. in fresh funding led by Nexus Venture Partners.

• Lightspeed, which led a ₹27.42 Cr. round in March 2025, also participated.

• Funds will fuel new lifestyle categories, instant returns, and expansion beyond Bengaluru.

• Founded in 2024, it hosts 150+ brands like Snitch, The Souled Store, and Bewakoof—targeting 500 by December

• Dark stores to grow from 2 to 6–8 by September

Is instant fashion the future of urban shopping—or a race against sustainability?