ECONOMY

Indian economy resilient: GDP likely to grow 6.5% in FY26 despite global shocks

India's economy is expected to grow at 6.5% in FY26 despite global geopolitical tensions and trade policy uncertainty, according to S Mahendra Dev, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have cut India's FY26 growth forecast to 6.2% and 6.3% respectively, Mr. Dev said, domestic momentum remains strong due to rising public capex, healthy consumption patterns and improving rural demand.

India's recent disinflation trends — CPI headline inflation in June stood at 2.10%, the lowest since January 2019, while food inflation was at 1.06%- would also support the growth cycle. RBI has projected average inflation at 3.7% for FY26, assuming a normal monsoon. The EAC-PM chairman said that the government's capex push will crowd in private investment. Improving domestic demand could unlock further investment, since private capex will be more once domestic demand increases further and global uncertainties are reduced.

VC investments in India at $3.5-bn mark in Q2, 2025: KPMG

Venture Capital (VC) investments in India touched USD 3.5 billion across 355 deals in Q2 of 2025, warming up sequentially in value terms from USD 2.8 billion across 456 deals in March quarter.

A USD 218 million seed round raised by PB Healthcare - a startup focused on developing a tech-enabled health delivery platform was India's largest VC investment of Q2, 2025.

On a broader canvas, the global venture capital investment slipped to USD 101.05 billion in Q2, 2025 from USD 128.4 billion in Q1, 2025 Heading into Q3, 2025, VC investors globally are expected to remain cautious given the continued delay in exits across many sectors, rising geopolitical tensions, and ongoing uncertainties related to tariffs and other global trade policies.

TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft alerts businesses, governments of Spoofing Attack:

Microsoft Corporation has opened a new tab that has issued an alert about "active attacks" on server software used by government agencies and businesses to share documents within organizations, and recommended security updates that customers should apply immediately.

In the alert issued, Microsoft said the vulnerabilities apply only to SharePoint servers used within organizations, and Microsoft 365, which is in the cloud, was not hit by the attacks. Microsoft said that a vulnerability "allows an authorized attacker to perform spoofing over a network," which is an actor that can manipulate financial markets or agencies by hiding the actor's identity and appearing to be a trusted person, organization or website.

GreenLight Credentials steps into India's education space:

GreenLight Credentials, the global provider of digital credentialing solutions is entering India's academic landscape with the introduction of ReadyToWork AI, an advanced platform designed to make students employment-ready. ReadyToWork AI is the world's leading AI-powered career readiness platform. Already trusted by over 70 academic institutions and having benefited more than 100,000 students worldwide, it is now poised to make a transformative impact on Indian education through its scalable and technology-driven approach to career readiness. GreenLight Credentials has appointed EducationWorld, India's premier education magazine, as its distribution and implementation partner in India.

ESG

SBTi Introduces New Guidance for Five Year Target Reviews, Status Updates

Many organizations across sectors are using the Science Based Targets initiative's (SBTi) standards to set and achieve ambitious emission reduction targets. Examples include major corporations like McDonald's, Dell, and Wipro are just a few amongst many more. Two new resources — “Mandatory Five-Year Review Guidance” and “SBTi Commitment and Target Statuses” — will take effect on Dec. 18, 2025. The five-year review policy applies to corporations and small- to medium-sized enterprises with existing validated targets. Companies are required to reassess and, if necessary, revise their targets to ensure they remain based on science. The second resource introduces an expanded set of target and commitment statuses on the SBTi Target Dashboard. These new classifications aim to enhance accountability and offer stakeholders clearer insights into whether companies are actively engaged in the SBTi system.

New categories will distinguish between active participants or Targets Set and those no longer engaged or Previous Targets. Subcategories will provide further detail on a company's stage in the target-setting process. The updates will replace SBTi's existing Commitment Compliance Policy when implemented in December, 2025.

GRI Unveils New Climate, Energy Rules to Drive Sustainability Reporting

The Global Reporting Initiative unveiled two new sustainability reporting standards aiming to streamline climate and energy disclosure for companies and push corporate accountability amid mounting environmental and social pressures. GRI 102: Climate Change and GRI 103: Energy introduce science-based, globally aligned frameworks that support more actionable and consistent climate-related disclosures.

Launched during London Climate Action Week, the standards are designed to help organizations report greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and the broader impacts of their climate strategies, including those on workers, communities and indigenous people. To aid implementation, GRI is offering a new online course, detailed FAQs and an early adopter pilot through its GRI Community, with case studies expected later in 2025. The GRI Climate Change and Energy Standards are now available for use, marking what the organization describes as a “critical milestone” in advancing a coherent global system for sustainability reporting.

Amazon Delivers 1.5 Bn Packages by EVs, Hits 100% Clean Energy Goal in 2024

Amazon delivered a record 1.5 billion packages using electric vehicles in 2024, more than doubling its EV fleet to 31,400 globally and surpassing its India EV goal a year ahead of schedule, the company revealed in its 2024 Sustainability Report. The e-commerce giant also retained its position as the world's largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy for the fifth straight year, matching 100 percent of its global electricity usage with renewables.

Since signing The Climate Pledge in 2019, the company has reduced carbon intensity by 40 percent. Amazon also procured 3.7 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel, increased renewable diesel use 16-fold year-over-year to 4.7 million gallons and, added 124 new renewable energy projects, bringing its total to 621, representing 34 GW of clean energy capacity. A key breakthrough was Amazon's entry into nuclear energy, with investments in small modular reactors and a $500 million funding round in nuclear startup Xenergy. These projects aim to add 960 MW of carbon-free energy to the U.S. grid by 2039.

INDIA PARTNERSHIPS

India may relax rules for Chinese investment in electronics; but only with a tech transfers, Partnerships or Takeoff denied

Government is likely to support Chinese investments in the electronics sector if they involve joint ventures with Indian companies and include technology transfer, rather than just setting up assembly units, according to officials. This approach aims to strengthen domestic capabilities while ensuring greater value addition and knowledge sharing within the country.

The Indian government aims to exceed 30% in two to three years and reach 38% within the next five years as China leads globally with 38% local value addition.

Additionally, Indian companies are also pressing for a review of trade relations with China, especially over the restrictions introduced through Press Note 3, a 2020 policy change that tightened foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for countries sharing a land border with India. To counter this, India is rolling out a Rs 22,919-crore electronics component manufacturing scheme to boost domestic production. However, Indian manufacturers still rely on Chinese expertise for components, as Chinese firms currently dominate global supply chains.

India-UK signed of trade pact on July 24

The Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal joined Prime Minister, Narendra Modi in London for the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between India and the UK on July 24. The agreement was finalized on May 6, and it aims to eliminate tariffs on key exports and imports, with the goal of doubling trade to USD 120 billion by 2030.

The trade pact proposes to remove taxes on the export of labourintensive products such as leather, footwear and clothing, while making imports of whisky and cars from Britain cheaper, in a bid to double trade between the two economies to USD 120 billion by 2030.

Once the free trade agreement is signed, it will require approval from the British Parliament and India's Cabinet before it can take effect. It will take about a year for implementation after the signing of the deal.

MERGER AND ACQUISITION

Reliance Retail acquires century-old Kelvinator brand for $18.6 million

Reliance Industries' retail arm, Reliance Retail Ventures announced the acquisition of Kelvinator, the iconic refrigerator brand, in a strategic move to strengthen its position in India's consumer durables market. Sweden's Electrolux Group, which owns the Kelvinator brand, mentioned in its Q2 financial report that group operating income “included a positive effect from the divestment of the Kelvinator trademark portfolio in India of SEK 180 million ($18.6 million). The acquisition aligns with Reliance Retail's strategy to expand its consumer durables offerings through its extensive retail network of 19,340 stores and digital platforms.

The acquisition positions Reliance Retail to accelerate growth in the premium home appliances segment while leveraging Kelvinator's established brand equity in the Indian market.

Adani nears $1.4 billion buyout of Jaiprakash in M&A comeback

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate is the frontrunner to buy the insolvent Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. Adani Group leads the race among bidders to acquire the infrastructure developer with an unconditional bid of at least C12,000 crore ($1.4 billion). Adani Group plans to fund this acquisition internally and without outside financing.

The deal, if approved, will mark a comeback for billionaire Adani to big ticket acquisitions. It also adds to the tailwinds around the group after the tycoon's surprise recent visit to China and a slew of financing deals from marquee lenders.

Jaiprakash Associates, based in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, has business interests ranging from cement to power and real estate, along with Formula One tracks and hotels which makes it a perfect fit for Adani's conglomerate since it has existing operations in most of these sectors.

Indian jeweler Titan to buy large stake in Dubai's Damas

As per Reuters, the Titan Company will buy a 67% stake in Dubai-based luxury brand Damas from Qatar's Mannai Corporation at an enterprise value of 1.04 billion dirham ($283.2 million), potentially making it one of the largest Indian jewelers in the Middle East. The Tata Group Company expects to complete the deal by January 31, 2026 and will have the right to acquire the remaining 33% stake in Damas after December 31, 2029. Titan has had a presence in the UAE since October 2020 through its Tanishq Jewelry stores.After the deal, Titan, which has about seven stores in the United Arab Emirates, will gain access to Damas' 146 stores across the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Continue reading Back to Home