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The Ken

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India’s elite fight back against C-sections. One midwife at a time

India’s elite fight back against C-sections. One midwife at a time

The midwifery-led model ensures more personalisation and natural births. But it comes with higher expenses and difficulty scaling

previous day 10

The Ken

Isha Mukhtyar

India’s quasi-sovereign fund is a case of ‘heads I win, tails you lose’

India’s quasi-sovereign fund is a case of ‘heads I win, tails you lose’

The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund is exiting, often if not always, to its investors

thursday 20

The Ken

Priyal Mahtta

How BSE’s Saatvik 100 and NSE’s Ahimsa ended up with missile makers and coal miners

How BSE’s Saatvik 100 and NSE’s Ahimsa ended up with missile makers and coal miners

One tracks 100 companies, the other 327. Yet they share 71, showing how India’s listed universe bends even the most niche investment themes towards...

22.07.2026 20

The Ken

Tanmay Hardikar

Rs 10K crore, 38K GPUs, and 12 firms later, India’s AI mission is still looking for users

Rs 10K crore, 38K GPUs, and 12 firms later, India’s AI mission is still looking for users

The mission picked companies to build AI for farmers, schools, and hospitals. Two years later, they are selling mostly to everyone else

22.07.2026 20

The Ken

Mrunmayee Kulkarni

SBI Funds’ dream IPO run is headed for a halt

SBI Funds’ dream IPO run is headed for a halt

The stumbles of a smaller, superior competitor don’t bode well for the country’s largest asset manager

21.07.2026 20

The Ken

Anand Kalyanaraman

Kanwaljit Singh on the consumer-brands bet, the anti-power-law fund, and turning down twice the money

Kanwaljit Singh on the consumer-brands bet, the anti-power-law fund, and turning down twice the money

He built Fireside Ventures by refusing his own industry's two reflexes, chasing the one big winner, and raising all you can

20.07.2026 10

The Ken

Rohin Dharmakumar

Adani pays Rs 3,000 crore to outwit electricity-stealing Indians

Adani pays Rs 3,000 crore to outwit electricity-stealing Indians

After Adani Energy’s acquisition of smart-meter company Intellismart, the combined entity now manages a book of 47 million smart meters or 23% of...

20.07.2026 20

The Ken

Sakshi Sadashiv

Blackrock gives Udaan more time. But time has never been its problem

Blackrock gives Udaan more time. But time has never been its problem

The B2B e-commerce company is treading water. And it finds a $160 million lifeline, including from the world’s largest asset manager

17.07.2026 20

The Ken

Nuha Bubere

India’s study-abroad lenders are forced to choose their plan B: India

India’s study-abroad lenders are forced to choose their plan B: India

Overseas education lenders have paused their IPOs plans and turned to the domestic market for growth as the US, UK, and Canada have moved to restrict...

16.07.2026 20

The Ken

Atul Krishna

Burger King India’s new billionaire owner inherits an old problem, and brings his own

Burger King India’s new billionaire owner inherits an old problem, and brings his own

Even as Restaurant Brands Asia tackles an Indonesia challenge, its acquisition by Ajanta Pharma’s promoter family brings fresh concerns over excess...

15.07.2026 20

The Ken

Anirudh Somani

BPOs used accent translators to cut costs. Its agents are paying the price

BPOs used accent translators to cut costs. Its agents are paying the price

Tools from voice-AI startups like Sanas mute out “human” emotions like laughter. Meanwhile, AI agents are sounding more human everyday

14.07.2026 10

The Ken

Debanjali Biswas

The call-centre agent isn’t an AI bot. Good luck convincing Americans

The call-centre agent isn’t an AI bot. Good luck convincing Americans

Accent-translation tools from voice-AI startups like Sanas mute out “human” emotions like laughter. Meanwhile, AI agents are sounding more human...

14.07.2026 10

The Ken

Debanjali Biswas

Cloudnine spent four years growing, only to start a PE bidding war

Since shelving its IPO plans in 2022, the healthcare chain has grown bigger in size through private capital and acquisitions, while also changing its...

13.07.2026 30

The Ken

Sudeshna Ray

Where to invest Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, Rs 1 crore

The market realities have changed over the past six months. Should you change your strategies?

10.07.2026 20

The Ken

Anand Kalyanaraman

Sunil Mittal is irreplaceable at Airtel. Now he has to make himself irrelevant

With the 68-year-old billionaire’s succession plan, the telco has to find ways to thrive without the man who fought its wars

09.07.2026 20

The Ken

Raghav Batra

Oyo shed the Oyo tag. Its IPO wants investors to do the same

Once known for budget hotels in India, Oyo’s parent, Prism, now owns 40 brands internationally, thanks to debt-funded purchases. Its IPO wants...

08.07.2026 30

The Ken

Suprita Anupam

There’s a three-way fight to rent India its AI. Nvidia seems to be winning it anyway

Three companies lease India its AI compute. Nvidia supplies the chips to all of them—then comes for what they sell, one software release at a time

07.07.2026 20

The Ken

Mrunmayee Kulkarni

At RBI-licensed NBFCs, 600% annual interest is board-approved, ‘reasonable’, and perfectly legal

The RBI chose not to set a ceiling on interest rates. Now, NBFCs want to see just how far they can push it

06.07.2026 40

The Ken

Mutasim Khan

This company makes every fourth AC in a sweltering India. It still went looking for trouble

Amber Enterprises, the contract manufacturer behind Voltas, Blue Star, and LG’s ACs, will now assemble Oppo’s smartphones, too. It’s a business...

03.07.2026 30

The Ken

Priyal Mahtta

Inside Third Wave Coffee’s unending reinvention

Cafés near Starbucks, a long food menu, and now desserts. The specialty-coffee chain’s search for profits continues

02.07.2026 30

The Ken

Nuha Bubere

Your next Samsung or Xiaomi phone must give something up. Which feature would you choose?

AI’s insatiable appetite for memory is hollowing out the Rs 15,000 smartphone, leaving buyers with dimmer screens, weaker cameras, and higher prices

01.07.2026 20

The Ken

Sakshi Sadashiv

ONDC’s first act stalled. Its second comes with Rs 220 crore and a new script

The state-backed digital commerce network is betting on new offerings for retailers in particular to revive its sagging fortunes. It’s a tough bet

30.06.2026 30

The Ken

Inderpal Singh

Cred’s first profitable quarter comes with a trade-off. No, not Kunal Shah

The fintech has inherited Rs 6,500 crore, a diffuse revenue stream, and a UI problem

30.06.2026 30

The Ken

Suprita Anupam

Accenture, TCS are the first dominoes to fall in the remaking of IT jobs

What looks like a minor tweak to salary structures is eroding the financial certainty that defined India’s tech jobs, with ripple effects on home...

29.06.2026 30

The Ken

Debanjali Biswas

Inside India’s 90-day countdown for CBSE schools to embrace AI

Schools are scrambling to get their AI lessons in order. It’s proving to be a struggle

26.06.2026 40

The Ken

Atul Krishna

The Blusmart heir that looks more like a lifeline for Vinfast

Vingroup rolled out ride-hailing services through Green SM in India. It’s also doubling as the largest customer for its automaker

25.06.2026 40

The Ken

Suprita Anupam

This Bengaluru startup isn’t building faster chips than Nvidia. It’s building cheaper AI

Nvidia won the race to train AI. Turiyam thinks the race to run it is still wide open, and cheaper to win

24.06.2026 30

The Ken

Mrunmayee Kulkarni

Jio Platforms’ big global backers sit out the IPO. They don’t have a choice

Meta, Alphabet, and nearly a dozen other global investors bought into Jio’s digital-powerhouse story in 2020. Six years later, telecom still pays...

23.06.2026 30

The Ken

Anand Kalyanaraman

Why Adani is sailing in Europe’s energy waters

Adani Ports built its heft where ships docked. Now it wants to linger where energy lives—offshore

22.06.2026 30

The Ken

Sakshi Sadashiv

AI cites a hospital for health advice, but the hospital uses AI to write the advice. And both are wrong

The vicious loop poses real-world health risks

19.06.2026 30

The Ken

Sudeshna Ray

‘You have to be clear what is more important—the economy or the market’

Despite a truce in West Asia, foreign investors don’t seem keen to keep their Indian stocks. The problem and the solution lie closer to home,...

18.06.2026 30

The Ken

Anand Kalyanaraman

Why Sunil Mittal is betting on a food business that doesn’t scale like fast food

Bharti’s dining arm, Gourmet Investments, wants to more than double its restaurant footprint to 125 in three years. But casual dining chains don’t...

17.06.2026 30

The Ken

Aakriti Bhalla

India’s Rs 1 lakh crore R&D fund: speed was the signal, but Rs 5 lakh crore is the point

The Technology Development Board ran through its budget in weeks. Approved VCs are next. The harder ask, persuading one more stakeholder to respond to...

16.06.2026 30

The Ken

Seema Singh

Heads, founders win. Tails, platforms win. AI fund Activate wins either way

The country’s latest AI fund, founded by a former IndiaAI Mission advisor, is courting the next crop of Indian AI founders, while also backing...

15.06.2026 30

The Ken

Mrunmayee Kulkarni

Zepto wants Rs 8,100 crore—and investors to trust the numbers it won’t disclose

Revenue is up 5X since FY24. So are losses. Yet the IPO filing leaves investors without key customer metrics and answers on FDI risks

12.06.2026 40

The Ken

Suprita Anupam

Firstcry’s winning formula is running out of road. It keeps doubling down on it anyway

The babycare retailer spent years building stores and private labels. Even when the world around it was changing rapidly

11.06.2026 30

The Ken

Nuha Bubere

Anand Mahindra built an elite engg university. It isn’t attracting elite students

Mahindra University is offering generous scholarships to address the problem. It may not be enough

11.06.2026 30

The Ken

Atul Krishna

Blackstone’s next big IPO looks built more for its own exit than the public’s entry

Horizon Industrial Parks is set to be India’s largest warehousing platform. But it’s saddled with Rs 6,700 crore of debt and over half of its 58...

10.06.2026 40

The Ken

Mutasim Khan

Bajaj’s website to Malabar’s AI: Accenture didn’t build the world’s biggest ad agency through ads

Accenture Song’s biggest competitors are no longer just WPP, Publicis, and Dentsu, but everyone trying to blur the lines between marketing,...

09.06.2026 40

The Ken

Debanjali Biswas

Lendingkart’s last stand: a founder, a Temasek unit, an outdated deal, and a $600M wipeout

Harshvardhan Lunia and family have filed an NCLT petition alleging foul play by Temasek subsidiary Fullerton. The case will be heard on 18 June

08.06.2026 60

The Ken

Suprita Anupam

HCLTech, which sells to the world, invested $150M in Sarvam AI, which is built for India

$150 million buys influence over Sarvam's roadmap and a stake in India's sovereign-AI story. Whether it buys revenue is the question nobody can yet...

05.06.2026 30

The Ken

Rohin Dharmakumar

Optimist wants to reinvent the AC. Daikin and LG don’t need to

The energy-efficient AC startup prioritised engineering and services before expanding its retail presence. But slow and steady brand building has a...

05.06.2026 40

The Ken

Priyal Mahtta

India built a Rs 50,000 crore MSME fund to fight VCs’ tech bias. It still became a tech backer

Of the 750 companies the fund has invested in, seven out of 10 are tech-heavy—defying the fund’s intention of backing traditional manufacturers

04.06.2026 20

The Ken

Inderpal Singh

Tesla and Figure AI are building robots to act like humans. Indian workers are teaching them how

…for a few hundred rupees. It may be a Faustian bargain, once again

03.06.2026 40

The Ken

Sakshi sadashiv

Equity investing is sold as a must. The affluent can do just fine without it

A fixed-income-only corpus can work if you get your numbers and objectives in line

02.06.2026 30

The Ken

Anand Kalyanaraman

Sun Pharma bought the dip in its $11.7B Organon deal. Just not the right kind of dip

Organon’s Q1 numbers on 30 April showed how Sun bought its worst quarter. But India’s biggest pharma company will hope it doesn’t get worse...

01.06.2026 30

The Ken

Seema Singh

Why Amazon seems so calm about being awfully late to quick commerce

The global giant’s betting rapid expansion and a pre-existing subscription program will make up for the delay

29.05.2026 40

The Ken

Nuha Bubere

Bajaj Finance mastered self-disruption. Succession may be harder

An early stage ultimatum—meet this target or I’ll shut you down—still reverberates across the company, propelling it forward

28.05.2026 50

The Ken

Neha mehrotra

India needs Tata, Mahindra EVs to cut the oil bill. But EV owners are stuck at workshops

The lack of a robust EV ecosystem, from poor afters-sales service to paltry infrastructure, is fraying consumer interest

27.05.2026 40

The Ken

Suprita Anupam

Cipla had one of its worst quarters. Investors still rewarded it

India’s fourth-largest drugmaker lost two of its most-profitable drugs within months. Its new pipeline is what investors care about

26.05.2026 50

The Ken

Sudeshna Ray