Backing India’s largest value-added potato processor for global expansion 360 ONE Asset, a wholly owned subsidiary of 360 ONE WAM, has announced an investment of around $70 million in Iscon Balaji Foods (IBF), India’s largest potato processor and exporter of value-added potato products. Building an integrated agri–food platform Founded in 2013, Iscon Balaji Foods operates a fully integrated, export-oriented model, spanning proprietary seed development, long-term farmer partnerships, large-scale processing, and global distribution. The company was initially backed by the JP Iscon family and the Balaji Wafers family, which helped establish and scale its vertically integrated operations. Over the past decade,…
Author: Aman Atulya
Emergency Defence Procurement Is Accelerating Indigenous Capability India’s defence procurement strategy is increasingly prioritising speed and indigenisation. With evolving border and maritime security challenges, the armed forces are relying more on emergency procurement frameworks to induct mission-critical systems quickly. This has created a fast-track opportunity for domestic defence manufacturers with ready, deployable platforms. Contract Snapshot and Framework Context Pune-based Bharat Forge Limited has secured defence contracts worth ₹300 crore under the Emergency Procurement–VI (EP-VI) framework to supply indigenous unmanned systems to India’s security forces.The platforms are primarily intended for the Indian Army, with select systems also being inducted by the…
Product validation across 40+ consumer brands AdSocial.ai, a visual personalisation platform for consumer brands, has completed its product validation phase after working with over 40 brands across food and beverage, lifestyle, and marketplace categories. The validation demonstrates consistent improvements in conversion performance and revenue outcomes, positioning visual personalisation as a measurable growth lever for digital-first brands. The gap between data and execution Despite increased investments in customer data and analytics, many brands continue to use identical product collections and visuals for all users. This disconnect between insight generation and execution results in higher bounce rates, lower engagement, and revenue leakage…
₹44 crore penalty imposed on major e-commerce platforms for telecom violations The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has initiated suo motu action against multiple e-commerce platforms for listing and selling unauthorised walkie-talkies, imposing penalties totalling ₹44 lakh for violations of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and telecom regulations. Platforms under scrutiny The authority issued notices to 13 e-commerce entities, including Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, JioMart, Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook Marketplace), IndiaMart, TradeIndia, Chimiya, Talk Pro, MaskMan Toys, Krishna Mart, Antriksh Technologies and Vardaanmart, after identifying over 16,970 non-compliant listings. Penalties imposed The CCPA levied ₹10 lakh each on Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho…
AI-led tax analytics deal becomes company’s third-largest order in a year LTIMindtree has secured a ₹3,000 crore ($332 million) contract from the Central Board of Direct Taxes to modernise India’s national tax analytics platform using artificial intelligence, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Friday. The seven-year mandate involves building an AI-powered programme aimed at upgrading the government’s tax analytics and policy insight capabilities. LTIMindtree said the project reinforces its position in large-scale digital transformation programmes leveraging advanced data architecture and analytics to deliver real-time insights for policymakers. At an estimated $47 million in annual revenue, the contract…
Former ITC executive to take charge as competition heats up in India’s paints market Grasim Industries has named Sachin Sahay as the new chief executive of its paints business, Birla Opus, the company said on Friday. Sahay will assume the role from February 16. The appointment comes more than two months after the sudden exit of former CEO Rakshit Hargave, a move that had surprised analysts and raised questions around leadership continuity at a time when competition in the paints sector is intensifying. Birla Opus, which entered the Indian paints market in February 2024, has moved aggressively to scale operations.…
India’s Private Space Launch Market Is Heating Up As satellite constellations scale and global demand for cost-efficient orbital access rises, launch economics have become the next battleground in the space economy. While India has strong public-sector capabilities, private launch startups are now racing to build reusable systems that can compete globally on cost, cadence, and payload flexibility. Funding Snapshot and Investor Line-up Bengaluru-based space technology startup Ethereal Exploration Guild, also known as EtherealX, has raised $20.5 million (around ₹170 crore) in a Series A funding round co-led by TDK Ventures and BIG Capital. The round saw participation from Accel, Prosus,…
Creators replace celebrities, UPI dominates payments, and video-led research reshapes consumption beyond metros India’s consumption growth is decisively shifting beyond metros, with Tier 2, Tier 3 cities and small towns emerging as the country’s next demand engine. This transformation is at the heart of Beyond Metros: The Real Story of Bharat’s Next 500 Million, a new consumer study released by Rukam Capital, which maps how non-metro Indians discover brands, build trust, and make purchase decisions. WhatsApp Becomes Bharat’s Digital Backbone One of the report’s most striking findings is the dominance of WhatsApp as Bharat’s primary digital platform. Nearly 90% of…
Initiative engages startups, investors, and incubators across six emerging startup hubs Tally Solutions has concluded the first phase of its startup ecosystem initiative, Tally Startup Collective, aimed at fostering deeper, long-term collaboration between founders, investors, incubators, and ecosystem partners across India. The initiative was launched in partnership with Sanchi Connect and ran as a three-month engagement programme between October and December 2025. Building Engagement Beyond Traditional Startup Hubs The first phase of the Tally Startup Collective was conducted across six emerging startup cities—Hyderabad, Indore, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Bhubaneswar—reflecting the growing momentum of entrepreneurship beyond India’s traditional metro hubs. Startups…
AI startup picks seasoned tech leader as it prepares Bengaluru launch U.S. artificial intelligence firm Anthropic has appointed former Irina Ghose most recently managing director of Microsoft India as its new Managing Director for India, the company said on Friday. Ghose’s appointment comes as Anthropic readies the opening of its first office in Bengaluru and strengthens its presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing AI markets. Ghose brings over three decades of experience in scaling technology businesses and driving enterprise adoption of AI. At Microsoft India, she led large teams and helped grow enterprise cloud, AI, and education solutions across…