Sunil Bajaj - Group Director - CAD, ABG | Former Director - Essar Group

  Most people still associate the India-France relationship with the roar of Rafale jets over New Delhi. While those fighter planes and the Scorpene submarines remain the backbone of their military ties, something much larger is happening behind the scenes. In early 2026, the two nations officially transitioned to a Special Global Strategic Partnership. This is not just a change in title. It marks a shift from a basic buyer-seller dynamic to a deep-rooted alliance where both sides treat each other as equals on the world stage. This new level of cooperation is guided by a document known as Horizon 2047. It acts as a twenty-year plan that looks toward the hundredth anniversary of India’s independence. The goal here is long-term sovereignty. Instead of India simply buying technology from Europe, the two countries are now co-developing it. They are moving away from dependency and toward a shared future where they act as a joint force for stability in a very unpredictable global climate...

  For the last decade, the word “unicorn” usually made people think of a flashy app or a food delivery startup based in a Bangalore high-rise. But as we move into 2026, that trend is losing steam. The era of burning cash to acquire users is being replaced by a much grittier, more profitable reality. The next billion-dollar companies in India won’t be found on your smartphone screen. Instead, they are popping up in the industrial estates of Tier-2 cities like Coimbatore, Belagavi, and Nagpur. These are high-precision manufacturing workshops that have quietly become essential to the global defense and electronics supply chains. The shift is driven by a simple truth: the world is desperate to diversify its manufacturing away from a single source. As global giants look for alternatives, they aren’t just looking for cheap labor; they are looking for high-end engineering. This is where India’s smaller cities are winning. With lower real estate costs and a massive pool of hungry engineeri...

India woke up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s powerful speech on the 15th of August 2025. The nation was anticipating some pivotal reforms in the GST 2.0 that would benefit the masses. The Goods and Services Tax reshaped India’s fiscal landscape at the time of its inception in the year 2017. This time, people had high hopes that GST 2.0 would prove to be a game-changer in the economic history of India. The GST 2.0 was positioned as a citizen-centric scheme that is focused on reducing the common citizen’s stress, simplifying taxation policies, and driving economic growth. In his speech, Mr Modi emphasised rate rationalisation, structural changes, and encouraged entrepreneurship and growth. This acted as the catalyst for the restructuring of the tax structure as an answer to long-awaited demands from business houses, economists, and consumers.  The announcement came as a breath of fresh air at a time when our country is still recovering from the horrors of the economic breakdown du...

 What is happening in our own backyard in the past couple of months requires more than headlines; it requires introspection. Bangladesh was jolted first, and Nepal was jolted next, by mass youth uprisings. While immediate provocation might vary, the common message is one of discontent: a new generation won’t tolerate arrangements it perceives as discriminatory, inaccessible, and out of sync with their dreams. Bangladesh: Demonstrations Against Job Quotas In July 2024, Bangladesh was convulsed in its largest social upheaval in three decades. Students and young professionals marched in huge numbers into the streets in defiance of the government’s system of job quotas, under which close to 30% of government sector jobs were reserved for specific sections of society. Peaceful protests initially mushroomed into a national emergency. Over 200 were killed, a series of curfews was imposed, and the government eventually did away with the quota system. For the youth in Bangladesh, it was not...

 For over a decade, apps have been at the centre of our digital lives — gateways to shopping, entertainment, payments, mobility, and even healthcare. But something fundamental is shifting. Artificial Intelligence (AI), once seen as a futuristic add-on, has become the engine that is redefining what apps are, how they work, and what users expect from them. The question is no longer “Is AI changing apps?” The real question is: “Are apps evolving into something entirely new because of AI?” From Static Utility to Living Systems Traditionally, apps were reactive tools — you opened one, performed a task, and closed it. AI has transformed them into living systems that learn, adapt, and evolve. Streaming apps now understand moods, creating playlists not just from history but from the time of day, weather, or even your recent activity levels. E-commerce platforms don’t just “recommend”; they predict, nudging you with products before you even know you need them. Fintech apps spot fraudulent b...

Agriculture has always been more than an economic sector for India, it is the backbone of our society, a source of livelihood for over 40% of our population, and the foundation of our food security. Yet for decades, Indian agriculture has faced a paradox: we produce abundantly, but farmers often struggle with incomes, market access, and sustainability. The recently announced Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana seeks to break this cycle, not through piecemeal subsidies, but by treating agriculture as a system that must be modernised end-to-end. Beyond Input Subsidies: A Holistic Approach The scheme signals a shift from fragmented interventions to a comprehensive framework. Instead of focusing narrowly on seeds, fertilizers, or credit, it aims to address the entire chain, from soil health to storage, from irrigation to international markets. This approach is crucial, because farmers’ prosperity does not depend on one factor alone, but on the interplay of productivity, resilience, value-addition, ...

When we talk of India’s growth story today, it’s not possible to ignore the excitement in emerging tech, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, space technology, clean energy, and defence technology are no longer specialist domains. They’re center stage in the boardrooms and policy plans. But despite all the optimistic rhetoric, I believe two things are needed if we are to see this ecosystem become a source of global competitiveness: strategic patience and serious big business commitment. The Pace vs. Patience Paradox In a quarterly performance and immediate market response world, “patience” is a term that sounds like a luxury. But establishing deep tech capability does not amount to a sprint; it’s a 10–15 year marathon that tests our capacity to continue pumping money and believing. Take semiconductors, India has offered over $10 billion in incentives to produce chips. But Taiwan’s TSMC took over three decades to reach its dominance in the current times. So did SpaceX, now valued at...

For years, India’s economic growth has been synonymous with its metro hubs — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and others. Easy access to capital, infrastructure, and talent made them the launchpads for innovation across multiple industries. But this picture is changing fast. Today, India’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are increasingly emerging as the next frontiers of growth, entrepreneurship, and investment. From new industrial clusters to digital adoption, these cities are no longer just catching up — they are reshaping India’s economic map. Defining Tier 2 and Tier 3 Cities Official classifications (such as those used by the RBI and government) rely on household numbers, but broadly: Tier 2 cities are emerging large cities, often with populations between ~1–4 million. Examples include Kochi, Vishakhapatnam, Nagpur, Bhopal, and Patna. Tier 3 cities are smaller but fast-growing urban centers, usually with ~0.5–1 million people. Examples include Ajmer, Mysuru, Dehradun, and Udaipur. Earlier mispe...

 India has been experiencing a startup tsunami over the last decade. With tens of thousands of ventures scaling up and global investments pouring in, the country has emerged among the world’s fastest-growing innovation hubs. Yet, behind this success story lies a persistent challenge: outdated regulations that haven’t kept pace with digital-first businesses. If India truly wants to position itself as a $10 trillion economy, startups must not just survive — they must scale. That requires a regulatory framework aligned with today’s business and technological ambitions. Points of Friction New businesses are often bogged down by stringent, outdated compliance norms. Lengthy incorporation processes, slow approvals, and endless paperwork delay go-to-market timelines. Taxation adds another layer of complexity, with conflicting GST interpretations, transfer pricing hurdles, and withholding rules creating uncertainty. Then comes the angel tax. Even with recent relaxations, ambiguities remain...

India’s rapid economic growth presents a fundamental challenge: how do we meet surging energy demand while staying aligned with climate goals? As the world’s most populous country, with an expanding industrial base and urban footprint, India’s energy use is rising quickly. At the same time, it has made ambitious climate commitments — and the world is watching. At  COP26 , India pledged to achieve  net-zero emissions by 2070  and committed to installing  500 GW of non-fossil fuel power capacity by 2030 . As per government and independent projections, meeting this milestone could reduce India’s projected emissions by up to  1 billion tonnes by 2030  — though this depends heavily on execution . Policy and Institutional Push The government has rolled out multiple initiatives: National Green Hydrogen Mission : Budget of ₹19,744 crore, aiming for 5 MMT annual green hydrogen production by 2030 to cut fossil fuel dependence. PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan : De...

China has been the undisputed mogul in manufacturing products for decades. Its massive scale of production, affordable labor, and excellent infrastructure have rightly earned China the title of the “world’s factory.” However, recent geopolitical shifts and trade tensions, along with China’s critical vulnerabilities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, have prompted world organisations to consider a “China+1” strategy, which favors diversification of the global supply chain. In this world trade realignment, India has come up as the most credible contender. But does India have it all that it takes to be a genuine alternative to China? Well, there’s a lot to uncover to get the final answer! India as a supply chain powerhouse India boasts of powerful advantages that have helped position it as a viable sourcing and manufacturing alternative to China. Let us learn about it in detail! Demographic advantage  – India’s favorable demographics are a beacon of hope for its potential in the global...

India’s industrial hub has always been centred around its western and southern regions. However, now we are seeing a prominent shift, which is driven by the notion of state-led industrial growth in central and eastern areas. The states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha are leveraging critical policy reforms along with planned infrastructure development to introduce new growth opportunities. This scale of transformation cannot be counted as mere regional upliftment, but a fundamental initiative to redefine India’s economy.  Bihar – From agrarian to industrial growth Bihar has always been associated with its agrarian identity. Being the most eminent source of migrant labor in the country, it is experiencing an intense economic rebalancing in recent years. Bihar’s GDP is all set to achieve nearly INR 11 trillion for FY 2025-26, marking a significant double-digit annual growth. Bihar’s strong agrarian foundation has served as an accelerator for its food processing sector. The state i...

 India, being the second-largest textile exporter in the world, is currently standing at a crossroads. Our $165 billion fashion industry has exposed us to increasing environmental costs primarily due to our “take-make-dispose” model. However, this challenge also gives us an extraordinary opportunity. India has the potential to become a global fashion leader, transforming its waste into wealth and also preserving its rich textile heritage. The wake-up call India is known to have a staggering environmental footprint when it comes to the fashion industry. Textile production consumes billions of litres of water annually. Plus, our rivers suffer from pollution due to the release of toxic chemical waste as an end product of the dyeing and finishing processes. Also, you cannot ignore the millions of tons of textile waste that ends up in landfills. Here, the synthetic fibres take centuries to decompose. The rise of fast fashion has only accelerated consumption, which has compounded India’s...

 In the current era, data is akin to oil, the fuel that is driving the world. And nowadays, India is making a revolutionary move by controlling the data pipeline. The Indian government has recently pivoted towards Zoho, a homegrown software giant. This groundbreaking innovation embodies more than a mere preference for local software vendors. It portrays a fundamental shift in the way the world’s most populous country now views digital sovereignty. And not to forget, that its implications extend beyond India’s borders. Well, for decades, India has relied on American tech giants like Google and Microsoft for their digital infrastructure. Undoubtedly, these companies have enhanced India’s digital position, but they also come with a hidden cost – data navigating across servers in foreign jurisdictions and being subject to international laws like the US Cloud Act that drive access to data stored at any location in the world.  We should also consider the fact that recent data breach...

The AI revolution reshaped everything in India, from healthcare to agriculture to the corporate industry. The transformative opportunity that India got with the advent of Artificial Intelligence has only made India stand at a crossroads. The million-dollar question lurking around the corner is – How do we regulate AI without killing the very innovation that could propel us into technological leadership? The challenge If we end up putting too much regulation on AI, then we can end up strangling startups in red tape while global counterparts take the lead. On the other hand, if we put too little regulation, then we can risk algorithmic discrimination, data privacy, and unchecked corporate power. India has to follow a “balanced” approach, which will feature policies that promote responsible innovation and prevent real harm. 4 pillars for responsible AI growth If India wants AI to grow responsibly, then the regulatory focus must be transparent on 4 major areas: Data governance and privacy ...