Ten Minutes or Less
Quick Commerce – Groceries delivered in ten minutes from neighbourhood “dark stores”.
7.8m orders a day (across the sector, 2026)$1.1bn gross order value a month (roughly double a year earlier)~$6.8bn market size in 2025 (from $5.5bn in 2024)~1/3 of online FMCG buying (in some urban households)
At eleven at night in a Mumbai apartment block someone runs out of coffee, taps four times, and a rider i
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Corporate Houses 2.0
Corporate Houses 2.0 – Reliance, Tata and Adani rebuilding their empires around clean energy and AI.
$210bn committed by Reliance & Adani (toward AI infrastructure)30 GW Khavda renewable complex (roughly 35% commissioned)$365bn+ Tata’s listed market cap (across 26 companies)70%+ of India’s EV market (held by Tata Motors)
For most of the twentieth century, understanding power in India meant look
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Treating One Point Four Billion
The Health System – Public health insurance and private hospitals serving 1.4 billion people.
~500m with public hospital cover (₹5 lakh a family a year)43.4% of health spending (paid out of pocket; 64.2% in 2013–14)142,464 MBBS seats (51,348 in 2014, across 858 colleges)507,000 foreign patients in 2025 (from 176 countries, an $8.7bn market)
India spends a little under 1.5% of GDP on public health a
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Swapping Instead of Charging
Battery Swapping – Swapping a drained EV battery for a charged one in minutes instead of plugging in.
98 battery-swapping companies (a model formalised only in 2022)1,569 Battery Smart stations (281,000 batteries in circulation)100m swaps completed (by the market leader alone)<5 min to swap a 12m bus (two packs, demonstrated July 2026)
A rider pulls up to a kiosk the size of a vending machine, slide
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BRICS Is Now Eleven
BRICS – How India uses the expanded BRICS group while keeping its ties with the West.
11 BRICS members (five until 2024, plus 10 partners)~45% of world output (in PPP terms, against the G7’s 31%)$44bn approved by the BRICS bank (141 projects since 2015)$9.5bn of it lent to India (across 32 projects since 2016)
Five members until 2024, eleven now, with ten more in an outer ring. India chaired it throu
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The Sky Is No Longer Imported
Defence & Aerospace – India building its own fighter jets, missiles and satellites instead of importing them.
$18.5bn defence production, FY26 (a record, up 15.6% on the year)$4bn defence exports (up 62.7%, and 45% of it from private firms)~65% of equipment made in India (about two-thirds was imported a decade ago)300+ space startups (up from 54 in 2020)
A decade ago India imported roughly two-thir
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The World’s Medicine Cabinet
Pharmacy of the World – How India came to make one in five of the world’s generic medicines.
$31.1bn pharmaceutical exports, FY26 (to more than 200 countries)~20% of the world’s generics (by volume, the largest supplier)47% of US generic prescriptions (filled with Indian-made medicine)~670 US FDA-approved plants (the most outside the US)
About one in five pills taken anywhere on earth is made in In
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The Constraint Is the Design Brief
Jugaad – Frugal innovation: designing great products under tight cost limits.
$64m the Chandrayaan-3 mission (₹615 crore, first to the lunar south pole)~$2,000 an open-heart operation (against six figures in the US)2,000+ cataract surgeries a surgeon (a year, against about 300 in India)$800 a portable ECG machine (replacing a $2,000 machine)
Jugaad is usually translated as a clever hack and dismissed
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From Sea Routes to Corridors
The IMEC Corridor – IMEC, a planned trade corridor linking India to Europe through the Gulf.
8 signatory governments (India, US, EU, IT, FR, DE, UAE, KSA)4 layers of infrastructure (ports, rail, energy, digital)2023 launched at the G20 (New Delhi, nicknamed the Golden Road)2026–27 the decisive window (announcement or working route)
Announced at the 2023 G20 with India, the EU, the United States and t
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From Gold to Options
Household Savings – Indian households moving their savings from gold and deposits into shares and mutual funds.
15.2% of household financial saving (goes to equities and funds, up from about 2% in FY12)$2.9bn a month into SIPs (about $420m a month in FY17)No. 1 derivatives exchange on earth (NSE, by number of contracts traded)56% of new investors are under 30 (38.9% of the base, against 22.6% in FY19)
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India’s Missing Workforce
Women & Work – Why relatively few Indian women are in paid work, and how that is changing.
41.7% female participation rate (up from 23.3% in 2017–18)~25% urban female participation (far below the rural figure)363 min unpaid care work daily (women; men spend 123 minutes)55% the 2050 target (Economic Survey 2025–26)
India produces more women college graduates in absolute numbers than the United S
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Winning Without Choosing Sides
Multi-Alignment – How India trades and partners with the US, Russia, Europe and others without picking a side.
21% of crude from Russia (up from ~1% before the war)50% US tariff imposed (on Indian exports, 2025)52.9% jump in Brazilian exports (to India after the tariff shock)$20bn India–Brazil trade target (by 2030, from $15bn in 2025)
Putin spent twenty-seven hours in Delhi. Two months later India s
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Between Coal and Solar
Climate & Just Transition – Adding record solar power while coal still runs most of the grid.
>50% of installed capacity (non-fossil; target met 5 years early)74% of electricity generated (still from coal, 2025)22% of energy consumption (is electricity at all)80 GW of new coal approved (to be added by 2032)
India hit its clean energy target five years early: more than half of installed capacity
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The Farm That Won’t Stop Voting
Agriculture & MSP – Farm prices, subsidies and why agriculture still decides Indian elections.
16% of GDP from agriculture (and falling for decades)46% of the workforce (PLFS 2023–24)~6% of farmers reached by MSP (concentrated in three states)$9.6bn lost after harvest each year (storage, markets, logistics)
For more than a year, farmers camped their tractors on the highways ringing Delhi. By Nove
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The Molecule India Has Bet On
Green Hydrogen – India’s bet on hydrogen made with renewable power, and whether the numbers add up.
$2.1bn National Green Hydrogen Mission (approved outlay)862,000 t production capacity awarded (across 19 companies)8,000 t actually commissioned (0.16% of the 2030 target)100–120 GW of new solar implied (to power 5 MMT a year)
India approved a five-million-tonne green hydrogen target for 2030. Three
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Beyond Teslas
Electric Mobility – Electric scooters, rickshaws and buses, not private cars, are leading India’s EV shift.
2W & 3W lead adoption (not private cars)FAME I & II target fleets directly (buses, 2W, 3W, commercial)5 states run their own EV policies (incentives, scrappage, charging)Platforms not OEMs, drive demand (Ola, Uber, Swiggy, Blinkit fleets)
India’s electric vehicle revolution is not hap
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The Jio Foundation
Startups & Unicorns – How cheap mobile data created India’s startup and unicorn boom.
100+ unicorns (third-largest ecosystem globally)$15.3bn raised in FY26 (across 1,078 rounds)18–21bn UPI transactions a month (the infrastructure fintech is built on)~50% of startup activity (now outside tier-1 cities)
In 2016 an Indian telecom company gave mobile data away almost free to win customers, and acc
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Adoption Ran Ahead of Invention
Artificial Intelligence – India uses AI at huge scale but builds far less of it, and is now catching up.
100m weekly ChatGPT users (second-largest market after the US)38,000+ GPUs on the state portal (from about ₹134 an hour for an H100)$676m AI startup funding, H1 2026 (four times H1 2025, across 57 deals)3.0× AI skills against the world (the highest penetration of any country)
India uses more AI t
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China+1 Has a New Address
China+1 – Manufacturing moving from China to India, led by electronics such as iPhones.
$21bn iPhone exports, FY26 (from near zero in FY22)$29.4bn smartphone exports FY26 (India’s largest branded export)25–30% of global iPhone output (up from 18% two years earlier)250,000 employed in Apple’s chain (>70% women at the largest plants)
In September 2025, for the first time, every model in a new iP
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The Bank Account That Started It All
Jan Dhan – A free bank account for every household, and the welfare system built on top of it.
586m Jan Dhan accounts (as of July 2026)56% held by women (of all accounts)78% rural or semi-urban (often no branch before 2014)<8% zero-balance accounts (down from 58% at launch)
In August 2014 the promise was a bank account for every household, however poor, however remote. Bankers expected them to sit e
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The Rails the State Built
UPI & Digital Public Infrastructure – UPI, India’s real-time payment network, built by the state and now exported abroad.
22.6bn UPI transactions (March 2026, single month)$3.3trn transacted in FY26 (across 241.6bn payments)~49% of global real-time payments (processed in India)24 countries signed on (India Stack / DPI MoUs)
In April 2016 a new payment system processed 373 transactions in its firs
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From Call Centres to Cockpits
Global Capability Centres – Global companies running their engineering and R&D centres from India.
1,800+ active GCCs in India (close to 2m professionals)$70bn ecosystem revenue (crossed in early 2026)2.3m STEM graduates a year (the underlying pipeline)200–400bps GCC salary premium (over Indian IT services, annually)
A Rolls-Royce engineer in Bengaluru builds jet-engine digital twins. A bank’s
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The Indian Himalayas: An unforgettable venture
The Himalayas is the world’s mightiest mountain system stretching across India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and Pakistan. A region unlike any other, it offers a combination of awe-inspiring adventure, ancient cultures, and spirituality that leaves its visitors spell-bound. Trek deep into the heart of the Indian Himalayas region, visit the secluded lush forests, Hindu villages, and flower-filled meadows framed by a b
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Silk in the Indian Subcontinent
India is the second-largest producer of silk in the world. With a rich and complex history, silk is closely tied to the life and culture of Indians. The industry today provides employment to more than 8 million people in rural and urban areas in India. The traditional and culture-bound domestic market has helped the country achieve the unique distinction of being the only country producing all five commercial si
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The Ultimate Indian Culinary Extravaganza
Indian cuisine is known for its artful use of the right spices in every dish. From a 1960s food economy verging on famine, the Indian gastronomical society has come a long way. Today, the food in India shapes the identity of different secular groups. If you’re looking for a delightful immersion into authentic ethnic Indian cooking, and a one-of-a-kind culinary experience packed with flavor, look no further. Pr
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India’s Spice route: A historical legacy
India has been at the intersection of historic maritime routes. Ports along the Indian coastline were at the very center of the flourishing spice trade industry in India. It was pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom that brought the world to the Indian Malabar coast, also popularly known as the spice coast. Spice shops in Kerala thrive by supplying sacks of black pepper, dried ginger, turmeric, and cinnamon to lo
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The Indian Tea Plantations: A Tea Tasting Affair
Indians are notoriously known for their love of chai (tea) and India is one of the largest tea growers in the world. The culture surrounding the tea plantations of India is a unique phenomenon and an experience one may not want to miss. Indian tea plantations are also known to produce some of the finest tea, with a distinct flavor that cannot be replicated. Visit some of the picturesque tea estates, walk around
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India’s Tiger Safari: An Adventure of a Lifetime
An adrenaline-pumped tiger safari can transport one to a whole new world of adventure. The tiger is a popular symbol and icon of India’s national heritage and India has about 70% of the world’s wild tigers, making it the ideal spot for a wildlife and tiger safari. There is no greater adventure than waiting in an open jeep, in the pre-dawn gloom, to witness a myriad of brilliant birds, herds of graceful deers
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Asia’s Most Crowded Slum - Dharavi’s Circular Economy
The contemporary understanding of sustainability is usually correlated to high-income countries that invest in large-scale energy management. However, sustainability is far more diverse. An uncommon example of sustainability has been regarded in the circular economy of India’s largest slum – Dharavi, located in Mumbai. A pioneer in sustainable waste management systems, contemporary geographers have descr
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Cruise through Kerala Backwaters in a Houseboat
Experience God’s own country, Kerala by embarking on an exciting houseboat trip along the backwaters of Kerala. Houseboats were originally built in 3000 B.C.E and were used for the transportation of spices and passengers. It is now a major tourist attraction and a popular mode to explore the magnificent backwaters of Kumarakom. Enjoy a unique relaxing ride along India’s Malabar coast, savor the local c
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Explore the Ancient Roots of Yoga in India
Yoga is a spiritual discipline that concentrates on achieving harmony between an individual’s mind and body. The practice of Yoga was believed to have originated in Northern India over 5,000 years ago. Yoga later became widely valued by the Indian nationalist movement as a way of defining pride and one’s identity. In India, one can find a plethora of yoga ashrams that impart yoga-related teachings and of
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Witness Kerala’s Famous Snake Boat Race
A unique sporting spectacle in the city of Kerala, the world-famous snake boat race is a one-of-a-kind event that occurs every year. The 100-120 ft snake boat is considered to be the traditional war boat of Kerala and can hold about 100 rowers at a time. This 400-year old tradition is a very different sight and has been nurtured in the coastal state with pomp and celebration. To keep the zeal and motivation high
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Experience the Majestic Forts of Rajasthan
Rajasthan is known for its fascinating stories of kings and rulers, but it’s true essence lies in the magnificent forts that mesmerize its beholders. A city with a glorious past and eclectic architecture, one can expect nothing but a vibrant adventure. Rajasthan is known to house more than 45 forts, out of which 6 have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. From heritage hotels, wildlife safaris, to a cit
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Explore Auroville - India’s Universal Township
Did you know there’s a city in India that runs without politics or money? Nestled in the Viluppuram district near Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Auroville is a quaint township that transcends money, politics, and religion. Auroville was founded for the sole purpose of contributing to human unity and the Indian renaissance. A universal city in the making, Auroville aims to allow individuals from all over the world to
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Witness Jallikattu - Tamil Nadu’s Addictive Bull-taming Sport
An integral part of Tamil culture, Jallikattu is a traditional bull-chasing sport conducted during the harvest festival of Pongal. Known to be older than 2 millenniums, the ancient sport involves tying a bag of coins to the horns of a bull during which the participants of the game try to retrieve it. Jallikattu is not just a leisure sport for the Tamilians but is a tradition that establishes the identity of the
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The Rann Utsav - Gujarat’s Biggest Ethnic Carnival
An exciting initiative by Gujarat Tourism, the White Desert Festival is an endless wonder to discover on a visit to India. This unique 100-day annual festival celebrates the ecological heritage and diverse land of the Kutch District in Gujarat. Expect to be mesmerised by the amalgamation of art, culture, crafts, cuisine, music and nature and engage in a range of festivities. Program highlights include:
Full m
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The evolving Energy landscape in India
The world has no choice but to explore sustainable energy, and what better example to showcase than Cochin International Airport (CIAL) – the world’s first solar power airport. Get insider access to understand how an international airport is powered by solar energy. See long stretches of solar panels spread over 45 acres of unused land and more. An absolutely inspirational experience to encourage ideas that
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Why Indian Nonprofits Are Experts at Scaling Up
There is probably no better laboratory than India to study the challenges that non-profit organizations face in trying to scale up when resources are scarce. Explore and understand how Aravind Eye Care System is run with McDonald-like assembly-line efficiency, strict quality norms, brand recognition, standardization, consistency, ruthless cost control and above all, volume. Every year, Aravind does 60% as many e
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Make in India: Guide to Indian Manufacturing
With the help of the ‘Make In India’ initiative, India will soon become a manufacturing hub for hi-tech global giants such as GE, Siemens, HTC, Boeing etc. As part of the learning experience, students will get to visit a wide range of Manufacturing companies to fine-tune their understanding of how Manufacturing has emerged as one of the high growth sectors in India. The highlight will be spending an entire d
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Tech Innovations in India & The Driving Force
Industrial Automation is all about working smarter, faster, and more proficiently. Get a feel of how it’s done and an in-depth understanding of how a Bangalore-based AI solutions company improved ‘asset uptime’ and ‘operational efficiency’ for globally renowned manufacturing industries. The program includes student interactions, company visits and cultural experiences.
Connect With AI Start-upsVisit
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India's 5 Trillion-Dollar Mission
India is one of the world’s most dynamic emerging markets, well on the road to achieving a $5 trillion mission by 2024. Explore and learn more about what makes India tick, in the process, gain insights into the business/economic environment of the country. Besides interacting with leading Economists, students will have the opportunity to have discussions with the Confederation of Indian Industry. The program a
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India Shining
This is your chance to understand how social entrepreneurs in India create an impact with start-ups that generate business for a social cause, not necessarily limited by personal gain. Visit a Chennai-based company that has tied up with over 200 schools across South India to institute recycling programs, enlisting the participation of over 300,000 children. Understand how they work towards implementing low-cost
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