India

Elon Musk has announced that Starlink's satellite internet service rates in India will be set at an affordable level, opening a direct challenge to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, ahead of Jio Platforms, the parent company of Jio's telecom business, raising funds through an initial public offering on the Indian stock market. The offering targets a valuation of as much as 106 billion US dollars, making it the largest share sale in the history of the Indian stock market. Meanwhile, the satellite broadband businesses of both Starlink and Jio are still awaiting final security clearance from Indian authorities before they can begin commercial service. Musk has not disclosed specific pricing. India is one of the markets with the lowest mobile data rates in the world, averaging about 8 cents per gigabyte. Musk said via the X platform on Saturday, October 10, that if Starlink prices its service too high in India, no one will use it, so pricing must be set at a level consumers can afford. Musk also posted attacks on the Indian government and on Ambani, accusing the government of deliberately delaying approval of Starlink's licence in order to protect Jio's market share, and mockingly calling Ambani the prime minister of Ambani. The Indian government has denied allegations of discrimination, insisting that the review process is transparent and fair. Currently, three applicants have sought licences to provide satellite communications services, including Starlink and Jio, and all of them are awaiting the same final national security approval.

The Indian government has announced that it will cap retail profit margins on cancer medicines at no more than 30%, in response to complaints that cancer drug prices in the country have continued to soar over the past several years. The profit cap applies only to cancer drugs outside the scheduled medicines list, known as non-scheduled drugs, since the government already sets strict maximum ceiling prices for essential cancer treatments that are on the scheduled list. The Department of Pharmaceuticals, under India's Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, said in an official statement that the measure will help reduce the cost burden for cancer patients in the country by about 25 billion rupees, or roughly 258.7 million US dollars, per year. An expert committee under the Department of Health Services is currently drawing up and finalising the list of drugs that will fall under the measure, after which the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority will review the matter and issue an official notification. Surveys have found that non-scheduled cancer drugs carry average markups of as much as 170% over cost, with some drugs rising by 700% or more, as prices surge through the supply chain before reaching patients.

India's Sensex stock index tumbled more than 1,000 points, hit by selling from foreign investors and the Indian central bank's announcement of tighter monetary policy with a 0.25% rate hike to 5.5%. The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 71,593.24 points, down 1,045.46 points, or 1.44%. Metal stocks led the decline.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has alleged that vested interests are obstructing the launch of the company's satellite internet service Starlink in India, describing the situation as a crime against the people of India. In a post on X on Wednesday, Musk said, "We are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people," without naming his rivals, adding, "You can guess who they are." He also said Starlink in India would enable high-speed, affordable internet connectivity for those who cannot afford current prices. SpaceX last year announced deals with Reliance Industries-owned Jio and Bharti Airtel, India's largest and second-largest telecom operators, to roll out Starlink internet services across the country, but there has been little progress and Starlink has yet to launch its service in India. The country's telecom and internet service market is dominated by billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio and Sunil Mittal's Airtel, which together hold over 80% market share. Speaking at India Mobile Congress on Wednesday, Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX's Vice President of Starlink business operations, said there are 11,000 Starlink satellites currently in orbit providing service to people in over 170 countries.

The Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, unanimously decided to raise the repurchase rate, its policy rate, by 0.25% to 5.50% at its October 7 meeting, the first increase in nearly four years and in line with analysts' expectations. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said in a statement after the meeting that the central bank's policy committee had considered data clearly indicating that inflation and the inflation outlook were not at the low levels of last year, making it necessary to adjust the policy rate. Malhotra also said that a rate cut would not be on the agenda in the near term, and that policy going forward could only involve raising rates or holding them steady. The RBI is moving in step with other Asian central banks, from the Bank of Korea to the Philippine central bank, to curb inflation after oil prices surged above 100 dollars a barrel amid tensions in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the yield on India's 10-year government bond jumped to its highest level since December 2023 after the rate hike decision.

The Reserve Bank of India raised its Repo Rate by 25 basis points to 5.5%, its first hike since February 2023. Following the monetary policy decision, the Indian Rupee remained broadly muted at around 96.37 against the US Dollar.

Gradiant announced a new Managing Director for India, five new design-build contracts, and plans to grow its India team by more than 40% this year. The company named Hari Prasad as Managing Director, India, to lead growth across semiconductors, data centers, and energy; he brings nearly 30 years of water technology leadership, most recently as General Manager, Industrial Water at Pentair. The five contracts span semiconductor, printed circuit board, and solar manufacturing, and include a repeat award from a global chipmaker expanding its fab, with Gradiant delivering ultrapure water, wastewater treatment, and zero liquid discharge systems. Gradiant said its India orders are on track to more than double this year, with revenue set to more than triple, according to Hari Prasad. The company is expanding its India team across engineering, project execution, operations, and digital roles, including at the Gradiant Engineering Center in Coimbatore, which supports projects worldwide.

The final HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 55.2 in September from 54.1 in August. Although it came in below the preliminary estimate of 55.8, it was the fastest rate of expansion in three months, driven by strong demand in financial services, consumer services and digital services. However, overall quarterly growth remained the weakest in more than four years, because even though activity picked up in September, it was not enough to lift the third-quarter average out of its lowest level since the first quarter of 2022, after hiring slowed and export momentum weakened. The survey report said new orders expanded at their fastest pace since June, but growth in export orders slowed to an almost three-year low. Input cost inflation eased to a ten-month low, and only about 16% of companies expected business activity to expand next year. The recovery in services, together with growth in manufacturing, helped push India's final composite PMI up to a three-month high of 55.9 in September from 54.3 in August, even though the average for the whole quarter remained the weakest since January to March 2022.

ServiceNow announced AI Workflow Factory and Autonomous Engineer, solutions that discover where AI can improve work and deliver one unified way to build, run and extend AI workflows across the enterprise. Announced in India at World Forum Mumbai, the launch reinforces India's role as a key market for governed, enterprise-wide AI transformation, with ServiceNow's partner ecosystem in India adopting AI Workflow Factory and deploying new developer capabilities including unattended coding for autonomous planning, building and testing of implementation work. AI Workflow Factory is a continuous workflow improvement loop that connects Process Mining, Autonomous Engineer and Build Agent, and App Engine, all governed by AI Control Tower, so that each outcome reveals the next opportunity for multi-process improvement. Amit Zavery, President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer of ServiceNow, said AI Workflow Factory brings the full cycle of reinvention onto the ServiceNow platform so teams can move from idea to impact continuously with control and governance built into every step. ServiceNow cited its 2026 Enterprise AI Maturity Index showing enterprise AI investment in India grew 119% in a single year, one of the strongest showings among the markets surveyed. AI Workflow Factory is globally available today, while Autonomous Engineer Early Access is available on request.

Indian bank stocks rose on Tuesday, led by a 1.1% jump in the Nifty Private Bank index, as investors positioned for a potential Reserve Bank of India rate hike this week amid signs that inflationary pressures are broadening. Kotak Mahindra Bank was the strongest gainer among the major lenders shown, rising 3.77% to 431.70 rupees, while Axis Bank gained 1.15% to 1,236.20 rupees, HDFC Bank rose 0.72% to 709.90 rupees and ICICI Bank gained 0.17% to 1,334.20 rupees. Markets have increasingly priced in a rate increase at the RBI's monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, with nearly 60% of economists polled by Reuters expecting a 25-basis-point hike that would be the RBI's first increase in almost four years and take the benchmark repo rate to 5.50% from 5.25%, while swap markets are fully pricing a hike and implying about 100 basis points of increases over the next 12 months. Consumer inflation accelerated to 4.82% in August, remaining above the RBI's 4% medium-term target for a third consecutive month, while the economy grew 7.8% in the April-June quarter. Public-sector lenders also advanced, with Indian Bank up 0.43%, Bank of Baroda up 0.50%, Union Bank of India up 0.57%, Punjab National Bank up 0.26% and Canara Bank up 0.17%.

SoundHound AI has rolled out its voice and generative AI in the Kia Sorento in India and unveiled OASYS Edge, an embedded architecture that brings LLM-powered voice agents directly to vehicles and smart devices with on-device processing and privacy by default. The launches come alongside record quarterly revenue growth and a higher full-year revenue outlook, which the company says highlight its push to become a broad, embedded conversational AI platform across high-volume global markets. SoundHound AI's narrative projects $463.8 million in revenue and $54.4 million in earnings by 2029, requiring 31.7% yearly revenue growth and a $191.2 million earnings increase from -$136.8 million today, and yields a $12.57 fair value, a 115% upside to its current price. Some of the lowest estimate analysts assume roughly 35 percent annual revenue growth to around US$502 million by 2029 and no profits, even as OASYS Edge and the Kia Sorento launch in India could eventually challenge those assumptions. The company still faces high operating costs and ongoing net losses if revenue growth or large deals become less reliable.

The Indian Rupee opened marginally higher against the US Dollar at the start of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy week, with USD/INR ticking down to near 96.25 as traders trimmed hawkish Federal Reserve rate expectations. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the odds of the Fed leaving interest rates unchanged at this month's policy meeting have risen to 82.3% from 35.8% seen last week, after US Nonfarm Payrolls for September showed the economy created just 29K fresh jobs, below 90K estimates and a previous reading of 133K revised lower from 162K, while the Unemployment Rate rose to 4.2% and Average Hourly Earnings grew 3% year-on-year. Despite the cooler Fed bets, the US Dollar Index posted a fresh yearly high near 102.53 and 10-year US Treasury Yields held around 5.27%, not far from last week's two-decade high of 5.34%. The major trigger for the Rupee this week is the RBI's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, with analysts at MUFG/BTMU officially forecasting the central bank to keep rates on hold while calling for a hiking cycle to begin from December, seeing a good chance the RBI moves its stance away from neutral to signal a tightening bias. MUFG/BTMU forecast 50bps of rate hikes this cycle with some risk of 75bps in total, citing strong growth, abundant liquidity, picking-up credit growth, supportive fiscal policy, and upside inflation risk from higher commodity prices and adverse weather conditions in India.

Intuitive Surgical is leaning on expansion in India and Japan to counterbalance persistent headwinds in China, where only two da Vinci systems were placed in the second quarter. International da Vinci procedures rose 20% in the quarter, with Europe and Asia each delivering 20% growth, while China remained the primary regional drag due to lower tender activity, increased domestic robotic competition, policy-driven pricing pressure, changes in charge codes and the 15th Five-Year Plan quota process. Da Vinci 5 has yet to receive clearance in mainland China, but its clearance in India during the quarter should expand the company's ability to address demand with its latest-generation platform. In Japan, policies effective June 1 expanded reimbursement to additional robotic procedures and introduced economic incentives for higher utilization, and Intuitive Surgical placed 25 systems there versus 15 a year earlier, though adoption is expected to progress gradually given training requirements and ongoing financial challenges. Intuitive Surgical maintained its 2026 da Vinci procedure growth outlook of 13.5-15.5%, with international procedures outside urology among its primary growth drivers.

JPMorgan Chase & Co chief India economist Sajjid Chinoy expects the Reserve Bank of India to raise rates at its October 5 meeting and to strike a cautious or hawkish tone signaling more tightening may be in the pipeline. Speaking with Bloomberg Television's Paul Allen, Chinoy said inflation, which averaged 2% over the past year, will run close to 6% over the next quarter and stay between 5.5% and 6% in the first half of 2026, driven by pipeline pressures, higher energy prices, global tech inflation and building El Nino pressures. With policy rates at 5.25%, he said the first 50 basis points of hikes amount to normalization or recalibration to more normal inflation, and he expects a 25 basis point hike in October followed by one more in December. He said the length of the cycle depends on whether the RBI forecasts inflation falling quickly back to 5% or below after peaking at 6% in three quarters, and on how broad-based the inflation pressures become, including whether strong demand emboldens producers to pass pipeline pressures into output prices and makes core inflation sticky. Chinoy also said the large influx of FCNR flows gives India more ammunition against a hostile global backdrop but has created a liquidity overhang that leaves monetary conditions more accommodative than interest rate levels suggest, making it important for the RBI to hike next week, signal more may come, and aggressively sterilize those flows to prevent overnight rates falling below the policy rate.

Apple's payment service Apple Pay has launched in India, local partner Axis Bank announced on the 30th. India had been one of the few major countries where Apple Pay was unavailable. Axis is the first Indian bank to offer Apple Pay, initially for holders of Visa and Mastercard credit cards. According to the bank's statement, users can register an eligible card in the bank's mobile app or in Apple Wallet and then pay in stores, within apps, and online using an iPhone, Apple Watch, or iPad. Axis is India's third-largest private bank, and according to central bank data its credit card issuance stood at 16.3 million cards as of August, ranking fourth in the country. Reuters reported in September that Apple Pay was also in talks with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, both larger than Axis, but had not yet agreed on terms.

Foreign investors have sold a net 256.62 billion rupees, equivalent to 2.7 billion dollars, of Indian stocks in September. This is set to be the first net selling in three months, driven by rising crude oil prices and persistently high bond yields, which have dimmed the appeal of Indian assets. In September, the NSE index and the SENSEX index each fell about 5.7 percent. According to data from the National Securities Depository, as of the 29th, foreign investors had withdrawn 26.75 billion dollars in 2026, on track to set a record high on an annual basis. In addition to rising crude oil prices and global monetary tightening, foreign investors are shifting funds to markets rich in AI-related stocks, such as South Korea and Taiwan. Deelaj Gaur, chief investment strategist at Choice Wealth, said crude oil and geopolitics remain the main risks. He noted that rising crude oil prices immediately affect the current account, inflation expectations, and the rupee, making them a particularly big challenge for India.

NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC. signed a memorandum of understanding with the India Semiconductor Mission on Wednesday, September 9, for strategic cooperation to develop semiconductor logistics infrastructure and strengthen supply chains in India. The India Semiconductor Mission is an initiative overseen by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India and serves as a core agency leading infrastructure development for the country's semiconductor and display industries. The agreement formalizes a dialogue that included a visit by an India Semiconductor Mission delegation to the NX Group Building in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, and the two parties will now share information and exchange views on transporting semiconductor-related cargo and on logistics infrastructure. The NX Group has set a target of increasing sales from its Indian operations to 60 billion yen by fiscal 2028 and plans to open a dedicated semiconductor logistics center in the Dholera area of Gujarat in 2027. The company said the cooperation supports India's semiconductor policy known as Semicon 2.0, which aims to build a complete ecosystem covering design, manufacturing, equipment and materials, and advanced packaging.

J.P. Morgan says $115 billion could flow into India's stock market as global investors seek to hedge their crowded AI exposure. The investment bank argues India, which makes up about 12% of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, is emerging as a safe haven for those looking to diversify away from AI earnings power, citing fiscal and monetary policy aligned with steady economic growth. Rajiv Batra, head of Asia and co-head of Global Emerging Markets Equity Strategy at J.P. Morgan, said that when investors go looking for non-AI exposure, India increasingly becomes the default choice. J.P. Morgan noted that small- and mid-cap Indian companies led the expansion with earnings growth of at least 25% for six to seven consecutive quarters, followed by double-digit earnings growth at large-caps over two quarters, and that foreign investors are starting to buy shares in e-commerce, hotel, mining and healthcare sectors. The bank flagged oil as the biggest risk, saying Brent crude above $85 per barrel would begin to drag down economic growth, and it is also tracking global interest rates and El Niño for possible monsoon disruption and renewed inflation. India's economy expanded by 7.8% in the April to June quarter.

Suzuki Motor Corp aims to cut the development time for new vehicle models to 24 months by 2030, down from the current 40 to 48 months, in order to keep pace with the faster competition from Chinese automakers. CEO Toshihiro Suzuki told reporters in Tokyo on September 25 that Chinese automakers are extremely fast, forcing Suzuki to accelerate its development process to stay competitive. The shift reflects a global automotive industry trend in which Chinese brands such as BYD, Leapmotor and Xiaomi have become the new benchmark, replacing Japanese manufacturing efficiency or German precision, because Chinese manufacturers have shortened vehicle development times through software-driven development, rapid product updates and advances in battery technology. Suzuki, which withdrew from the United States market in 2012 and the Chinese market in 2018, now focuses on India as its main market, with plans to raise its vehicle production capacity in India to 4 million units a year by 2030 from fewer than 3 million currently, and it expects the Indian car market could grow to two or three times its current size over the coming decades.

Applied Materials has committed US$5b to India over the next decade, anchored by a 140 acre semiconductor research park. The announcement comes as the company's share price has climbed 76.39% year to date, with a 1 year total shareholder return of 138.91%, though the 90 day share price return is down 24.34%. Applied Materials closed at $474.25, while the most followed narrative framework places fair value at $627.66, implying the stock is 24% undervalued, and a separate discounted cash flow model estimates future cash flow value at $277.49. The company's broad portfolio and investments in local manufacturing infrastructure, including new Arizona and EPIC centers, position it to capture a greater share of global wafer fab buildouts, with over 100 new fabs or expansions tracked this year. Risks include reliance on China and a concentrated group of large chipmakers, where export restrictions or delayed fab projects could undermine the upbeat narrative.

The Indian government announced a reduction in basic customs duty rates on vegetable oil imports, covering both crude and refined oils, including palm oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil, in a bid to curb soaring prices ahead of the major festival season. Crude palm oil and crude soybean oil will see duties cut from 10% to 5%, while refined palm oil and refined soybean oil will drop from 32.5% to 27.5%. Crude sunflower oil will be reduced from 10% to 0%, and refined sunflower oil from 32.5% to 22.5%. When the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess and the Social Welfare Surcharge are included, the total effective import duty on crude palm oil and crude soybean oil will fall from 16.5% to 11%, and on crude sunflower oil from 16.5% to 5.5%. The tax cuts follow a nearly 20% rise in vegetable oil prices in India over the past year and are aimed at boosting consumption during the religious festival season between September and November. India currently relies on imports for about two-thirds of its total vegetable oil demand, sourcing from Malaysia, Indonesia, Argentina, Russia, and Ukraine.

India's Sensex opened today at 74,272.40 points, down 555.85 points, or 0.74%, after crude oil prices surged past $100 a barrel following Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's declaration to the UN General Assembly that Iran will not yield to US pressure. Fourteen of the sixteen major sector indices fell in morning trade, with small-cap and mid-cap indices down 0.7% and 1% respectively, while banking and financial stocks dropped 1.5% and 1.8%. Banking and insurance shares led the decline after the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India proposed a major overhaul of commission payout rules, capping commissions based on product complexity and phasing out the concentration of life insurance commissions in the first policy year in favour of payouts spread over the long term. Investors are also watching the trading debut of the National Stock Exchange of India, the country's largest bourse, with shares expected to rise only modestly, around 2% to 3%.

Bridge Green Upcycle and Hartree Partners have signed an eight-year commercial agreement for the purchase and marketing of lithium carbonate produced from recycled batteries, valued between $500m and $1bn at current market conditions. Under the deal, Hartree gains exclusive rights to market approximately 10,000 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate across all grades from Bridge Green's facilities, with an option to renew for an additional seven years. Hartree has also made an equity investment in Bridge Green as part of the company's bridge financing round, intended to support its planned expansion of battery recycling and critical mineral refining operations. Hartree battery and critical minerals head Landon Berns said critical minerals are a key pillar of Hartree's growth strategy, while Bridge Green founder and CEO Balki Iyer called the agreement a defining milestone toward a circular supply chain. Initial volumes of lithium carbonate for Hartree are anticipated in 2028, and Bridge Green's upcoming Series A funding round is expected to finance integrated refining facilities in India and the US.

Applied Materials plans to invest $5 billion in India over the next decade, expanding its research, supply-chain, and workforce capabilities as India tries to establish itself as a major semiconductor manufacturing hub. The announcement came at SEMICON India, where more than 600 companies from 52 countries participated, and follows India's commitment of more than $21 billion in semiconductor incentives, with domestic semiconductor consumption expected to reach $110 billion by 2030. India has already approved 12 semiconductor projects under its incentive program, though Reuters reported that India still has no large-scale chip fabrication facility in commercial production and that Tata Electronics' planned $10 billion fab in Gujarat has been delayed by nearly two years. The investment fits Applied's current growth cycle: in fiscal Q3 2026, revenue reached a record $9.12 billion, up 25% year over year, while gross margin rose to 50.3 percent and operating income increased to $3.08 billion, with record operating cash flow of $3.04 billion. Applied also faces geopolitical exposure, having paid $253 million in 2026 to settle a U.S. Commerce Department inquiry involving certain China shipments, and its fourth-quarter revenue forecast of $10.25 billion came with a roughly 50.4 percent margin outlook amid increasing competition.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said hyperscaler AI spending could reach $1 trillion next year, up from roughly $700 billion this year and about $300 billion last year. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 at the 11th annual JPMorgan India Conference, Dimon said that surge is boosting economic growth, adding what he called about a 1% increase to GDP each year, while potentially adding to inflation as companies hire workers, build factories and power plants, and buy equipment and materials. Over the longer term, he said AI could prove deflationary, calling it an unbelievable technology whose rapid expansion looks like it is going to continue, though he cautioned it is too early to pick winners and compared the moment to the internet bubble. On returns, Dimon said AI investments would not always come down to a straightforward calculation, noting that sometimes it is just table stakes. He also said heavy demand for capital from infrastructure, remilitarization and government deficits may be pushing interest rates higher, that there may be a market correction though he was unsure AI would be the cause, and that the Federal Reserve should stick to its 2% inflation target. Ahead of the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Dimon said the two sides appeared to be making progress and should fully engage on trade, AI and security, and he urged India and the U.S. to return to the negotiating table and complete a trade agreement, saying Washington should account for India's refining needs on Russian oil purchases. He added that India's economy could grow to three times its current size over the next decade and that JPMorgan would keep building in the country.