India is rolling out the biggest reform to its Goods and Services Tax since 2017. The GST Council has approved a new structure that takes effect on September 22. It will reshape how everything from household essentials to cars, insurance, and services are taxed. The government says GST 2.0 will simplify compliance and lower costs, but several states warn of heavy revenue losses and economists question the design. Markets have already responded with key sectors moving sharply. In this episode we ...
Sep 04, 2025•9 min•Ep. 570
Harshjit Sethi, managing director at Peak XV and the firm’s AI investment lead, has resigned, marking yet another senior exit. His departure follows the exits of longtime partners Shailesh Lakhani and Abheek Anand, raising fresh questions about India’s largest venture-capital firm. And the timing is striking: Peak XV is also on the verge of its biggest payday yet, with upcoming IPOs from Groww, Pine Labs, and Meesho that could deliver billions. In this episode, we look at the paradox of Peak XV’...
Sep 03, 2025•10 min•Ep. 569
A severe shortage of seats and difficult tests result in about 25,000 Indians flying abroad to get a medical degree. The problems begin afresh when they return. Instead of warm welcomes, graduates are met with screening tests with high failure rates, tedious registration procedures and even unpaid internships. But, the thing is: India needs these doctors, and badly. For every 1260 people, we have only 1 doctor–a stark departure from the WHO recommended 1:1000 ratio. However, bureaucratic mazes a...
Sep 02, 2025•14 min•Ep. 568
When Peyush Bansal spent more than Rs 200 crore to buy back Lenskart shares from investors at a deep discount, it wasn’t just a bold trade. It was a rare move few founders manage. He essentially clawed back equity before heading into an IPO. And this extra stake pushed him into “promoter” status, a role many startup leaders once avoided but are now racing to embrace. Why the sudden shift? What does it reveal about founders, investors, and regulators in India’s IPO boom? Tune in. Daybreak is prod...
Sep 01, 2025•10 min•Ep. 567
From the very public Ambani family feud to the private struggles of the Raymond family, the transfer of wealth and power has often been messy. With over 850,000 millionaires in India, and many of them looking to transition their wealth in the next decade, there's a growing, yet largely unaddressed market for a specific type of expert: the succession coach. Part mediator, part therapist, part strategist—they do more than just advise. They keep dynasties from tearing themselves apart. Tune in. Day...
Aug 31, 2025•13 min•Ep. 566
On August 27, 2025, U.S. tariffs on Indian exports doubled to 50%, slamming nearly $60 billion worth of goods from textiles and gems to furniture and leather. Industry groups warn shipments to America could plunge by more than 40%, with job losses running into the hundreds of thousands. But behind the headlines lies a deeper story. For decades, Indian exporters leaned on the predictability of the U.S. market. But it was a comfort trap that left them dangerously exposed. Now, that comfort has sna...
Aug 28, 2025•15 min•Ep. 565
Back in 2017, Google published the research that sparked the entire generative AI boom. But when OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, Google was caught off guard. Fast forward to 2025, and Google’s own AI, Gemini, is no longer a rushed response. It’s a full-grown product, one the company is pushing hard by bundling it with Workspace and Google Cloud. In India, that strategy is already visible. Enterprises are adopting Gemini for everything from customer service to search to creative media. But here’...
Aug 27, 2025•13 min•Ep. 564
In March this year, a software developer that goes by Pea Bee online published a blog rather ominously titled ‘Everyone knows all the apps on your phone’. He found that several Indian app-based startups are flouting rules of Google Play—Android’s app store—to access people’s data. In particular, some apps use a workaround to scrutinise the names and usage patterns of other apps on people’s phones. In real time. Now, the fact that apps have a lot of your data may not be a surprise to you. We’ve b...
Aug 26, 2025•21 min•Ep. 563
Even though GLP-1 drugs have helped nearly 20 million people shed weight across the world since 2021, Indians had to wait until 2025 to get in on the action legally. To be fair, the country wasn’t entirely in the dark. Semaglutide—the molecule behind pharma giant Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy—was already available for diabetes treatment. But this March, Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro (which uses a different molecule, tirzepatide) entered the market. In July, Wegovy arrived. And sudde...
Aug 25, 2025•10 min•Ep. 562
Lenskart is gearing up for a nearly $1 billion IPO after closing FY25 on a strong note with ₹6,652 crore in revenue and ₹297 crore in profit. What’s even more impressive is that almost 40% of that revenue now comes from its more than 600 stores outside India, rare feat for an Indian consumer brand. Unlike peers such as Zomato and Ola that stumbled in global markets, Lenskart has taken a slow-and-steady approach, leaning on selective acquisitions, smart investments, and joint ventures to expand a...
Aug 24, 2025•11 min•Ep. 561
The Online Gaming Bill, 2025 has sent shockwaves through India’s booming fantasy sports industry. Within hours of its passage in the Parliament on Wednesday, Dream11, the country’s first fantasy sports unicorn with over 200 million users, found itself on the chopping block. Smrita Singh Chandra, a former VP at Dream11, called the ban on real-money online games 'deeply unjust' and 'unethical,' warning of devastating economic fallout. At stake is the fantasy sports industry valued at nearly $2 bil...
Aug 21, 2025•14 min•Ep. 560
OpenAI has just launched a special, India-only plan for ChatGPT. It makes access cheaper here than almost anywhere else in the world. At first, it looks like a win for millions of Indians who’ll get to try cutting-edge AI at a fraction of the cost. But for India’s AI startups, it may be a different story. Competing with global giants that have billions in capital, access to compute, and a head start on scale is already tough. Add aggressive pricing, and the playing field gets even steeper. After...
Aug 20, 2025•13 min•Ep. 559
On paper, 360 One Wealth and Asset Management looks flawless: a ₹42,000 crore market cap, among India’s largest pools of assets under management, and a co-founder CEO with a near-mythical reputation. But beneath that shine, the cracks are widening. Within a year, three of its most influential leaders—including co-CEO Anirudh Taparia—walked out, with over 100 employees following. Promoters and insiders are offloading stock, and even early backers like Bain Capital are quietly easing out. Official...
Aug 19, 2025•13 min•Ep. 558
IIMs are increasingly counting on students opting out of the placement process to maintain their 100 per cent placement facade. The playbook is simple, really. If too many students remain unplaced by the end of the cycle, send them an email suggesting they opt out. Or, like IIM Amritsar, just inform students that if they’re not placed, they will be considered as having “opted out”. Of course, it’s all just to keep up appearances. When 40 out of 45 students get placed, and 5 opt out, the 100% pla...
Aug 18, 2025•11 min•Ep. 557
India’s startup boom has lost its spark. Venture capital funding in the first half of 2025 dropped to just $3.6 billion—the lowest since 2016. Fresh ideas are scarce, and investors are stuck with fewer bets to make. So who’s still getting the money? Familiar founders. Even those with messy track records. Pharmeasy’s co-founders, whose healthtech giant crashed from $5.6 billion to $460 million, raised fresh funds for All Home. Whitehat Jr’s Karan Bajaj, criticized for misleading ads, secured $16 ...
Aug 17, 2025•10 min•Ep. 556
On 19 March, the Indian government slashed incentives for UPI transactions by more than half to Rs 1,500 crore for FY25. After it launched in 2016, UPI very quickly became the backbone of India’s digital economy–thanks to demonetisation, and well, the pandemic. Most importantly, it was the radical decision to keep it free that fuelled its growth. No merchant fees. No transaction costs. But the zero-MDR policy came at a price because payment processors lost more than 2500 crore last year alone. A...
Aug 14, 2025•14 min•Ep. 555
On average, over 35 startups shut down every day in India. Employees move on to their next stint, but most founders find themselves unemployed, thanks to their high pay and a leadership attitude. Why? Think of it this way. What makes a good founder? Leadership, independence and a penchant for the unconventional. But what happens when these very strengths are seen as weaknesses when they're on the other side of the hiring table? Tune in.
Aug 14, 2025•9 min•Ep. 554
It's been a tough couple years for E-commerce in India. And no one has quite borne the brunt of it like Amazon. Between tough competition from the likes of Meesho and Flipkart, not to mention the legion of quick commerce platforms that have completely changed the way we shop, and profitability pressures – Amazon is stuck between a rock and a hard place. But now it is trying to turn back the clock. Leading that endeavour is Samir Kumar, who took over and the new country manager in October 2024. S...
Aug 13, 2025•12 min•Ep. 553
The new Income Tax Bill 2025 was passed by the Lok Sabha without debate yesterday. It is a huge step towards simplifying and modernising India's tax system after six decades. But what does this major reform mean for you, the average taxpayer? Tune in to find out. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories....
Aug 12, 2025•10 min•Ep. 552
The Indian government is losing patience with consumer-tech platforms using dark patterns or manipulative design tricks. In late May 2024, Consumer Affairs Minister, Pralhad Joshi, gathered the country’s biggest internet companies, Amazon, Google, Zomato, Ola Electric, etc to give them an ultimatum: clean up your user interfaces by September 5 or face the consequences. From hidden fees on Amazon to guilt-inducing pop-ups on Indigo, these tactics push users into spending more money, sharing more ...
Aug 11, 2025•11 min•Ep. 551
Just a year ago, U.S. officials publicly encouraged India to buy discounted Russian oil to help stabilise global markets during the Ukraine war. But fast forward to 2025, and the U.S, under President Trump, has slapped India with the highest tariffs in the world: 50% on its exports. Trump has accused India of funding Putin’s war machine. So what changed? In this episode, we break down how India went from energy partner to trade target for doing exactly what the U.S. once asked. We also look at t...
Aug 07, 2025•11 min•Ep. 550
Earlier this week, Andrew Tulloch, co-founder of Thinking Machines and one of the key engineers behind OpenAI's GPT-4, reportedly said no to a jaw-dropping $1 billion offer from Zuckerberg's Meta. Why would anyone say no to that kind of money? The answer lies in a high-stakes conflict for the soul of AI. From Microsoft crippling Inflection AI and Meta’s $200M poaching spree to a growing rebellion led by top AI minds like Mira Murati, Andrew Tulloch, and Dario Amodei, we look at big tech’s desper...
Aug 06, 2025•11 min•Ep. 549
In just over a year, EY India has seen at least 10 partners from its tech consulting division quit. Many of them were pioneers of significant practices like data analytics, cybersecurity and SAP. What’s interesting is how they left. There were no public announcements, or farewell parties. It was almost like these senior partners vanished from some of the consulting giant's most prized divisions. And with them, they’ve taken full teams, clients and decades of institutional memory. Now, its not th...
Aug 05, 2025•13 min•Ep. 548
Ankit Nagori and Mukesh Bansal may have started the fitness unicorn Cult.Fit together, but their journeys since then are a study in contrasts. On one hand is Cult.Fit. It's been a little over a year since Mukesh Bansal stepped down as Cult’s CEO. When The Ken reached out to him asking why, he clarified that he still remains involved. But involvement, of course, is a spectrum – sometimes it means steering the company to an IPO. The catch is that while Cult.fit wants to go public next year, there ...
Aug 04, 2025•12 min•Ep. 547
India’s coffee scene looks like it is booming with new cafes, trendy menus, and big international names. But the truth behind is that almost no one is making money. And then came along Zepto Cafe, the 10-minute coffee delivery, that wanted to change everything. In early 2025, it was clocking 100,000 daily orders and a $100 million run rate. But just months later dozens of its locations shut down. Why did Zepto, with its speed, scale, and infrastructure, end up like every other coffee brand in In...
Aug 03, 2025•9 min•Ep. 546
A 25% tariff on Indian textiles maybe a blow to India’s exports but that’s only half the story. The latest trade move by Donald Trump could hit closer to home for American consumers. India is the third-largest supplier of apparel and home textiles to the U.S. after China and Vietnam. Both countries already face heavy tariffs from the US. Together, China, Vietnam, and India account for nearly 60% of American clothing imports. So what happens when all three get taxed? In this episode, we examine t...
Jul 31, 2025•10 min•Ep. 545
IVF chains in India aren’t deterred by paltry things like probabilities. They’ve made IVF the new C-section—essentially, a revenue-generating procedure pushed before natural alternatives are even considered. All at 4X the cost of a C-section, or around Rs 2 lakh for a single cycle. The result is a $1.4 billion IVF market in India—10 times the market for cataract surgery, the most common procedure worldwide. Unsurprisingly, venture-capital and private-equity firms have swooped in for the kill. Th...
Jul 30, 2025•11 min•Ep. 544
Lenskart has grown into one of Asia’s biggest eyewear companies and is now gearing up for a massive IPO. It is aiming to raise ₹2,150 crore through a fresh issue as part of an ₹8,000 crore public offering. But as the company prepares to go public, a storm is brewing behind the scenes. A group of former franchise store owners is accusing Lenskart of unfair practices and even fraud. They're alleging they were kept in the dark about store finances and undercut by company-owned outlets opening next ...
Jul 29, 2025•13 min•Ep. 543
When Dreamfolks Services launched in India, it built the system that made airport lounge access work. It connected banks, card networks, and travellers to lounges across the country. For years, it stayed behind the scenes, powering the perks many took for granted. Now, it’s being pushed out. In this episode, we look at how Adani, India’s largest airport operator, is moving quickly to take control. Not just of the runways, but everything inside the terminals. Lounges, food courts, duty-free shops...
Jul 28, 2025•8 min•Ep. 542
Globally, virtual currencies are back in the limelight. In India, UPI transactions hit record highs almost every month. Yet, the value of cash in circulation has gone up by Rs 2 lakh crore. Sure, the transaction value of the e-rupee, or the digital form of the fiat currency, has increased, but it’s driven more by banks doling out allowances to employees than any real market demand. But the reality is that the landscape of money’s partial substitutes in India, a digital-payments pioneer, shows li...
Jul 28, 2025•13 min•Ep. 541
