Business Today 8 June 2025

During Covid-19, a wave of companies globally—from pharmaceutical giants to tech platforms like Zoom and even a fitness company like Peloton—experienced an unprecedented surge in revenue and share prices. In India, too, pharma and diagnostics firms, e-commerce, edtech, fintech and payment companies, OTT platforms, and data services firms saw a boom. But as the world recovered, many of these pandemic-era market darlings faced a reckoning. Revenues dipped, demand normalised, and business momentum faltered. In India, the most prominent symbol of the Covid response was the Serum Institute of India. The company became the world’s largest Covid vaccine supplier (Covishield), propelling it, and CEO Adar Poonawalla, to record revenues and global recognition. Yet, like others, Serum too has faced a post-Covid reset, forcing it to reinvent, as Neetu Chandra Sharma writes…

CLEAR FOCUS BUDGET ALLOCATION TO THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE HAS RISEN OVER 2X SINCE FY15 SOURCE CMIE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK EXPORT PUSH DEFENCE EXPORTS HAVE RISEN OVER 12 TIMES SINCE FY15 SOURCE PIB MAJOR PURCHASES FRENCH AND RUSSIAN EQUIPMENT HAS STRENGTHENED INDIA’S DEFENCE SYSTEM SOURCE BT RESEARCH FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS REVENUES AND PROFITS OF THE DEFENCE SECTOR HAVE RISEN AT 10% AND 13% CAGR, RESPECTIVELY, OVER 10 YEARS NOTE FIRMS IN NIFTY DEFENCE INDEX CONSIDERED; SOURCE ACE EQUITY SOLID INVESTOR BACKING SELECT DEFENCE-RELATED STOCKS HAVE RALLIED OVER 50% IN THE PAST ONE YEAR AS AGAINST 9% RISE IN THE NSE NIFTY NOTE DATA AS OF MAY 9, 2025  SOURCE ACE EQUITY ` 3 LAKH CRORE THE GOVERNMENT’S TARGET OF LOCAL DEFENCE MANUFACTURING BY 2029 AS AGAINST `1.27 LAKH CRORE IN…

INDIA’S DEFENCE SECTOR has been witnessing strong growth, largely fuelled by the government’s sustained push for self-reliance in manufacturing, record-breaking order books, and strategic policy initiatives. Recent events, such as the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, 2025, and the subsequent ‘Operation Sindoor’ by the Indian Armed Forces, showcased the power of Indigenous weapons—from drones to missiles and radars—to the world. Market watchers believe that the country’s defence sector is strategically positioned for long-term growth. Following the recent crossborder tensions, defence-related stocks witnessed heavy buying in the domestic stock market. This is evident from the nearly 21% rise in the Nifty India Defence index since April 22, the day of the terror attack in Pahalgam. The market valuation of the Nifty India Defence index surged by `1.83 lakh crore…

WHILE THE US-CHINA agreement on reduction of trade tariffs could impact India’s plans to attract companies looking to relocate operations from China, the country could gain by focusing on export competitiveness by producing better quality goods at lower prices, experts believe. The two major economies reaching an agreement could help China regain lost ground while reducing India’s opportunity to capitalise on the situation. Several countries have finalised or are in advanced stages of finalising trade agreements with the US. The US and China recently reached a trade agreement that temporarily reduced tariffs. US tariffs on Chinese goods were lowered from 145% to 30%, while China cut its tariffs on US goods from 125% to 10%. The agreement came after President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on several countries, including a…

CRUDE OIL PRICES HAVE significantly cooled off since the 2022 peak due to stabilising supply chains and weakening global demand. According to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, crude oil prices for the Indian basket saw a sharp rise from $63.40 per barrel in April 2021 to $116.01 in June 2022, driven by global supply disruptions. However, prices declined steadily through 2023 and into 2024. By May 14, 2025, the price dropped to $63.47, nearly matching the level seen four years earlier. The drop could help reduce India’s import bill, as it still depends heavily on imported crude oil to meet its energy needs. In FY24-25, India spent around $185.7 billion on crude oil and petroleum product imports, according to the CMIE Economic Outlook. The crude oil bill accounts…

ACKO GENERAL INSURANCE—backed by private equity firms such as General Atlantic, Multiples and others—is a digital-first player that generates 100% of its revenue by selling directly to customers. Unlike traditional insurers that rely on agents and banks for distribution, ACKO has built its own digital ecosystem. In an interview with Business Today, the 36-year-old MD & CEO, Animesh Das, shares how the company has disrupted the insurance market and what lies ahead. Edited excerpts: How is ACKO different from traditional insurance players? Traditionally, most insurance companies rely heavily on intermediaries—agents, brokers, car dealerships and banks—to distribute their products. Very few, if any, have taken the bold step of going direct-to-consumer. This approach brings several benefits. First, we can customise products better and position them more clearly. Instead of creating a…