Innholdsfortegnelse for 18 January 2026 i Business Today

Looking comfortable in a kurta, Belen Garijo, Chair–Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer of the German science and technology giant Merck Group, smiles whenever India is mentioned. At the company’s office in Bengaluru, the global chief of the €21-billion business that is present in life science, healthcare and electronics, thinks long term and speaks eloquently of Merck’s history and its thirteenth generation in charge. Garijo has been at Merck for nearly 15 years now and moved into her current role in 2021. Under her, the company is betting big on growth areas in the country, as seen by its recently signed memorandum of understanding with Tata Electronics to strengthen its semiconductor capabilities here. As part of the deal, Merck will offer products and services to Tata Electronics for its upcoming…

IN RESERVE • The share of gold in forex reserves more than doubled to 15% as of November 2025 from nearly 6% in FY15 ◼ SHARE OF GOLD IN FOREX RESERVES (%) NOTE *AS OF MARCH 2025; #AS OF SEPTEMBER 2025 SOURCE BT RESEARCH, CMIE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK INSATIABLE DEMAND • The value of Indian households’ gold holdings has more than tripled in the past 10 years SOURCE KOTAK INSTITUTIONAL EQUITIES STEADY GOLD DEMAND: Backing the UNIT with 40% gold creates steady demand for physical gold, stabilising its price and making it a core reserve asset DEDOLLARISATION: By offering a gold-anchored alternative, it reduces reliance on the US dollar for trade, weakening the dollar’s dominance STRATEGIC RESERVE BUILDING: BRICS nations are incentivised to hold more gold to back the Unit, boosting central…

THE YEAR 2025 was marked by homebuyers lapping up luxury houses and developers moving away from mid-segment homes, in pursuit of higher margins. DLF, India’s biggest real estate developer, made headlines by selling over half its super luxury project in Gurugram—The Dahlias—before the launch. “The main launch will happen in April 2026. We sold over 55% units in the pre-launch phase,” Aakash Ohri, Joint Managing Director and Chief Business Officer at DLF Home Developers, tells Business Today. Ohri expects buyers’ changing aspirations to fuel demand for ultra-luxury and luxury housing in 2026. He believes the IPO rush, which has created many new millionaires, will fuel demand, illustrating how interconnected most markets are. “Over the next five-ten years, we will see a reasonable amount of wealth creation. The two asset classes that…

THE GOVERNMENT’S TAX REFORMS will increase the disposable income of consumers while measures such as the Labour Codes will improve efficiency, providing a further fillip to growth, says S. Mahendra Dev, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. In an interaction with BT, he talks about the economy and says the recent weakening of the rupee is better understood as a reflection of cyclical capital flow dynamics, rather than a structural concern in the Indian economy. He also reposes faith in India’s trade policies and says even if global trade does not rise much, India can increase its share by diversifying to other countries. Edited excerpts: Will the Labour Codes improve the investment environment and ease of doing business in India? The Labour Codes are a long-pending…

TESLA IS FOR the West; Ola is for the rest,” Bhavish Aggarwal, the Chairman and Managing Director of Ola Electric, told a gathering of over 5,000 people on August 15, 2024, while unveiling an electric motorcycle. Aggarwal, a serial entrepreneur, was leading India’s biggest electric two-wheeler maker. But what the IIT-Bombay graduate didn’t foresee was Ola Electric not only forgoing its pole position but also skidding out of India’s e-two-wheeler race. Ola Electric was fifth in sales in November and December 2025, behind TVS Motor Company, Bajaj Auto, Ather Energy and Hero MotoCorp. It sold 8,405 units in November and 7,340 in December till 29th of the month, according to data from the government’s VAHAN portal. The average comes to two vehicles each from the vast network of 4,000 company-owned outlets,…

BEFORE STARTING FLY91 out of Goa, founder Manoj Chacko’s team studied the cases of two dozen failed airlines from around the world to get a fix on what works and what doesn’t in aviation, a dicey business at the best of times. Chacko says he found the same depressing story repeat itself—a lack of sufficient emphasis on the fundamentals of aviation. “It was not a lack of enthusiasm or effort or hard work. They never got the fundamentals right. You need cost leadership, ability to set up a network and the right financial structure,” he says. Chacko is determined to avoid getting the fundamentals wrong. Fly91, which started operations in March 2024, aims to break even by FY26. It isn’t the only regional carrier to take to skies. Star Air,…

DUBAI-BASED DAMAC Group, with businesses ranging from fashion and retail to logistics and real estate, opened an operational support centre in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, in November 2025 with 250 employees. DAMAC, which plans to open a second centre in Pune to reinforce its finance, marketing, sales and other functions, followed on the heels of US-based cybersecurity firm Sonatype and security platform Deepwatch. American firms have opened 50-employee offices in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, the original outsourcing capital. These are not the sprawling, multi-thousand-employee, captive global capability centres (GCCs) built by giants such as Microsoft, Google, Goldman Sachs and Amazon in the past two decades with tens of thousands of employees. They are ‘nano’ or even ‘micro’ GCCs—with staff from a few dozen to a few hundred—set up by…

EXPORT STRATEGY FOR INDIAN EXPORTERS, 2025 started with the looming threat of US tariffs, which materialised at a punitive 50% mid-year, but India closing the year on a high with three trade deals done. While the free trade agreement with EFTA came into effect from October 1, December recorded the signing of the India-Oman trade pact and the completion of talks for the India-New Zealand deal. It is expected that 2026 will also be big for India’s trade diversification strategy with the India-EU FTA talks in the final stages and the India-UK agreement to come into effect. ₹2 LAKH CRORE LIQUIDITY BOOST ANNOUNCED BY THE RBI AS IT PLANS TO BUY GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. THE RBI WILL ALSO CONDUCT A $10-BILLION DOLLAR–RUPEE SWAP AUCTION THE WAIT CONTINUES… THE NOIDA INTERNATIONAL Airport has missed…

FOR INVESTORS WHO don’t have the stomach for the gut-wrenching ups and downs of the equities market, fixed income investing is making a quiet comeback with the promise of a smoother ride. For years, bonds and debt mutual funds were eclipsed by equities as they were seen as low-return investments. But that no longer holds true. Rising bond yields, improving credit quality and wider mutual fund choices have reshaped the risk–reward balance at a time equity valuations look stretched. Nikhil Aggarwal, founder & Group CEO, Grip Invest, says debt mutual funds are now a serious alternative to fixed deposits (FDs). “Debt MFs, especially liquid schemes and AAA-rated corporate bond fund schemes, are highly liquid, with nil to low exit rates, and exposure predominantly to sovereign credit of the government of India…

Understanding Business Cycle Investing Business cycle investing is an approach that aligns investment decisions with the broader economic environment. Different sectors respond differently to economic changes. While some industries thrive during expansionary phases, others perform better when growth slows. For instance, consumer discretionary businesses may flourish when incomes rise, whereas defensive sectors tend to hold up better during downturns. Since every sector and company does not move in sync, opportunities often emerge unevenly. Business cycle investing focuses on identifying which segments of the economy are entering a favourable phase and positioning investments accordingly. The aim is not to predict exact market tops or bottoms, but to stay aligned with prevailing and emerging economic trends. Recognising the Phase of the Cycle Identifying where the economy or a particular sector stands in…

DEPENDING ON WHO you are listening to, artificial intelligence (AI) is either the holy grail of investing or a phenomenon that can undermine stock market probity and integrity. Both sides argue their case with reason, conviction and passion. AI is transforming the way markets are analysed, trades executed and risks managed. Yet, the growing reliance on machine-driven market strategies carries risks. AI may speed up data processing and enhance real-time analysis; but on the flip side, it has the potential to amplify herd behaviour and trigger flash crashes, say experts. AI’s expanding footprint in the markets has become a hot issue as the technology that enables computer systems to mimic human cognitive abilities makes rapid inroads. Market veteran Arun Kejriwal provides a cautionary counterbalance to the optimism surrounding algorithmic investing.…

ASK AROUND AND there’s a good chance that at least one of your acquaintances has recently been to Spain or is planning to visit. Over the last few years, the country has emerged as a popular destination for Indian tourists. The vast majority end up travelling to Madrid or Barcelona, or to islands like Ibiza and Majorca. Few, if any, make it to Valencia—Spain’s third-largest city. I recently found myself planning a Spanish holiday with an eight-year-old, which meant that outdoor activities and parks took precedence over museums, which the country is famous for. Valencia, located on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula and an easy two-hour train ride from Madrid, proved to be the perfect weekend add-on to our trip to the Spanish capital. Historically, the city was…