Episodes
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iPhone 17 components have started arriving at Foxconn’s plant in Tamil Nadu. It signals Apple’s quiet but serious shift toward next-gen production in India, potentially starting as early as August.
But as India is stepping into a more central role in Apple’s global supply chain, Foxconn is being forced to pull hundreds of Chinese engineers out of India. These are people who helped set up and run these complex manufacturing lines. The move has raised eyebrows with many interpreting it as Beijing’s geopolitical pushback against Apple’s China-plus-one strategy.
Here’s the twist: what if this squeeze isn’t a setback, but a necessary shock? Could China’s pressure may actually accelerate India’s path to manufacturing independence?
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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.
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CIBIL or Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd is one of only four credit information providers in the country that is licensed by the RBI. It is considered the oldest and the most reliable. It essentially calculates your credit score, a three digit number between 300 and 900, and provides it to banks so they can judge your creditworthiness. Usually, anything over 700 is considered good.
But this whole process is anything but straightforward. In fact, it is shrouded in mystery. Each of these bureaus typically have their own algorithm to compute your credit score. And they are all somewhat similar. But nobody–not the borrowers and not even the banks–fully understand how these credit information providers, like Cibil, actually rate finances.
In this episode, we try to demystify these credit bureaus and their mystery calculations that decide our fate.
Tune in.
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*This episode was first published on February 6, 2025Daybreak 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.
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On June 23, Ola Electric’s stock crashed to an all-time low of ₹43.
This week, the stock staged a brief rebound, jumping nearly 20% in a single session. But at ₹47, it’s still trading far below its IPO price of ₹76 and more than 70% off its post-listing peak.
On an earnings call, founder Bhavish Aggarwal insisted the company was on track. With rising margins and tighter cost control, he said, Ola would hit EBITDA break-even at 25,000 units a month.
But a closer look at Ola’s financials tells a very different story.
For FY25:
— Revenue dropped nearly 10%
— Losses ballooned over 40%, to ₹2,300 crore
— And cash flow from operations? Deeply negative at ₹2,391 crore—nearly 4x worse than the year beforeIn today’s episode, we unpack the growing gap between narrative and numbers at Ola Electric and ask: can Bhavish really steer this ship to safety?
Tune in.
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Welcome to the world of AI trainers.
A growing army of freelancers is quietly shaping the way large language models think.
Hired by companies like Turing, Mercor, and Deccan AI, these trainers are tasked with finding blind spots in models built by OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic, and Google—and fixing them.
The goal? Fewer hallucinations. Smarter, more coherent responses. A model that feels just a little more… human.
It’s a noble endeavour. But also a billable one.
And as this new line of white-collar gig work takes off, India is fast becoming its beating heart.
But behind the hype lies a murkier story.
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Until recently, the prospect of an IIM offering a standalone undergraduate degree seemed unlikely. Traditionally known for their elite postgraduate programs, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have long been synonymous with MBA excellence. That image is now undergoing a significant shift.
IIM Sirmaur is among the many who have introduced a bachelor’s program. IIM Kozhikode and IIM Sambalpur have followed suit. IIM Bangalore and IIM Lucknow are also preparing to launch similar courses. After decades of focusing solely on postgraduate education, the IIMs are moving into new academic territory.
What’s driving this transformation? And why now?
Tune in.
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Just last year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sat across from Mukesh Ambani at the company’s first-ever AI summit in India.
Dressed in his trademark black leather jacket, Huang addressed a packed room of tech founders, policymakers, and academics. He made a bold prediction: India, long known for exporting software, will soon be exporting AI.
But this wasn’t just another keynote. It was a power play.
At the same event, Nvidia and Reliance announced a major partnership to build AI infrastructure in India -- everything from data centers to foundational models. And Reliance wasn’t alone. Nvidia also inked deals with Infosys, Tata, Tech Mahindra, and Flipkart.
This episode dives into why Nvidia is betting big on India, how that fits into India’s own messy AI ambitions, and what’s really at stake when a $4 trillion company becomes a country’s AI backbone.
Tune in.
*Correction: In the episode, it was mentioned that TCS has 50,000 AI-trained engineers. We’d like to clarify that the accurate figure is that over 1,14,000 TCS associates have been trained in higher-order AI skills.
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47 million Indians just lost their life insurance coverage. But not one of the country’s biggest insurers seem bothered.
In this episode, we look at the silent collapse of credit-linked life insurance—policies that were once bundled with microloans and quietly protected millions of low-income borrowers. But now, that model is breaking down.
Blame mounting defaults, shaky microfinance lending, and a post-pandemic spike in death claims. As lenders pull back and insurers retreat, entire communities are being pushed out of the safety net—with barely a ripple in the headlines.
Why the regulator won’t step in and what persistent high mortality means for the future of group insurance?
Tune in.
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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.
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Private credit is having a moment in India. Hardly a week goes by without a blockbuster deal. Whether it’s Deutsche Bank’s $3.4 billion debt package, KKR’s $600 million loan to Manipal, or a fresh round of financing for Shapoorji Pallonji.
But beneath the surface, pressure is building.
As interest rates fall and competition heats up, yields are tightening. Banks, once sidelined, are eyeing a comeback. They are realising they should once again lend to companies they gave up to non-bank lenders first when their own bad loans shot up to over 11% in the year ended March 2017, and now increasingly to private-credit funds.
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After swearing off startups post a $300 million exit, Karan Bajaj is back with Complement 1, a healthtech venture offering personalised coaching for cancer patients. But this isn’t just a pivot, it’s a whole new playbook.
This time, it’s personal: Bajaj’s mother had cancer, and he says this is the product he wishes she had.
Built for the American market, Complement 1 is taking a B2B route, targeting insurers, employers, and cancer centres. But early traction has been tough. Unlike edtech, healthcare demands more than just hustle. We look at whether Bajaj’s old playbook still works in a world where good intentions must meet rigorous standards and sustainable business models.
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Ajio was supposed to be Reliance Retail’s e-commerce success story. While other digital bets like Jiomart, Dunzo, and Urban Ladder struggled to find their footing, Ajio surged ahead powered by aggressive discounts, brand partnerships, and the deep pockets of India’s largest retailer.
But behind the scenes, the momentum was already beginning to crack.
Today, we go inside the fashion platform’s sharp pivot. Over the past year, Ajio has gone through major leadership reshuffles, mass layoffs, and shifting strategies—from launching ultra-fast delivery to pushing premium fashion, only to walk parts of it back.
And as profitability pressure mounts from the top, teams are left scrambling to do more with less.
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Karnataka’s bike taxi ban has thrown Bangalore’s commute into chaos.
Since June 16, services like Rapido, Ola, and Uber Moto have been off the roads, thanks to a High Court-backed state ban.
But for thousands of gig workers and commuters, bike taxis were more than a convenience, they were a lifeline. As protests intensify and surge pricing spikes, this episode unpacks the policy deadlock, the Centre’s new guidelines, and why even women commuters are asking for the ban to be lifted.
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Rare-earth magnets, made from elements like neodymium and praseodymium, are essential to EV motors. But nearly all of them come from China. And since April, not a single shipment has arrived. Maruti Suzuki has already slashed production. TVS and Bajaj are counting down to a July deadline. Others, like Mahindra and Omega Seiki, saw this coming and started building workarounds.
This isn’t just a supply chain issue. It’s a geopolitical move. China controls over 90% of rare-earth processing and has tightened export rules, stalling approvals to countries like India. Now, even importing magnets requires a bureaucratic maze of guarantees, embassy sign-offs, and unanswered emails.
How are Indian EV makers are coping?
Tune in to find out.
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Post-pandemic, retail giants like Reliance and Aditya Birla Fashion were ready to bounce back and they weren’t being very subtle about it. Reliance Retail for instance opened nearly 6000 stores across fashion, groceries, electronics just in FY22 and FY23. But the retail dream of a booming post-Covid shopping spree that companies had sold themselves never really happened. Soon these companies had to hit rewind. Thousands of jobs were gone and hundreds of stores had to be closed down.
Turns out, India’s fashion retail scene is scrambling for a reset.
But what exactly went wrong? Why did giants like Reliance, Aditya Birla, and Shoppers Stop stumble? And what’s the new playbook they’re following to survive?
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Everybody wants to invest, but not everyone knows how. There just aren’t many who can point investors in the right direction.
Registered investment advisors, or RIAs—either individuals or corporates licensed by the stock-market regulator—are an endangered species in India. While the country had about 192 million demat accounts as of March 2025, there were only about 941 advisors. That’s one advisor for over 200,000 investors. Pressure much?
You’d think the problem goes away if there were more Sebi-registered advisors. If only. In fact, the number of registered advisors in India has been declining over the past few years. Just in 2020, there were over 1,500 of them. The drop was largely attributable to the regulator.
Meanwhile, fintechs like ET Money and Value Research are attempting to plug this gap by offering investors automated advice for direct investment. But it's far from a done deal.
Tune in.
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P.S The Ken’s podcast team is hiring! Here’s what we’re looking for.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.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here
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Over the last four years, Croma has found itself in a curious spot. On paper, it’s Tata Digital’s crown jewel—contributing over half of its revenue and crossing ₹18,000 crore in sales last year. But behind the scenes, it’s also become Tata Digital’s favourite testing ground.
From sudden team transfers — like its entire marketing team being moved to Tata Digital overnight — to shifting strategies, Croma has borne the brunt of Tata’s endless experimentation. The result? Cracks in its business model, ballooning losses, but also one big silver lining: a 20 million-strong customer base that could be its ticket to a turnaround.
The real opportunity lies in tapping that customer base. But the catch? No one seems to know how to make that happen.
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P.S The Ken’s podcast team is hiring! Here’s what we’re looking for.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.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here
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While Prada walks the ramp in Kolhapuris, here in India, Bata, the brand that once defined middle-class respectability, can barely find its footing. Bata which was once a household name, a back-to-school essential, a symbol of quality without fuss, is now finding itself squeezed. Too expensive for the value-hunting Zudio crowd and not fancy enough for the Birkenstock and Crocs-wearing folks.
Which is why Sandeep Kataria’s recent resignation as global CEO feels like a full circle moment. After all, it was under his leadership that Bata tried to pivot from utility to aspiration. But was it ever really able to shake off its image as the brand of the “everyman”? And more importantly, should it have even tried?Here’s the deeper question: What do we, the Indian middle class, aspire to anymore? Is luxury about heritage and craftsmanship? Or just a European label and a five-digit price tag?
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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.
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Category managers have shifted from routine e-commerce roles to powerful decision-makers in quick commerce. They now manage the limited shelf space in dark stores and decide which products get visibility on platforms like Instamart, Zepto, and Blinkit.
Naturally, brands are aggressively courting them, with over 30,000 requests every month for just 150 slots. From hosting parties to taking them out for drinks, brands are pulling out all the stops.
Meanwhile, category managers are urging brands to invest more in ads and marketing to stay competitive.
Tune in.*This episode was first published on Dec 19, 2024
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.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two hereWant to attend The Ken’s next event—How AI is Breaking and Remaking the Way Products are Built?
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Turns out, in India’s healthcare industry, prevention isn’t just better than cure—it’s also far more investable.
The new buzzword making the rounds? Health assurance. Not insurance—assurance.
It means what it sounds like. Unlike traditional insurance, which kicks in after you fall sick, health assurance is about keeping you healthy to begin with.
A Pune-based startup called Loop Health was the first to introduce India to a variant of the same concept.
It positions itself as a corporate broker, not an insurer. So it doesn’t underwrite risk, but instead sells third-party insurance products to HR heads and bundles its own health perks alongside.The assurance model has helped this seven-year-old startup grow rapidly.
Loop is dreaming big. It’s done being the middleman. Now, it wants to go full stack. But between regulatory hurdles and skepticism from the insurance and broking circles, its success isn’t assured.Tune in.
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.
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The rise and fall of Pharmeasy is well documented. Once the poster child of the e-pharmacy boom, it reached a dizzying valuation of 5.6 bn USD at its very peak. But unfortunately, as we all know now, it didn’t last.
Today the company is worth just 450 million USD – which, is a 90 per cent drop. From aggressive acquisitions to regulatory hurdles, and a failed IPO, Pharmeasy’s journey has been a cautionary tale of overreach.
But the brains behind the operation – Siddharth Shah – isn’t done yet.
He’s back at it again with a new venture. Except this time, Shah has taken on the role of investor – while the founder spotlight is on his wife, Arpi Mehta. Their latest bet? MakeO – a startup that wants to bring invisible aligners, at-home cosmetic dentistry and dermatology treatments to your doorstep.
But despite its irresistible promise – convenience repackaged as medical-grade innovation – MakeO seems to be struggling to take off.Turns out, MakeO is drawing quite heavily from the Pharmeasy playbook.
Will it end the same way?Tune in.
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.
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Tata Electronics is assembling iPhones in Karnataka, aiming to become a key player in Apple’s global supply chain.
In this episode, we look at how the company is scaling by adding factories, hiring thousands of workers, and investing heavily in automation.
But it’s also facing high attrition, rising debt, and pressure to meet Apple’s strict standards.
Can Tata turn its manufacturing push into a long-term win?
Tune in.
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.
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