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Tag: #news

  • Starlink Sets Sights on India with Multi-Partner Strategy

    Starlink, Elon Musk’s SpaceX venture, which offers satellite broadband, is actively exploring partnerships in India with a range of players across the satcom, telecom, and broadband sectors. Companies like Hughes, Nelco (of the Tata Group), and BSNL are in talks with the company. According to people familiar with the matter, Starlink intends to pursue an India strategy that combines direct operations with partnerships.

    Starlink is employing a parallel strategy in India that has worked successfully in other international markets. It has sought out Indian telecom partners for distributing its service to customers that these companies can reach. India’s third-largest telecom operator, Vodafone Idea, has also expressed interest in engaging with satcom providers such as Starlink. This signals a growing appetite for satellite internet services to meet  the  demand for rural and remote connectivity.

    Infrastructure Plans and Market Readiness

    Starlink is all set to serve even as it awaits the last clearance from the regulators. It has, however, made a public show of setting up its infrastructure in India in a big way and has very much signaled its intent to begin service as soon as the licensing is in place. To that end, it has operational plans here that call for three gateway stations to be set up in Mumbai, Pune, and Indore, along with what it calls a point of presence in Mumbai to anchor its operations across the subcontinent.

    Starlink has a huge global capacity already because it has sent so many satellites into space. It has 30,000 second-generation satellites in the pipeline; these will beam down even better internet signals than the first-generation satellites. Starlink has a reassurance in internal assessments that its bandwidth capability and coverage in India far exceeds anything else from the other satellite companies currently in the Indian market.

    Regulatory and Security Challenges

    Although much of the regulatory groundwork is close to being finished, several sticking points remain. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) wants companies that offer satellite services to set up monitoring across India’s borders, including in sensitive regions like Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. This isn’t something Starlink has committed to yet, and it has consequently slowed final approvals.

    The company, however, has consented to set up a control and monitoring center for the domestic network and certified it would not route data through gateways in countries that share a land border with India, in line with national security priorities. It has also furnished In-SPACe, the Indian space regulator, with the necessary paperwork and is said to be on the verge of obtaining the requisite licenses that come under the GMPCS umbrella. In India, Starlink is focused on bringing broadband to areas that have no access at all or only very poor access to the internet. Its main push is in the North-East and other remote terrains.

  • Kohl’s Sacks CEO Ashley Buchanan Over Policy Breach, Michael Bender Steps In

    Kohl’s Corporation, the huge U.S. department store operator, has ousted chief executive Ashley Buchanan after she was found to be in breach of company policy, according to an internal investigation. A regulatory filing revealed that Buchanan had been up to her neck in vendor conflicts that also involved some undisclosed interest on her part, violating corporate governance rules.

    Buchanan’s departure, though it came suddenly, was made clear not to be connected to Kohl’s financial results or its larger operational structure. The company stated that no other executives or staff were involved in the findings. Buchanan, who took on the role of CEO in November, has also been taken off the board of directors, and his re-nomination for election as a director at the upcoming shareholder meeting has been formally withdrawn.

    Michael Bender Takes Over as Interim CEO

    Taking over as interim CEO is Michael Bender, a retail and consumer goods industry veteran with executive experience that stretches back decades. Bender is a relatively recent addition to Kohl’s board, having joined in 2019, but he has been serving as its chair since May of this year. Since the news broke about Kohl’s plummeting performance over the last couple of quarters, Bender has taken on the task of serving both as a board member and as Kohl’s executive lead.

    Representatives of the board stressed that Bender’s appointment makes sure there is continuity in this transitional period. A formal search for a permanent CEO, who will succeed Bender, will be initiated shortly. Kohl’s has engaged a leading executive search firm to manage this process.

    Bender has a long track record of not just operational efficiency but also long-term profit growth, and the nominating and governance committee expressed full confidence in Bender being able to guide the company while leadership is being realigned.

    Retail Headwinds and Sales Forecasts

    Kohl’s is facing stiff competition from the e-commerce sector and consolidated big-box retailers like Walmart and Costco, as has the rest of the department store industry. Kohl’s core customer, women ages 25 to 54, has been walking through its doors less frequently, visiting the store an average of just 1.9 times a year in 2021. By comparison, those same women visited Kohl’s an average of 3.4 times a year in 2013.

    Early outcomes for the first quarter show a similar sales downturn between 4% and 4.3%. While these numbers are slightly better than the analysts’ predictions of a 6% drop, they nonetheless paint a picture of inadequate demand. Looking ahead, the company has forecast a first quarter loss between 20 and 24 cents per share. Indeed, this is a tighter range, and consequently a more favorable forecast, than the 52-cent loss analysts had been looking for.

    To boost profits, Kohl’s had previously declared that it would close 27 stores by April, cutting underperforming locations and “optimizing its retail footprint,” as the company put it.

    Investor Sentiment and Market Response

    Investor sentiment got a small boost from the Kohl’s episodes. The company’s stock went up 7% after the announcement but remains down 52% year-to-date. The uptick could be attributed to relief that the problematic internal issue was resolved in a relatively clean way and slight enthusiasm over better-than-expected sales figures.

    With eyes on Kohl’s leadership transition, interim leaders have an opportunity to assure stakeholders the company will remain on its current course. They can do this by presenting clear, convincing narratives about how the company plans to overcome today’s challenges and return to growth.

  • Forget MBAs! Anupam Mittal Reveals the Only 2 Skills You Need to Be a Successful Entrepreneur

    “What skills should I build as a student if I want to be an entrepreneur?” This is a question Anupam Mittal, Founder of Shaadi.com and Shark Tank India judge, is often asked. His answer, shared in a recent LinkedIn post, was simple yet powerful: Master the ability to sell and the ability to build.

    While there’s no single playbook for entrepreneurial success, Mittal believes that these two skills are non-negotiable, not just for founders but for anyone who wants to be successful in a fast-changing world.

    Selling: The Most Underrated Superpower

    According to Anupam Mittal, the ability to sell is about much more than moving products. It’s about selling your vision, your ideas, your dream — first to yourself, then to others.

    “You’ll need to convince people to join you, convince investors to fund you, convince customers to try you… and sometimes, convince yourself to keep going,” he explains.

    This means learning to pitch, persuade, hustle, and repeat. Mittal is clear that sales isn’t something to shy away from, it’s the foundation of survival in entrepreneurship.

    He reminds us, “Sales isn’t sleazy. It’s survival.”

    Whether you’re raising funds, recruiting talent, or attracting users, if you can’t sell your story, your journey becomes a lonely one.

    Building: The Power of Focused Problem-Solving

    The second superpower Mittal highlights is the ability to build, not necessarily by coding, but by becoming obsessed with solving a real problem. This includes staying focused on one goal for a long period, even when everyone around you thinks you’re wrong.

    “It’s being okay with being misunderstood,” he writes.

    It also means staying committed when progress is unclear and momentum seems stalled. The ability to keep building in such conditions, Mittal says, is what makes you unbeatable.

    Entrepreneurship isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon that demands mental resilience, sharp execution, and patience, all of which come from a builder’s mindset.

    Skills Beyond Startups

    What makes Mittal’s advice more relatable is that he doesn’t restrict it to startup founders.

    “🎓 Students — these are life skills, not job titles.
    👨‍💼 Professionals — being able to sell and build can unlock every door,” he writes.

    In today’s world, where career paths are no longer linear, these skills serve anyone, whether you’re launching a side hustle, managing a corporate team, or switching industries.

    These two skills, once developed, offer the ability and confidence to thrive across roles, industries, and economies.

    Start Now, Not Later

    Mittal closes his post with an important reminder: “There is no ‘right time.’ You start Learning. You Start Selling. You Start Building. The rest will follow 🚀”

    This reflects his long-held belief that action beats perfection. Instead of waiting for the ideal plan or moment, just start. Learn by doing. Improve as you go.

    This aligns with another post he had shared earlier, where he spoke about career growth and skill-building for the modern workforce, covered here on StartupTalky. He has consistently engaged his audience with practical, real-world advice drawn from his own entrepreneurial experiences.



    To sum up

    If you’re looking to build a career, whether as an entrepreneur or not, focus on mastering just two things: Sell with purpose. Build with obsession. That’s the starting point, and as Anupam Mittal says, “The rest will follow.”

    List of Anupam Mittal Investments: Companies Funded by Shark Tank India’s ‘Gyan Nath Ji’
    Anupam Mittal, Founder and CEO of People Group is known for Shaadi.com and his angel investments. Check out the list of Anupam Mittal’s investments here. Anupam Mittal portfolio companies list.
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  • Global Procurement Startup Zinit Invests $2 Million in India to Expand its AI-Led B2B Platform

    SaaS player targets India’s $500 billion procurement market with smart, scalable solutions for tail spend and supplier diversity.

    Zinit, a global SaaS startup transforming procurement with AI-driven solutions, today announced a $2 million investment in its Indian operations. The company’s move aims to capitalize on India’s $500 billion procurement market with the introduction of its AI-powered B2B procurement platform, offering smarter, scalable solutions to streamline the country’s inefficient, legacy procurement systems.

    Despite projections for India’s B2B e-commerce market to reach $200 billion by 2030, a significant portion of India’s procurement processes still rely on outdated, manual systems. Zinit plans to disrupt this space by focusing on tail spend — the neglected portion of procurement that accounts for 30% of procurement value but 80% of the transactions.

    Zinit’s platform combines AI-led automation with a dedicated customer success team to deliver real-time value. It enables 1-click cross-border tendering with smart supplier matching and real-time translation, reduces tendering time by up to 80%, and follows a success-based pricing model, allowing businesses to pay only upon results. The platform also fosters supplier diversity, with 50% of new suppliers winning bids, making procurement more inclusive and transparent.

    “India is a key market for Zinit’s global expansion. The country’s procurement sector is ripe for innovation, and we’re excited to bring our AI-powered solutions to help businesses drive efficiency, save costs, and foster supplier diversity,” said Anton Buzdalin, Co-Founder, Zinit. “This $2M investment will strengthen our local operations, fuel job creation, and deepen partnerships with Indian businesses looking to modernize procurement.” he added.

    Zinit’s entry into India is backed by a strong global foundation. The team behind Zinit previously built Bidzaar, a procurement platform in Eastern Europe that scaled to over $15 billion in GMV and onboarded 150,000+ suppliers. This success forms the backbone of Zinit’s approach — adapting proven innovation to meet the needs of complex, fast-growing markets like India.

    Companies including Uflex, Vinati Organics, and Compass Group are already using Zinit as a tender platform. More than 40 companies, including L&T Financial Services and Verkko Group , have already placed tenders on Zinit in just six months of operation in India. The platform has facilitated more than 300 tenders in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, logistics, pharmaceuticals, and retail. Looking ahead, Zinit plans to continue its momentum by further investing in talent acquisition, customer success, and product innovation throughout 2025. 

    About Zinit

    Zinit is a global SaaS startup transforming the procurement landscape with AI-driven solutions. The platform helps businesses automate procurement processes, optimize tail spend, and enhance supplier diversity. Committed to transparency and efficiency, Zinit’s technology enables companies to reduce costs, streamline workflows, and make data-driven decisions. The company is rapidly expanding in high-growth markets worldwide, including India, Eastern Europe, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Middle East. Zinit was named First Runner-Up at AIM Congress 2025, selected from over 3,200 startups globally by the UAE Ministry of Economy, and recognized as a future unicorn under the ‘We the UAE 2031’ initiative.

  • Cognizant to Hire 20000 Freshers in 2025 to Boost Talent Pipeline

    Cognizant, a provider of information technology (IT) services, intends to hire 20,000 new hires by 2025. The company wants to broaden its talent pyramid and get ready for managed services and software development driven by artificial intelligence (AI).

    “Since we are now receiving a lot of work related to managed services, the 20,000 new hires will now form our pyramid. Therefore, that will begin to accelerate our headcount,” said Cognizant’s Chief Executive Officer Ravi Kumar S. He informed about this development at a news conference following the results of the March quarter.

    “It’s a good time to re-baseline the pyramid now that organic growth has returned,” Kumar continued. In the IT industry, a pyramid structure typically means that there are more people with less experience and fewer with higher expertise, which lowers wage bills.

    Due to significant acquisitions in the financial services and health sciences verticals, the US-based IT services company exceeded Street revenue projections in Q1 Q1CY25.

    More Jobs in the IT Industry in Current Fiscal

    Due to uncertainties in the market climate, Cognizant’s Indian peers have refrained from disclosing the precise hiring goals for FY26 at the same time as the announcement of the fresher recruitment. However, according to management commentary thus far, the top five IT companies are expected to add between 80,000 and 84,000 IT jobs during the current fiscal year.

    Executives from the company have noted that the real number can fluctuate greatly. Cognizant’s own development platform, FlowSource, which blends machine-generated and human code, will be used to train the new hires. In reference to the AI-first method being implemented at the freshmen level, Ravi stated, “When you’re doing it for the first time and doing it that way, that’s the only way you’ll know how to code.”

    It is anticipated that implementing code help platforms early on will increase productivity throughout the development cycle. Additionally, Cognizant is still hiring specialist candidates from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) for positions as full-stack developers and power programmers.

    Exploring New Opportunities with Fresh Talent

    The company, which is headquartered in Belcan, is also investigating the development of new positions as part of the “Vector 3 of agentification”. This term refers to next-generation service models that may not necessitate conventional engineering skills.

     The CEO highlighted new prospects for non-engineers with operations, domain, and other experience, saying, “These are labour pools we didn’t address in the past.” According to Ravi, the services major employs over 60,000 people who joined the company straight out of college and have worked there for more than ten years. “

    And that is the middle management of the company, which is the core of the business.” With talent depth in both India and the US, Kumar claimed that Cognisant stands out in the Global Capability Centre (GCC) market thanks to its extensive industry-spanning subject expertise. As of right now, the company has six GCC transactions, and more than twenty are in the works.

  • Oyo to Enter F&B with In-House Kitchens and QSR Carts

    With an emphasis on Townhouse by OYO-branded hotels, Oyo has declared its intention to enter the food and beverage industry. It plans achieve this goal by establishing in-house kitchens and Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) carts/lobby stores at its company-serviced hotels, the firm said on May 1.

    According to Oyo, this programme will provide in-house cooking services to guests at 1500 of its company-serviced hotels in FY26. By choosing the “Kitchen Services” option, visitors will be able to place meal orders through internet channels such as OTAs and the Oyo app.

    Depending on the specific hotel profile and backend infrastructure, the kitchen configuration could range from a full-fledged commercial kitchen for a large menu to a pantry setup for basic food items, according to Oyo.

    Introducing QSR Carts and Lobby Stores

    Oyo is launching QSR carts and lobby stores under the “Townhouse Cafe” brand in addition to in-house kitchens. According to the firm, the menu will emphasise reasonably priced meals that include both continental and regional cuisine.

    According to Oyo, on a steady-state basis, it anticipates that F&B will add 5%–10% to hotel revenue. Since January of this year, Oyo has started a pilot program at 100 company-serviced hotels in a few cities, including Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, to test the idea.

    According to the firm, this has cleared the path for the nationwide launch in the next fiscal year. Chief Operating Officer Varun Jain, Providing ‘fresh’, ‘convenient’, and ‘quality’ meal options throughout its network, Oyo stated, the project seeks to improve the in-hotel eating experience for travellers.

    A network of “trusted F&B experts” is being established in major cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Indore, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Lucknow, according to Oyo, to assist this.

    Broader Push to Increase Revenue Streams

    The QSR initiative appears to be a component of Oyo’s larger effort to increase income by offering related services. The company has previously ventured into the food industry; in 2019, it started a cloud kitchen business but shut it down during the pandemic.

    Despite being a logical progression of the hotel industry, food operations demand specialised knowledge and committed staff. Oyo probably learnt a lot from its first try and now seems more equipped to grow its food company in a more strategic and sustainable way.

    Oyo Hotels and Homes Pvt. Ltd. reported a 15% drop in revenue from INR 1,312 crore to INR 1,113 crore for FY24, a significant drop.

    The company declared a profit of INR 11.5 crore over a loss of INR 27 crore in FY23, according to documents filed in January with the Registrar of Companies.

    This was mainly due to a reduction of INR 6 crore in overall expenses and a positive growth in extraordinary items from a loss the previous year.

  • LG to Permanently Shut Down Smartphone Update Servers on June 30

    Although LG left the smartphone industry in 2021, the firm promised that its customers would receive three years of support in all formats. That is now over, and the business is telling its customers about the significant announcement that will take effect in July 2025.

     LG has said that it will stop releasing any more security patches in the coming months due to the shutdown of its official server, which distributes software updates.

    Although the majority of people may have switched to other phones by now, if some people are still using an LG phone, now is the ideal moment to upgrade.

    Why this News is a Warning Sign for Users?

    One of LG’s major announcements concerns the shutdown of the LG Bridge and Update service. LG customers may rely on The Bridge to apply updates for their devices and back up their data. With support for these services coming to an end, LG phones will soon be at serious risk of security breaches and become easy targets for hackers.

    Based on these timetables, it appears that the business is confident in its present customer base, which by now ought to have switched to other companies. Although LG has a sizable appliance market in India and is a well-known brand in that market, the company’s mobile phone venture did not turn out as planned.

    Some people may not be aware, but Google and LG collaborated on the original Nexus phones, which were later replaced by Pixels. Although LG’s phones came at a variety of pricing points, they lacked the Chinese firms’ adaptability, and their track record in the nation was comparable to that of Sony.

    Nevertheless, LG surprised everyone by releasing phones like the LG Wing, which had a spinning multi-screen experience.

    Sluggish Sales Stall Production in India

    Due to dwindling local and international demand, about half of India’s mobile phone manufacturing capacity—which was developed under the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme—is either underutilised or repurposed.

    According to a study by a financial media house, market analysts and industry executives blame this underutilisation on the decline in demand for entry-level smartphones and feature phones. According to data from the research firm Counterpoint Research, by the end of 2024, India’s ability to produce mobile phones had surpassed 500 million units.

     A somewhat smaller range of 400–420 million units has been anticipated by the Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA). According to the study, actual production is still about 250 million units per year, of which 200 million are sold domestically and the remainder—mostly iPhones—are exported.

    Production is being driven by PLI-eligible manufacturers like Hon Hai (Foxconn), Tata Electronics, Samsung Electronics, and Dixon Technologies. Due to their inability to reach goals, smaller companies like Lava International, Karbonn, and Micromax have either shut down or switched to manufacturing wearables and telecom equipment.

  • Bollywood Celebrities and Cricketers Back Karamtara Engineering in Pre-IPO Funding Round

    Cricket players Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, together with Bollywood actors Ranbir Kapoor, Karan Johar, Bimal Parekh and Aamir Khan, have invested in the pre-IPO round of power transmission company Karamtara Engineering.

    Backwards-integrated, Karamtara Engineering produces goods for the transmission lines and renewable energy industries. It can act as a one-stop shop for solar structures (trackers and fixed-tilt) because of its wide range of products.

    The company sells overhead gearbox line hardware fittings and accessories, lattice structures for gearbox lines and fasteners for the solar, wind, gearbox and industrial sectors.

     According to a public statement, the company’s promoters, Tanveer Singh and Rajiv Singh, engaged in a secondary sale to transfer 3,409,724 equity shares at a total price of INR 310 each, for a total of INR 106 crore.

    Khan acquired 1,29,050 shares for INR 4 crore, Kapoor acquired 1,61,300 shares for INR 5 crore, while Karan Johar acquired 4.85 lakh shares for INR 1.5 crore. According to the notice, Sharma and Bumrah also paid INR 2 crore apiece for 64,520 shares.

    In January, Company Raised INR 307 Crore

    On January 10 of this year, Karamtara, which is in competition with listed companies such as Inox Wind, KP Green Engineering, Premier Energies, Waaree Energies, and Suzlon Energy, raised INR 307.17 crore by offering 98.08 lakh shares at the same price to a number of investors.

    The company received preferential allocations from well-known investors such as Jagdish Naresh Master, Utpal Hemendra Sheth, Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund, Gaurav Trehan, Quantum State Investment Fund, Ananta Capital Venture Fund, Jaidev Rajnikant Shroff, Axia Select Opportunities Fund, Mithun Padam Sacheti and Siddhartha Sacheti, and MNI Ventures.

    Karamtara Engineering, situated in Mumbai, intends to raise INR 400 crore through an offer-for-sale process and INR 1,350 crore through a fresh issue component. In the offer-for-sale, promoters Tanveer Singh and Rajiv Singh would each be selling shares valued at INR 200 crore.

    How Company Plans to Utilise Fresh Proceeds?

    By using INR 1,050 crore of the proceeds from the new issuance to pay down debt and the remaining money for general corporate reasons, the company hopes to drastically lower its debt load. As of November 2024, it had outstanding acceptances under letters of credit totalling INR 733.6 crore and outstanding borrowings from banks and financial institutions totalling INR 586.4 crore.

    JM Financial, ICICI Securities, and IIFL Capital Services will be the book running lead managers in charge of the public offering. In January, Karamtara Engineering submitted preliminary documents to the Sebi, the market watchdog, requesting permission to raise INR 1,750 crore through an IPO.

    In FY2024, the company reported a Profit After Tax (PAT) of INR 102.65 crore, more than doubling the INR 42.36 crore recorded in the previous fiscal year. FY2023 revenues increased from INR 1,600.31 crore to INR 2,425.15 crore.

  • Elon Musk Fires Back as Tesla Slams ‘False’ CEO Exit Rumours, What Really Happened?

    Tesla Inc. has firmly denied media reports claiming its board is looking to replace Elon Musk as CEO. The controversy began on April 30, 2025, after The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article suggesting Tesla had quietly initiated a search for Musk’s successor amid concerns about his divided attention and the company’s recent financial challenges.

    A Report That Sparked a Storm

    The WSJ article, citing unnamed sources familiar with internal discussions, claimed that Tesla’s board had reached out to executive recruitment firms. The report attributed this alleged move to several factors, including Musk’s increasing political involvement, particularly his role in the Trump administration’s newly formed “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE)—and Tesla’s sharp 71% drop in first-quarter profits for 2025.

    It also noted growing investor unease, as Tesla’s stock has declined roughly 30% since the beginning of the year. According to the article, the board was discreetly exploring leadership options in response to these developments.

    Tesla and Musk Respond Swiftly

    Within hours of the article’s publication, Tesla issued an official denial via its X (formerly Twitter) account. The statement, attributed to Chairwoman Robyn Denholm, read:

    “Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company.
    This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published).
    The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk, and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead.”

    Elon Musk also responded directly and forcefully via X, writing:

    “It is an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the @WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors!”

    He followed up with a blunt statement:

    “WSJ is a discredit to journalism.”


    Investor Concerns and Leadership Focus

    While Tesla and Musk have denied any active CEO search, the WSJ report brought renewed focus to concerns about Musk’s level of engagement with Tesla. His leadership roles across multiple ventures, including X, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, have led to ongoing speculation about his bandwidth.

    These concerns have grown in light of Tesla’s recent financial results. The company reported a 71% year-on-year decline in quarterly profits and a 9% drop in revenue, with earnings falling from $21.3 billion to $19.3 billion in the January–March period. Musk has since reassured investors during Tesla’s latest earnings call that he plans to “refocus” on the company, but questions remain about how much time and attention he can actually devote to Tesla.

    A Broader Context

    This isn’t the first time speculation around Musk’s future at Tesla has emerged. As the head of several companies, questions around his long-term commitment to Tesla have remained. Any suggestion of succession, real or speculative, carries major implications for Tesla’s stock and long-term strategy, given how closely Musk’s leadership is tied to investor confidence.

    Despite recent financial setbacks, Tesla continues to expand its EV business and remains a global leader in the electric mobility space. As of now, there is no official indication from the company that a leadership transition is being planned.

    Final Thoughts

    This situation shows how sensitive the relationship is between media reports, company leadership, and public trust. While Tesla has clearly denied any search for a new CEO, questions about Musk’s focus and the company’s financial future remain.

    For now, Elon Musk continues to lead Tesla with full support from the board. Whether that’s enough to ease investor concerns may depend on how the company performs next, and how clearly Musk proves he’s still fully committed.

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  • Adani Group Paused $10 Billion Chip Deal Talks with Tower Semiconductor

    Adani Group, a ports-to-power conglomerate led by Gautam Adani, has apparently halted talks for a $10 billion semiconductor collaboration with Tower Semiconductor of Israel. The move came after an internal assessment that found the idea currently lacked strategic and commercial feasibility, according to a media report.

    Adani Group’s intention to establish an INR 83,947 Cr ($10 Bn) semiconductor manufacturing factory with Israel’s Tower Semiconductor was authorised by Maharashtra’s cabinet in September of last year.

    This move supported India’s goal of becoming a worldwide centre for chip manufacture and was anticipated to generate 5,000 jobs. In phase 1, the semiconductor plant will be able to produce 40,000 wafers per month; after phase 2, this capacity will rise to 80,000 wafers per month.

    Why the Deal was Paused?

    The Adani Group had previously said that the project was being considered. But after the most recent evaluation, the business withdrew its statement, citing concerns about demand, particularly in India. The report went on to say that the choice was more strategic in nature.

    After evaluating it, Adani made the decision to wait, even if it is possible that this will restart at a later date. Without providing specifics, another story stated that the group was dissatisfied with the amount of money Tower was willing to contribute to the relationship.

     According to the article, Adani wanted Tower to have more financial stake in the contract, even though Tower was supposed to contribute technological expertise.

    Chipmaking Sector in India

    As of now, India lacks a functional chip manufacturing facility. In July 2023, a $19.5 billion joint venture between Taiwan’s Foxconn and Indian company Vedanta collapsed due to delays in incentive clearances and project prices, which New Delhi had questioned.

    The most well-known projects now in progress are a $2.7 billion chip packaging unit by U.S.-based Micron and an $11 billion chipmaking and additional chip testing plant by the Tata Group.

    According to a UBS estimate this month, the United States and China together account for 54% of the world’s semiconductor end demand. This year, India will have a 6.5% share.

    Set Back for Modi Government

    To increase chipmaking in India, the western state of Maharashtra announced in September of last year that Adani Group and Tower had been approved to establish a plant that would produce 80,000 wafers each month.

    Their production partnership was expected to create about 5,000 jobs. The agreement, which signalled the Adani Group’s entry into the semiconductor sector, is probably going to be a significant blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” initiative.

    The India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) forecasts that the country’s semiconductor market will reach $103.4 billion by 2030, up from $52 billion in 2024.

    According to the report, demand from key industries such as consumer electronics, automotive, aerospace, military, information technology (IT), telecommunications, and mobile phones is driving the increase.