BENGALURU, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2025 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXVIII 214, 12 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E ECONOMY PAGE 2 NEWINSOLVENCY RULE: BACKDOOR ENTRYTOUGHER THE CENTRE HAS notified changes in the insolvency regulations requiring every resolution plan submitted by the potential bidders to include the details of their beneficial owners who are ultimately going to take control of the distressed company post its transfer, reports Manu Kaushik. INTERNATIONAL PAGE 8 NVIDIA REACHES TECH LICENSING DEALWITH GROQ NVIDIA HAS AGREED to license chip technology from artificial intelligence startup Groq and hire away its CEO, a veteran of Alphabet's Google, Groq said in a blog post, reports Reuters. » INSIDE « CII PROPOSES FOUR-POINT FISCALROADMAP PAGE 2 SECONDARYCORPBOND TRADESATNEWHIGH PAGE 5 BRANDWAGON PAGE 7 WAGON R BALANCES HERITAGE & REINVENTION TO STAYRELEVANT EVENAFTER 25YEARS INDIANCARRIERSMAYSEEARRIVALOF140PLANES Aircraftdeliveriesto Nuts-and-bolts pickuppacein2026 of turnaround PTI NEWSMAKERS OF THE YEAR An aircraft is accorded a ceremonial water cannon salute as Navi Mumbai International Airport commenced commercial flight operations on Thursday GETSETGO, NAVI MUMBAI PAGE 4 YARUQHULLAH KHAN & AKBAR MERCHANT New Delhi/Mumbai, December 25 AFTERAYEAR markedbysupply-chain disruptions and production constraints at global manufacturers, domestic airlines expect deliveries of aircrafttopickupsharplyin2026. Thiswould add to capacityand make services more reliable. Around 130-140 aircraft willbeaddedtohangarslocally in2026,including10-15widebody planes, as per industry estimates.Thereboundfollows a softer delivery pipeline in 2025, when manufacturers, particularly Boeing, struggled to clearthe backlog amid regu- CHINAHAS DENOUNCED a Pentagon report, which accused Beijing of leveraging reduced border tensions with India to undermine US-India relations while deepening defence ties with Pakistan to “sow discord”, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 3 Ola Electric gets `367-cr incentives under auto PLI OLAELECTRIC HAS received a sanction order from the government for the release of `366.78 crore in incentives under the PLI-Auto scheme for FY25, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 4 latory scrutiny and labour disruptions. IndiGo, the country’s largest airline by traffic volume,expectstotakedeliveryof close to 80 aircraft in 2026. “Fleet expansion in 2026 and beyondwillhelpusreachmore distant corners of the country andimproveservicefrequency across our domestic and international network,” an IndiGo executive told FE. Akasa Air is also preparing for steady fleet growth. Addressing employees last week,CEOVinayDube said the airlineplanstooperate45Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by December 2026, up from 31 currently.Theincomingplanes will support expansion across Banks turn to low brokerage play BROKING CHARGES FOR transactions in equity shares and derivatives are coming down with bank-owned stockbroking firms reducing their fees to match those of discount brokers or to even lower levels. Many bank-sponsored brokerages have also done away with an account-opening fee. The reductioncomesatatimewhen trading across market-segments has slowed following tighterregulation. HDFC Securities,SBI SecuritiesandAxisSecuritiesarecharging `20-25 for both intra-day ordersandperorderexecutedin theF&Omarket,similartofeesof discount brokers like Zerodha, Groww and Samco.Kotak Securitiesnowchargesjust`10—the lowest for intra-day and F&O orders. Most large digital brokers charge `20 per order for derivatives trades.While Zerodha does not charge a fee for deliverybased trades,it charges `20 for intra-dayandF&Oorders.Firms like Angel One,5Paisa,Groww, and Upstox charges a brokerage fee of `20 across delivery,F&O, CATCHING UP ■ HDFC, SBI & Axis Securities are charging `20-25 for both intra-day orders and per executed F&O order ■ Kotak Securities now charges `10 -- lowest for both intraday and per F&O order ■ Zerodha charges nil for delivery trades & `20 for intra-day and F&O orders ■ Angel One, 5Paisa, Groww, & Upstox charge brokerage of `20 across delivery, F&OF andintradaysegments. Shripal Shah, MD & CEO of Kotak Securities,said the firm’s revenue mix is fairly diversified, withderivativesnotbeingavery large contributor. This, he explained, is unlike the mix of somelargedigitalbrokerswhere derivatives account for as much as60–70%ofrevenues. Continued on Page 8 Multiple language tools give access to a larger talent pool Native-languageAIgains groundinstartuphirings S SHANTHI Bengaluru, December 25 STARTUPS ARE INCREASINGLY turning to native-language artificial intelligence tools to widen their hiring and cutrecruitmenttimelines,particularly for frontline and customer-facingroleswherecomfort with English has often beenabarrier.Theshiftreflects boththescaleofhiringneedsin a tight labour market and a growing recognition that language choice can materially affect candidate participation and assessment quality. Cloud kitchen operator Curefoods began using nativelanguage AI tools for hiring in 2025afterrealisingthatalarge share of applicants for roles such as chefs and store operations staffwere more comfortable speaking in their native languages. The company now conducts first-level screenings through automated voicebots thatinteractwithcandidatesin multiple Indian languages, reducing manual effort and WIDENING REACH ■ Cloud kitchen operator Curefoods began using nativelanguage AI tools for hiring in 2025 ■ At Flexiloans ■ It says automated screening has eased recruiter workload while enabling faster decision-making turnaround time for frontline hiring has improved by about 30–40% after adoptingAI tools both domestic and international routes. “Our focus on safety,people,serviceandcosts is helping us build a balanced airline,” Dube said, outlining the carrier’s strategy. Air India expects to add around 50 aircraft in 2026, comprising 30-35 Boeing planesandabout15Airbusaircraft. Air India and Air India Expresstogetheroperateafleet of 282 aircraft, with around 110 planes deployed at the low-cost arm. An Air India Express executive said rising Boeing production rates from 2026 should translate into improved delivery schedules for airlines globally. automotive business struggling amid intense competition.In less than fiveyears,Shah has turned the business into one of corporate India’s standout turnaround stories—a case studyinwhat ruthless focus and disciplined execution can deliver.Since taking charge in April 2021,he has repeatedly stressed one simple idea: management bandwidth is finite.Spread it too thin,and SHOBHANA SUBRAMANIAN both profits and priorities suffer. Capital,time and attention,Shah E IS NOTTHE loudest believes,must flowtowhere manintheroom.Nor returns justifythem. ishegivento Workinginhisunderstated grandstanding.But style,Shahhassteadilyenergised whenthedustsettles,thejobis theorganisation,pruningwhere done—anddonewell.That,in neededandbackingwinners manyways,captures decisively.Nowhereis AnishShah,managing thismorevisiblethan HEADLINES intheautomotive directorandGroup OF THE YEAR CEOofMahindra& business.And2025 ON PAGE 12 Mahindra:aleader hasbeenadefining whowashandedarare year. carteblanchetotransforma InFebruary,Mahindra storiedconglomerate,andwho overtookHyundaitobecome hasdonesowithoutdilutingits India’ssecond-largest corecharacter. carmaker—nosmallfeatinone When Shah took overinApril oftheworld’smostcompetitive 2021,M&Mwas something of a passengervehiclemarkets. “bruised blue chip”.Afew missteps had left the Continued on Page 8 ● INFEBRUARY,MAHINDRABECAMEINDIA’S SECOND-LARGESTCARMAKER ANANYAGROVER Mumbai, December 25 China blasts US for report that ‘sows discord’ with India ANISH SHAH, MD & GROUP CEO, MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA SHYAM KR PRASAD IN THE NEWS H Continued on Page 8 QUICK PICKS 2026: Fintech IPO rush seen FINTECH FIRMS ARE expected to dominate the startup IPO pipeline in 2026, with close to 10 firms preparing to tap public markets as listing activity gathers pace, reports Ayanti Bera. The line-up includes lenders Aye Finance, InCred Holdings, payments firms PhonePe, PayU, Innoviti, Razorpay and PayNearby, insurance platforms Acko and Turtlemint, and travel banking firm Niyo. ■ PAGE 4 Engineering exportsrecover EUROPE, CHINA AND Southeast Asia turned key destinations for India’s engineering exports, accounting for 23.7% y-o-y growth in November to $11.01 billion, reports Mukesh Jagota. Even the US, the sector’s biggest market but where tariffs have risen steeply, was in the green, expanding at 11.4% to $1.57 billion. Exports of these items to the US had plunged 14.5% in October. ■ PAGE 2 Quick-comm workers strike DELIVERY WORKERS FROM major quick commerce platforms went on strike across several cities on Wednesday, in a protest against falling earnings and what they describe as deteriorating working conditions in the fast-growing sector, reports Anees Hussain. Two bodies representing over 40,000 delivery workers had called for strikes on December 25 and 31. ■ PAGE 4 ■ Most startups rely on third-party platforms likeVahan AI, BolnaAI, Samvadini ■ The country's AI workforce is estimated at 2.35 million shortening time-to-hire. “We are now able to engage applicants who prefer Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, and other regional languages,allowingustotapintoa far broader and more diverse talent pool, especially across tier-2 and tier-3 locations,” Richa Batra, group head of HR atCurefoods,toldFE.According to the company, automated screening has eased recruiter WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM workloadwhileenablingfaster decision-making. The experience is mirrored acrossotherstartupswithlarge frontline workforces. At Flexiloans, which works closely with MSMEs across the country,turnaround time for frontline hiring has improved by about 30-40% after adopting native-languageAI tools. Continued on Page 8 BENGALURU