OPINION, P10 MIND & GAMES From moon and Mars journeys to a solar eclipse, the year 2026 has a lot to offer Page 11 Indian word of the year 2025 FOOTLOOSE Be sure you have the right gear before you hit the highway Page 9 THE WAIT FOR SPACE EVENTS IS ABOUT TO PAY OFF ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM How to make your road trip safe WORDS WORTH Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM Vol. 18 No. 44 HYBRIDITY, HOPE AND HIGHWAY FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY MUMBAI SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2026 14 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 , AI IN PLAY HOWWILL LIFE IN THEAGE OFAI UNFOLD IN THE NEWYEAR C H A N D I G A R H , ● Economic might of cohort will be the strongest ever THE LAST OF Gen Alpha have just been born, and it is a generation already making the world sit up and take notice. From brands and products, to businesses and workplaces, policies and politics, there is enough buzz about a group that is still adolescent, if not From creating new categories of skill sets to reshaping how work is structured, AI will enter a new phase of adoption at the workplace this year ■ PAGE 5 Bots in white coats Not just a 'doctor' at our fingertips, AI will make more inroads into medical innovation ■ PAGE 6 Get entertained Avatar artistes will continue to rule the charts, and films & series will just become bigger ■ PAGE 7 Home smart home No longer sci-fi, machines that anticipate needs, automate routines, and learn from our habits, now sit in living rooms ■ PAGE 8 DIIs record net inflows for 29 months in a row DIIs net equity investments FPIs net equity investment 120,000 75,000 50,000 25,000 0 -25,000 -50,000 -75,000 -100,000 100,000 80,000 (in ` cr) 79,620 25,017 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 Aug ‘23 Source: BSE, NSDL Dec ‘25 DOMESTIC INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS (DIIS) recorded net equity inflows for 29 consecutive months, cumulatively investing a whopping `14.15 lakh crore ($165.2 billion), largely supported by sustained retail inflows through mutual funds. 14,295 (in ` cr) READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , Consumer impact Largest demographic 2 bn 8 in 10 Goods directly purchased/ influenced; that’s 1.5% of global consumer economy Gen Alpha population, to be largest consumer group by 2040s 24% Entrepreneurial minds $1 trn CONSCIOUS & COMMANDING Already earning via digital ventures AI natives 46% $1.7 trn share of world's population, largest ever Direct spending by 2029 Illustration by Shyam Kumar Prasad newborn.Why? Born between 2010 and 2025,GenAlpha are the largest generational size in use AI, 44% use AI for schoolwork, chat with bots history—about 24% of the world’spopulationasofJanuary 2026.Inthenexttenyears,Gen A will still account for 22% of the global population. This over 2 billion-strong force is already dictating consumer trends and influencing 3 in 4 aspire to be own bosses 57% 57% prefer work involving creativity buying decisions, and by the 2040s, they will be the largest consumer group,commanding obeisance across industries.For ● Pumped in a record $9 bn last yr, more to come Deal value ($ million) Dea VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, January 3 THE ELECTRIC TWOWHEELER market is moving into a phase where execution, service depth and affordability leversarelikelytoshapecompetition more than early-mover advantage. Sales trends from 2025 marked a clear turning point, and industry executives and analysts expect competition in 2026 to centre on reliability,financingmodelsandser- acohortthatwillbethemostliterate, woke and conscious, as well as the largest driver of economiesever,somenewrules are definitelyin order. What also distinguishes them from others is being fully digitalnatives,trulyharnessing AI,ratherthan being controlled by it.“Those who learn to command AI will compound their advantage.Thosewhodon’t,will feel displaced. Gen Alpha, instinctively,willchoosetheformer,” says Jaspreet Bindra, cofounder & CEO of AI literacy firmAI&Beyond. Continued on Page 2 483 CHRISTINATITUS & MAHESH NAYAK Mumbai, January 3 JAPANESE INVESTMENT IN India via mergers and acquisitions(M&A)surgedtoahistoric high in 2025, one of the strongestyearsforforeigncapital inflows for the country. Japanesefirmsdeployedover$9 billionintheyear,ledbyMUFG’s landmark $4.4-billion investment in Shriram Finance, followed by JFE Holdings’ investment in Bhushan Power& Steel for$1.75 billion.Investment of similar scale by Japanese firms inIndiahappenedpreviouslyin 137 No. of deals 127 61 117 9,010 13 31 754 9,016 4 3 8 11 3 2 3 2 3 9 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Top M&A deals Year Target Acquirer 2019 2025 2025 2025 2024 Essar Steel India Shriram Finance Bhushan Power & Steel Yes Bank Fullerton India Credit Co Nippon Steel Corp, ArcelorMittal Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group JFE Holdings Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 2019,when ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel acquired Essar Steel forclose to $7 billion. Since 2016, Japanese investors have pumped close to Deal value ($ million) $20 billion in India in 48 M&A deals, of which the top 10 accountedfor$18.2billion.Last yearwas a sharp peak,with five of the top 10 investments by 6,981 4,419 1,746 1,579 700 Source: Bloomberg Japanese firms in India since 2016–worth $8 billion—happening in 2025 alone. Continued on Page 2 Captured Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro on board USS Iwo Jima. The photo was posted by US President Donald Trump on Truth Social on Saturday ● IT’S PARADE MONTH X PREZ MADURO CAPTURED Delhi in dilemma as US attacksVenezuela SHUBHAJIT ROY New Delhi, January 3 THE ANNOUNCEMENT BY President Donald Trump that the US had attacked Venezuela andcaptureditsPresidentNicolas Maduro put India in a diplomaticspotSaturday.Ontheone side is Trump’s unilateral move and,on the other side,is Delhi’s stated position that seeks an internationalrules-basedorder. Atthetimeofgoingtopress, the only reaction from India wasMinistryofExternalAffairs cautioning Indian nationals to avoidallnon-essentialtravelto Venezuela.Delhi,which is usually wary of commenting on issues far from Indian borders, is in a bind. Continued on Page 2 »INSIDE« WILL BE INVOLVED IN VENEZUELA’S OIL: TRUMP P14 CanadawarnsAirIndia ondrinkingregulations In contrast, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth `1.21 lakh crore ($13.4 billion) during the same period. Over these 29 months, the benchmark Sensex and Nifty surged 28.1% and 32.3%, respectively. vice coverage ratherthan headline innovation alone. The change in leadership became evident last year as established manufacturers overtook venture-backed startups that had once defined the segment. TVS Motor Companyemergedasthelargest electrictwo-wheelerseller, clocking sales of 298,150 unitsin2025,followedby Bajaj Auto with 269,233 units.Incontrast,OlaElectric saw its volumes fall sharply to 198,690 units, almost half ofwhat it had sold a year earlier. Ather Energy followed closely with sales of 200,110 units, while Hero MotoCorp’s Vida brand sold 108,805 units. Smaller players P U N E HISTORIC HIGH Central Industrial Security Force personnel in full gear as they rehearse for the upcoming Republic Day Parade, at Kartavya Path in New Delhi on Saturday ANI AN AIR INDIA pilot was arrested at Vancouver International Airport last week as he was preparing for a flight, with Canada’s transportation agency warning the airline that it faced loss of its flight authorisations if it did not comply with rules about alcohol consumption, reports Associated Press Legacy players set to secure lead in electric two-wheelers ● Competition in 2026 to centre on reliability, service D E L H I , India rising sun for Japanese investors Dec ‘25 — Compiled by Kishor Kadam N E W LOOKING BEYOND US-CHINA -23,690 Aug ‘23 M U M B A I , GenerationArtificial Intelligence is here,and how IVINDER GILL New Delhi, January 3 Mind or machine? C H E N N A I , How the 2020-21 farmers’ protest was about more than repealing three laws Page 4 SALES METRICS Electric two-wheeler sales 2025 (in units) Bajaj 269,233 Ather 200,110 TVS 298,150 Ola River 15,173 Vida 108,805 Pure EV 17,797 Ampere 56,222 Others s 88,893 8 BGauss such as Ampere EV, BGauss, River and Pure EV remained niche in comparison. Industry watchers say the numbersreflectabroaderstruc- tural shift ratherthan a one-off correction.Electric scooters are increasingly being bought as everyday vehicles, raising the importance of after-sales ser- 1 198,690 22,443 Source: Industry vice, dealer reach and predictable ownership costs.Companies that fail to deliver on theseparametersrisklosingrelevance even if their products remain competitive on paper. Ola Electric’s slowdown has drawn particular scrutiny. Analysts point to a combination of service backlogs, customer complaints and slower innovation cycles as factors behind the decline. While the company focused through 2024-25 on its IPO and parallel technology initiatives, rivals moved quickly to refresh products and improve ownership experience. As one analyst put it, Ola’s scooters remained competitive,but fell behind peers that offered strongerservice assurance and clearer upgrade paths. Legacy manufacturers, by contrast, used their balance sheetsandphysicalnetworksto steadilystrengthentheirelectric portfolios. TVS’s iQube, launched in 2020 with a single variant having about 75-km range,now offers multiple battery options,with top-end variants exceeding 150 km. Bajaj’s Chetak Electric has followed a similar trajectory,with current premium variants offering rangeswellabove150km.Both companiesalsoexpandedexperience centres beyond major cities,reinforcingbrandtrustin smallermarkets. Hero MotoCorp’s electric push gained traction in the second half of 2025 after the launch of the Vida VX2 with a removable battery. Continued on Page 2 in Vancouver. Transport Canada said in a statement Friday that the incident took place on December 23, and it would engage with Air India and Indian aviationauthoritiestoensure “appropriate follow-up actions”were taken. Continued on Page 2 Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur out of IPL BANGLADESH pacer Mustafizur Rahman has been released by IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after the BCCI’s diktat amid heightening diplomatic tensions between the two countries. ■ PAGE 14 Stamp duty waiver on farm loans THE Maharashtra government has waived stamp duty on documents related to agricultural and crop loans of up to `2 lakh to reduce the financial burden on farmers. ■ PAGE 3
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