India’s Container Manufacturing Plan Shows Intent But May Face Execution Risks

By Zinal Dedhia

What?

When Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 10,000 crore outlay in the Union Budget for container manufacturing in the country, the message was clear — India wants a seat at a table long dominated by China.

The policy, which is a part of the government’s logistics and maritime infrastructure push, aims to build domestic capacity for manufacturing intermodal containers and reduce dependence on imports, particularly from China, which currently dominates global supply.

According to the Budget proposal, there will be financial support for container manufacturers through viability gap funding and capital subsidies. Other measures include plans to facilitate access to specialised steel, develop testing and certification infrastructure, and improve logistics integration to support domestic production.

Yet the government’s attempt to seed a domestic ecosystem raises a fundamental question: can a subsidy-driven start overcome deep structural disadvantages in cost, scale and industrial capability?

Dharma Ranjan, global logistics and supply chain management expert, believes that incentivising the sector excessively can create long-term dependence. If companies begin relying primarily on subsidies, the focus may shift away from building a sustainable industry and generating employment.

“The objective should be to let the industry operate on its own strengths, enabling firms to become self-reliant and scale manufacturing independently. Ultimately, the sector must be atmanirbhar rather than dependent on continued government support.” Ranjan told The Core.

Why?

A spokesperson at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the budget allocation was intended to create a full-fledged ecosystem rather than merely subsidising factories.

If scale defines the strategic challenge, steel defines the economic one. The spokesperson identified corten steel — an all-weather, corrosion-resistant material — as the single largest cost component, accounting for roughly 60–65% of total container manufacturing expenses.

China’s advantage lies in its massive steel ecosystem. With annual crude steel production exceeding 1 billion tonnes, Chinese mills benefit from scale, integrated supply chains and long-term contracts with container manufacturers, allowing significantly lower input costs.

In India, by contrast, container manufacturers often rely on small-volume orders and fragmented procurement. This leads to price volatility and higher conversion costs. Industry participants indicate that corten steel prices in India can be 10–15% higher than comparable Chinese material, translating into a $300–$400 cost disadvantage per container even before fabrication and logistics expenses are added.

“We are focusing on how we can bridge the gap and make it competitive in India,” the spokesperson said, noting that stakeholder consultations have repeatedly flagged steel pricing and availability as the sector’s primary obstacle.

Could Blockchain Push Markets Beyond T+1 and Simplify Settlements?

By Vishwas Ved

What?

Those who invest in stocks would know that when you buy a share on your broker’s mobile app or web platform, it shows up on your dashboard at once. But the real transfer of shares does not happen instantly.

Brokers, clearing firms, and banks do a lot of work in the background. Each party keeps its own record of the transaction. Later, those records are matched, and that’s when the credit and debit of shares happen. That is how India’s T+1, or trade-plus-one, settlement cycle works.

To deal with these problems of slow trade settlements, high fees, multiple intermediaries, and scattered records, financial veterans are now arguing in favour of blockchain. 

Recently, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink also said that updating the financial system to run on blockchain technology is “necessary,” because it not only reduces costs but also boosts accessibility for investors.

How? 

Blockchain changes how we keep our records. Instead of many separate systems, there is one common ledger, where the transaction history is visible to everyone.

Currently, an equity transaction appears complete the moment it executes on the exchange, but the legal transfer of ownership happens a day or two later. This delay exists because each institution maintains its own system. 

A system built on blockchain removes that separation. Therefore, the trade itself would update the ownership in the same action that confirms payment or funds transfer. In short, everything would happen almost instantaneously.

But will this system be tech-outage-proof?

This series is brought to you in partnership with Algorand India.

Rs 2.7 lakh crore

That is the annual revenue of Reliance Retail, which leads the inaugural ‘JM Financial Hurun India Unlisted Gems 2026’ list. The list spotlights 100 high-potential unlisted companies with at least Rs 1,000 crore in revenue and consistent multi-year growth in revenue and EBITDA.

Top five companies on the list (by revenue):

• Reliance Retail → Revenue: Rs 2.7 lakh crore

• Flipkart → Revenue: Rs 83,105 crore

• Malabar Gold and Diamonds → Revenue: Rs 66,872 crore

• Tata Electronics → Revenue: Rs 66,601 crore

• Tata Digital → Revenue: Rs 32,188 crore

Vishal Kampani, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, JM Financial, said the list underscores the strength of an “often under-represented engine of India’s growth story,” adding that these enterprises exemplify “scale, resilience, and value creation” across sectors.

Anas Rahman Junaid, Founder and Chief Researcher, Hurun India, said the 100 companies represent “a formidable engine operating at institutional scale, largely away from the glare of public markets,” highlighting their combined Rs 8.9 lakh crore revenue in 2025 and accelerating profitability.

Together, the list captures a parallel corporate economy that already operates at IPO-ready scale while remaining firmly in private hands.

The Pioneer presents India Finance & Innovation Forum 2026 convenes policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and industry leaders to examine India’s evolving financial architecture. Over three days, senior decision-makers will explore fiscal and monetary priorities, capital markets, digital finance and innovation-led growth through focused dialogue, networking and collaborative sessions on what’s changing, what works and what comes next.

Tech Hiring Reset

The Indian tech sector is projected to reach $315 billion in FY26 revenue, growing 6.1% despite a cautious 2.3% rise in headcount. According to the Nasscom Annual Strategic Review 2026, the workforce expanded to 59.5 lakh, while a record 2 million professionals were upskilled in AI. This "Human + AI" pivot reflects a decisive shift toward productivity and measurable ROI.

Setup: AI revenue surged to $10–12 billion, signalling a transition from pilot projects to scaled enterprise deployments. Nasscom leadership noted that GCCs and E&RD segments are moving up the value chain, while BPM firms are reinventing themselves through data-driven decision-making rather than simple automation.

Context: Nasscom Chairperson Sindhu Gangadharan emphasised that AI is expanding the "opportunity frontier," redesigning roles around outcomes and higher fluency to maintain India's global competitive advantage.

Real Growth Reboot

India will overhaul how it calculates real GDP growth by using a more detailed set of price data, beginning with a revised national accounts series due this week, said Saurabh Garg, secretary at the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). 

Setup: MoSPI will use about 500 to 600 price items drawn from the revamped Consumer Price Index and the old Wholesale Price Index to deflate output, up from roughly 180 earlier, to produce more accurate inflation adjusted growth figures. 

Outcome: The change aims to address economists’ concerns that outdated methods have overstated real growth by relying too heavily on the wholesale index. India will adopt a 2022/23 base year and release back series data for the past four years.

Sky Safety Check

Air India has reported a sharp rise in technical incidents, such as engine oil and fuel leaks, in January, reaching the highest rate in at least 14 months, according to a company document reviewed by Reuters. 

By the Numbers: The airline recorded 23 technical incidents across more than 17,500 flights, or about 1.09 incidents per 1,000 flights. That figure stands at roughly four times the December 2024 rate. Investigators are examining at least 21 of those cases. Air India said it has expanded spare parts inventories and stepped up inspections to strengthen maintenance oversight.

The Shift: Government data presented to parliament earlier this month shows that about 82.5% of Air India aircraft analysed since January 2025 had recurring defects, compared with 36.5% at IndiGo. The increase comes as Air India pushes through a broader operational overhaul following a deadly 2025 crash that killed 260 people, heightening scrutiny as it works to restore reliability and rebuild passenger confidence.

APAC’s Local Brand Surge

Local brands across Asia-Pacific now command a dominant 79% of the FMCG value share, a rise from 74% a decade ago. According to the ‘Made Local, Played Global’ report by Worldpanel by Numerator, these companies have evolved from traditional manufacturers into agile, data-driven organisations.

Overview: This structural shift is powered by five "brand power levers," including organisational agility and predictive analytics. K Ramakrishnan, Managing Director-South Asia, notes that these brands act with greater speed and precision to anticipate demand. They have successfully cultivated deep emotional trust with regional consumers.

Future: Looking ahead, Asian brands are positioned for global expansion by blending modern tech capabilities with cultural relevance. Their success hinges on maintaining local trust while scaling internationally through localised strategies.

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Markets Take A Fresh AI Hit

On Episode 807 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Noshir Kaka, Senior Partner at Mckinsey as well as Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner & National Leader, Clients and Markets at KPMG in India on the sidelines of the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum 2026.

• Markets take a fresh AI hit

• The IT services industry could grow to $315 billion this year, up 6% says Nasscom.

• The addressable market for Indian IT services companies is actually larger with AI and close to $17 trillion. Can they capture it?

• Where India’s next big IPOs could come from?

• The 7,000 word what if report that rattled IT stocks world over