Capital, Capacity And The Systems India Still Needs

Good morning.

India’s next growth challenge may be less about finding opportunity and more about building the capacity to capture it.

This week, Jahangir Aziz looks at resilient supply chains, Vivek Merchant at scaling shipbuilding, Rajiv Batra at where investors are finding growth, and Dr Anoop Singh at whether public borrowing is productive enough.

Elsewhere, Naman Pugalia examines a concert economy outgrowing its infrastructure, while Vicky Bindra looks at the risks created by fragmented identity and fraud systems.

Across all six conversations, one idea stands out: opportunity is not enough. Execution, infrastructure and institutional capacity will determine what India can turn into lasting advantage.

WEEKEND EDITION

India’s Manufacturing Opportunity Is No Longer Just About Cost

What if the next phase of global manufacturing is decided not by who can produce at the lowest cost, but by who can keep producing when supply chains break?

In this episode of Weekend Edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Jahangir Aziz of J.P. Morgan about how global capital flows, emerging markets and India’s manufacturing opportunity are being reshaped by a more fragmented world.

Emerging markets are no longer being treated as a single high-growth asset class. Investors are increasingly assessing countries on their individual strengths, while capital flows into India remain difficult despite its relatively deep and diversified markets.

Yet the bigger shift may be in manufacturing. Global companies are increasingly willing to pay for resilient supply chains, while India still depends heavily on imported upstream inputs in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, solar and batteries.

Key Insight

Global capital is increasingly willing to pay a premium for resilient supply chains, giving India an opportunity that goes beyond competing on cost alone.

EXCLUSIVE BRIEFING

Don’t Miss a Beat: The Hidden Risks to Indians

For people making high-stakes decisions every day, stress can become routine. Long hours, poor sleep and constant pressure are often treated as part of the job. But cardiovascular risk can build quietly. High blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and genetic risk may show few obvious signs, even in people who feel healthy and perform at a high level.

On 6 October, The Core, in partnership with EDGE Community, is bringing together leading cardiologists for a closed-door conversation hosted by The Quorum Club Mumbai, moderated by Govindraj Ethiraj.

The discussion will focus on what high-performing professionals should know about prevention, screening and the risks that are easy to overlook. If you manage risk for a living, your heart should be part of that equation too.

By invitation only | 6 October 2026 | 8:30 AM onwards | Mumbai

SPECIAL EDITIONS

Can India Build On Its Maritime Advantage?

India depends on ships to move almost all of its trade. It barely builds any of them.

In this episode of Special Edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Vivek Merchant of Swan Defence and Heavy Industries about India’s push to build a globally competitive shipbuilding industry and the opportunities emerging across commercial, defence and green vessels.

Demand is not the only constraint. India already has shipbuilding capability and long-term policy support, but scaling the industry will require more yards, specialised manufacturing talent, stronger supplier ecosystems and reliable execution.

Yet competing globally will require more than subsidies or domestic orders. Shipyards must integrate thousands of suppliers, localise more components and prove they can deliver specialised vessels on time and at competitive costs.

Key Insight

Domestic demand can create scale, but export orders will test whether Indian shipyards can genuinely compete with global manufacturers.

The Search For Growth Is Changing How Investors See India

India is still attracting global capital, but increasingly not in the places investors once looked first.

In this episode of Special Edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Rajiv Batra of J.P. Morgan about how foreign investors are rethinking India amid weaker large-cap growth, stronger mid-cap earnings and a global shift towards thematic investing.

Foreign ownership of Indian large caps has fallen sharply, even as interest in mid-caps has risen. Investors are increasingly seeking exposure to themes such as AI infrastructure, defence, security, resilience and biotech, where India’s mid- and small-cap universe often offers more options than traditional large-cap benchmarks.

Yet the investment case for India is also changing. With global growth becoming scarcer and AI-heavy markets raising concentration concerns, India can offer diversification through financials, consumption, healthcare and other domestically driven sectors.

Key Insight

India’s appeal now rests less on valuation expansion and more on whether companies can continue delivering earnings growth in a difficult global environment.

BUREAU BYTES

The Next Fraud Defence Is Better Coordination

What happens when fraud scales faster than the systems designed to detect it?

Vicky Bindra of Trulioo speaks about how digital identity is changing as phishing, stolen credentials and automated fraud become easier to scale.

Bindra points out that the problem is not always a lack of data. Banks and companies already collect signals across onboarding, compliance, credit and fraud teams, but he says these often sit in separate systems. He also notes that companies tend to treat fraud intelligence as a competitive advantage, which limits sharing even when a common pool of information could reduce losses across the ecosystem.

In India, he says the payments layer itself is relatively efficient. The bigger weakness can lie in verifying the identity behind a transaction and detecting when that identity has been compromised.

Key Insight

India’s payments infrastructure may be low-friction, but vulnerabilities remain in verifying the people and businesses behind transactions.

THE CORE QUIZ

THE MEDIA ROOM

India’s Concert Economy Has Demand. Now It Needs Infrastructure

India’s live entertainment market is growing fast. The harder task is building the infrastructure and business model to keep it growing.

In this episode of The Media Room, Vanita Kohli-Khandekar speaks with Naman Pugalia of BookMyShow, about how rising spending power, streaming, digital payments and changing consumer behaviour are expanding India’s concert economy.

Demand is no longer the only question. India still lacks enough purpose-built venues, forcing promoters to repurpose stadiums and invest in the technical infrastructure needed to meet global touring standards.

Yet the economics are improving. Ticket revenues are rising, brands are spending more on live experiences, and large concerts are generating spillovers across hotels, airlines, restaurants and local transport.

Key Insight

India’s live events market can become structurally larger only if promoters are able to convert temporary venues and seasonal demand into permanent, multi-use infrastructure.

HOW INDIA’S ECONOMY WORKS

India Can Borrow More. But Can It Borrow Better?

Governments can borrow more today. The harder question is whether that borrowing will make them richer tomorrow.

In this episode of How India’s Economy Works, Puja Mehra speaks with Dr. Anoop Singh, economist and former IMF Director, about how rising public debt, persistent inflation and changing bond markets are altering the cost of capital globally.

The shift matters for India because US Treasury yields influence borrowing costs far beyond America. Higher global yields can put pressure on the rupee, Indian bond markets and the cost of financing private investment.

However, Singh’s concern is not simply that India borrows too much. It is whether public spending is productive enough to raise future income, expand the tax base and ultimately service that debt.

Why This Matters

As global borrowing costs rise, India has less room for unproductive spending. What matters increasingly is whether public borrowing raises future growth enough to justify the debt it creates.

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