- The Core
- Posts
- The Ugly Truth Of Gig Work
The Ugly Truth Of Gig Work
In partnership with
Good Morning. Mumbai's main airport is kicking out dedicated cargo planes for ten months till August 2026 to fix the runway. This means freighters will now have to plan a reroute, likely to the new Navi Mumbai airport. It’s going to be a bit of a problem with extra trucking and customs challenges, making shipping costlier and slower for a while. And causing pain to many businesses.
India’s equity indices ended on a low note on Monday. The BSE Sensex closed at 83,246.18, falling 324.17 points or 0.39%. The NSE Nifty50 closed at 25,585.5, falling 108.85 points or 0.42%.
In other news, gold prices hit new record highs. Meanwhile, China’s population continues to shrink.
Cargo Flows Brace For Shake-Up Amid Mumbai Runway Overhaul
What?
If you are shipping goods into or out of Mumbai later next year, deliveries may take longer than usual and cost more. From August 2026, dedicated cargo aircraft will stop operating at the city’s main airport for nearly 10 months, forcing freight to be rerouted through other hubs.
In December, Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) informed freighter operators that dedicated cargo aircraft would not be permitted to operate at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) between August 2026 and May 2027 due to scheduled airside infrastructure work, including re-carpeting of the airport’s primary runway. This creates a significant hassle for not only freighters but also export businesses.
Where would the cargo freighters go?
One option frequently cited is Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), which is expected to handle cargo operations and is located closer to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s largest container port. Compared to CSMIA, which is located at the heart of the city, Navi Mumbai faces fewer restrictions on truck movements and offers closer access to multimodal logistics infrastructure.
However, Navi Mumbai is a potential option rather than a mandated alternative. Cargo operators remain free to route freighters through other airports such as Pune, Hyderabad or Delhi, depending on commercial feasibility, network planning and customer requirements.
Why?
Setting up temporary operations at a new airport is not without challenges. “To set up an office, move people, and arrange equipment at Navi Mumbai is an inevitable situation if there is no other option. There will be discomfort, no doubt about it,” said an aviation industry expert, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This is not the first time a re-carpeting plan has been proposed. An earlier re-carpeting schedule with a shorter notice period (about three months) was deferred after freighter operators raised concerns about insufficient time and lack of viable alternatives.
“Where I do see an impact is more on moving from a narrow-body to a wide-body and vice versa. That's where I see a big issue. Otherwise, carpeting, re-carpeting is done in every airport in the world,” the expert added.
With only nine months to prepare, are India’s cargo networks and alternative airports ready to handle a prolonged shift away from Mumbai?
India Energy Week returns for its 4th edition from 27–30 January 2026 in Goa, held under the patronage of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and co-organised by FIPI and DMG Events.
As India advances its role in the global energy transition, the event will bring together policymakers, industry leaders and innovators to shape practical pathways toward a secure, sustainable and affordable energy future.
IEW 2026 will spotlight India’s leadership in balancing energy access with decarbonisation, while showcasing strategic investments, emerging technologies and global partnerships driving the next era of energy progress.
You Can't Automate Good Judgement
AI promises speed and efficiency, but it’s leaving many leaders feeling more overwhelmed than ever.
The real problem isn’t technology.
It’s the pressure to do more with less — without losing what makes your leadership effective.
BELAY created the free resource 5 Traits AI Can’t Replace & Why They Matter More Than Ever to help leaders pinpoint where AI can help and where human judgment is still essential.
At BELAY, we help leaders accomplish more by matching them with top-tier, U.S.-based Executive Assistants who bring the discernment, foresight, and relational intelligence that AI can’t replicate.
That way, you can focus on vision. Not systems.
$4,689
That’s the record high spot gold prices hit per ounce on Monday morning as investors rushed into safe-haven assets. Prices eased to about $4,666 an ounce after the peak, while US gold futures remained near record levels.
Flashpoint: The rally followed fresh tariff threats by US President Donald Trump, linked to Greenland, which unsettled global markets and drove investors away from riskier assets. Equities slipped, the dollar weakened, and demand rose for traditional havens such as gold, the yen, and the Swiss franc. Silver surged even more sharply, jumping about 4% to a record high as speculative demand intensified.
Implications: Analysts said the tariff escalation triggered a classic risk-off move, with bullion benefiting from heightened geopolitical uncertainty and expectations of looser financial conditions. Platinum and palladium also gained as investors repositioned across precious metals.
India’s Growth Upgraded
Moody’s Ratings projected India’s economy to grow 7.3% in the current fiscal year ending March 2026, saying strong expansion would lift average household incomes and support demand for insurance, Business Standard reported.
Flashpoint: In a report on India’s insurance sector, Moody’s said sustained premium growth is being driven by robust economic activity, rising digitisation, tax changes and planned reforms of state-owned insurers, which should help improve the sector’s weak profitability, Reuters reported. It expects growth to accelerate from 6.5% in the previous fiscal year. GDP per capita rose 8.2% year-on-year to $11,176 in FY2024-25, while insurance premium revenue rose 17% to Rs 10.9 lakh crore in April–November 2025-26.
What’s Next? Separately, the International Monetary Fund also raised its fiscal 2026 growth forecast for India by 0.7% points to 7.3%, citing stronger-than-expected momentum, but said growth may moderate in subsequent years.
Made In India, Announced In Davos
Three Indian founders launched LNK Energy, a Rs 10,000-crore clean-energy platform, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The announcement happened in Switzerland, but the money, machinery, and hard work? All are firmly in India.
Setting: The venture plans to build an integrated renewable energy business focused on India, beginning with a 6 GW solar cell and module manufacturing facility in Maharashtra. Over time, the platform aims to expand into renewable power generation and green fuels, tapping into India’s growing demand for clean energy and domestic manufacturing capacity.
Impact: The founders say the platform is designed to fit neatly into India’s energy transition playbook and its push to build large, homegrown clean-energy infrastructure.
India’s Power Pivot
The share of thermal power in India’s electricity generation is set to fall below 70% next fiscal for the first time, driven by slower power demand growth and a sharp rise in renewable energy output, according to Crisil Ratings.
By The Numbers: The share is expected to decline to about 72% this fiscal from nearly 75% in FY25, with plant load factors easing to 64–66% from 69% last year. Power demand growth is seen slowing to 1–2% this fiscal due to an early monsoon and milder summer, before rebounding to 4–6% next year.
The Shift: Renewable energy generation is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 18–20% over this and next fiscal year, supported by 75–85 GW of capacity additions.
China’s Ageing Problem
China’s population shrank again in 2025 as births fell to a record low, deepening concerns about long-term economic growth.
Setup: Official data shows births dropped to 7.92 million, while deaths continued to outnumber new births, pushing the population down for a fourth straight year. Rising living costs, delayed marriages and decades of restrictive family policies, including China’s one-child policy, which was in force from 1980-2015, have sharply reduced fertility, leaving China with a rapidly ageing workforce.
Turning Point: India’s fertility rate has also fallen below replacement level to 1.9 children per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1, according to UNFPA data, indicating that, over time, population growth could slow without migration or policy change. Demographers say sustained low birth rates could eventually slow labour force growth and put pressure on public finances if job creation and productivity do not keep pace.
Stop Drowning In AI Information Overload
Your inbox is flooded with newsletters. Your feed is chaos. Somewhere in that noise are the insights that could transform your work—but who has time to find them?
The Deep View solves this. We read everything, analyze what matters, and deliver only the intelligence you need. No duplicate stories, no filler content, no wasted time. Just the essential AI developments that impact your industry, explained clearly and concisely.
Replace hours of scattered reading with five focused minutes. While others scramble to keep up, you'll stay ahead of developments that matter. 600,000+ professionals at top companies have already made this switch.
Weak Earnings Are Now Putting Pressure On Indian Markets
On Episode 777 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks you through the top business news of the day. We are also featuring excerpts from our recent India Energy Week interview featuring Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman and Managing Director at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) as well as from our In Studio interview featuring Anuj Kumar, Managing Director at CAMS.
Weak earnings are now putting pressure on Indian markets
Wall Street’s Magnificent Seven are coming apart
Gold, silver hit fresh highs. Silver prices are up 30% this year already or in three weeks
Mutual fund investors have not had a good year, will they hold on?
The art and science to exploring and drilling for oil
IMF raises India growth projection slightly to 7.3% for current year
How women investors are becoming sole owners of mutual fund accounts
✍️ Zinal Dedhia, Kudrat Wadhwa, Shubhangi Bhatia | ✂️ Rohini Chatterji | 🎧 Joshua Thomas
🤝 Reach 80k+ CXOs? Partner with us.
✉️ Got questions or feedback? Reach out.
💰 Like The Core? Support us.
