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Navi Mumbai Airport's 5G Tangle
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Good Morning. Passengers at the brand-new Navi Mumbai International Airport are landing in ‘dead zones’ as a high-stakes 5G standoff intensifies. A Rs 44 crore dispute over infrastructure fees has pitted telecom giants against the airport operator, leaving UPI payments and ride-hailing apps stranded. Is a resolution in sight?
Indian equity indices ended on a strong note with Nifty above 25,650 on Monday. At close, the Sensex was up 650.39 points or 0.79% at 83,277.15, and the Nifty was up 211.65 points or 0.83% at 25,682.75.
In other news, India kicks off its four-day AI Impact Summit on Monday. Meanwhile, January trade deficit widens ahead of US tariff relief.
Navi Mumbai Hub: Early Testing Hints At Thaw In 5G Standoff
What?
A dispute between Navi Mumbai International Airport and India’s telecom operators is leaving passengers flying through the airport without network connectivity.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, has formally alleged that Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (NMIAL) has denied Right of Way (RoW) permissions to telecom companies seeking to deploy their own in-building solutions (IBS) within the airport.
“This reflects the overall standard of Indian airports. It does not show us in a good light. These requirements should have been clearly defined and aligned well before the airport opened. That said, it is still February, and if there is intent, the issue can be resolved by March,” Vandana Singh, chairperson, Aviation Cargo Federation of Aviation Industry in India (FAII), told The Core.
Why?
The standoff centres on Right of Way (RoW) permissions, which carriers argue are mandatory under the Telecommunications Act of 2023. Operators prefer owning their in-building solutions (IBS) to maintain direct control over 5G performance and long-term operating costs.
While operators said that the current setup effectively restricts independent 4G and 5G rollouts, NMIAL maintains that it has provided a neutral system and denied any legal rights.
The impact is felt by passengers who have reported persistent dead zones and unreliable data speeds since operations began in December 2025.
What's Next?
There are signs of a thaw. Airport authorities and telecom providers have begun limited testing to map coverage gaps, according to people from NMIA familiar with the matter.
“Airtel has participated in trials so that every area can be assessed to identify where the network is available and where it is not. At present, the testing primarily involves BSNL and Airtel, which are logging signal availability across the premises,” NMIAL sources told The Core.
Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea have not yet signed on for the trials, the airport said.
But as testing begins, a larger question lingers: who will control the digital backbone of India’s newest airports?
$34.68 billion
That’s the value of India’s January merchandise trade deficit, according to fresh data released by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry. That’s a 38.5% rise from December 2025, when the deficit was $25.04 billion.
Exact breakdown:
- January 2026 exports: $36.56 billion
- January 2026 imports: $71.24 billion
- December 2025 exports: $38.51 billion
- December 2025 imports: $63.55 billion
Exports slipped modestly from December, while imports jumped sharply, widening the trade gap. The ministry says an increase in gold and silver imports is the biggest reason for the increase in the deficit.
Catch Up Quick: In January 2026, gold imports soared to $12.07 billion from $4.13 billion in December 2025, a nearly threefold rise. Silver imports also climbed significantly as prices and domestic demand surged, contributing materially to import growth.
One of the reasons for this rise was the uncertainty around the India-US trade deal. Before the interim pact took effect, the United States had imposed 50% tariffs on certain Indian imports, dampening demand for Indian goods and weighing on exports. Those tariffs, tied largely to disagreements over energy trade and Russian oil purchases, kept Indian exporters on the back foot.
Future: But that will soon change. Earlier in February, the US and India agreed on a trade framework that cuts tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50% and enhances market access for both sides, a move expected to lift Indian exports, especially in textiles, pharmaceuticals and gems.
This means the January numbers likely reflect the final full impact of the old 50% tariff regime, and data from February onward should start showing the effects of lower trade barriers and improved bilateral demand.
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.
India’s AI Moment
India kicked off its four-day AI Impact Summit on Monday, positioning itself as a global artificial intelligence hub to attract deeper technology investment. Former HCL Tech CEO and Founder of Sampark Foundation, Vineet Nayar, set a cautionary tone, warning that without sovereign Large Language Models, India risks losing its competitive edge by training global systems on domestic data. He argued that future employment must rely on mass-scale startups rather than profit-driven IT giants. Echoing the need for strategic foresight, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran noted that AI progress will not happen by "drift," calling for a strategy to strengthen foundational education with mass employability.
Overview: In a more optimistic take, MeitY Secretary S Krishnan stated that AI is unlikely to cause a net negative impact on jobs. Instead, he expects it to generate new opportunities by shifting workers from routine coding to domain-specific AI application roles. Underscoring India’s "technical intensity," Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei revealed that India has already become the second-largest market for its Claude assistant, with local revenue doubling in just four months.
Critical Moment: The event faced early criticism as social media was flooded with attendee complaints regarding long queues and crowd mismanagement at Bharat Mandapam. Later this week, Prime Minister Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron are set to co-address the summit to discuss a shared roadmap for ethical AI.
Russian Oil Finds China
India’s strategic pivot away from Russian crude has triggered a massive shift in global energy flows. India has slashed Russian imports with February arrivals estimated at just 1.159 million bpd, Reuters reported.
Context: This domestic pullback follows the recent India-US interim trade agreement, which saw the US roll back punitive tariffs in exchange for India's commitment to diversify its energy sources.
Overview: China has swiftly capitalised on India's exit, with its Russian oil imports set to hit a record 2.08 million bpd this month. Taking advantage of the vacuum left by Indian refiners, Chinese refineries are snapping up Russian Urals at steep discounts of $9–$11 per barrel.
Wholesale Inflation Jumps
India’s wholesale inflation accelerated to 1.81% year on year in January 2026, government data showed, marking its fastest pace in about 10 months.
The Scoop: Rising prices of vegetables, metals and manufactured products pushed the Wholesale Price Index higher compared to 0.73% in December. Food inflation firmed up, driven largely by vegetables, even as fuel and power prices remained subdued. On a month-on-month basis, wholesale prices also edged up, signalling building price pressures in parts of the supply chain.
Context: Economists said the uptick reflects firm commodity trends and resilient domestic demand, though inflation remains well below the peaks seen in previous years.
India’s Sugar Exports Rise
India exported 2.01 lakh tonnes of sugar through February in the 2025–26 marketing year, with the United Arab Emirates emerging as the top buyer, according to the All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA). Exports remain regulated through government-allocated quotas, with 2 million tonnes approved for the October–September season, including a recent additional 5,00,000 tonnes.
Flashpoint: White sugar accounted for 1.63 lakh tonnes of shipments, while refined sugar made up 37,638 tonnes. After the UAE, key destinations included Afghanistan, Djibouti and Bhutan.
What's Next? AISTA estimates sugar production will rise 13% to 29.6 million tonnes this year, excluding ethanol diversion. The trade body welcomed the extra export quota, noting that, unlike the earlier allocation, it cannot be traded between mills, ensuring genuine exporters avoid paying premiums for unused quotas.
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