India’s Rs 1.86 Lakh Crore Power Plan Tests Its Weakest Utilities

By Dev Chandrasekhar

On September 30, 2026, the Union Cabinet approved PM-DHARA, the third phase of a programme called the Green Energy Corridor. It will fund power lines and substations needed to carry electricity from solar and wind farms to the towns and factories that consume it.

The price tag is Rs 1,86,405 crore, to be spent by March 2033. Of that, Rs 1,36,378 crore is earmarked for transmission inside states and Rs 50,000 crore for 50 GWh of batteries that store daytime solar power for use after dark, according to the government's release.

Most of the debate since has been about who will build the lines. Within a day, market stories were naming private developers and the contractors that may be hired. The government says new lines will be auctioned to private developers, while upgrades will be left to state-owned transmission utilities. It has not specified how the money will be divided between the two.

A bigger question has drawn less attention, which is who pays for the transmission. Regardless of who builds the lines, their costs will be recovered through charges levied over 35 years, with electricity distribution companies, or discoms, bearing the bill. These state-run companies sell power to homes and businesses.

Discoms are already the weakest link in India’s power sector, carrying about Rs 6.47 lakh crore in accumulated losses. PM-DHARA adds the cost of a much larger grid to their obligations.

Why The Wires Matter 

India has become very good at building solar and wind farms, and much slower at building the transmission lines needed to carry their power. Over the past five years, the country has met only about 80% of its annual transmission targets, according to the energy think tank Ember.

The shortfall is already translating into wasted electricity. In the first three months of 2026, about 300 GWh of renewable power was switched off because the grid could not carry it, nearly two-thirds of all such losses in the period.

On March 30 alone, about 34 GWh was turned away, roughly what 5 million urban middle-class households use in a day.

Ember estimates that about 20 GW of new renewable capacity faces connection delays of more than four months this financial year. Those figures cover only the national, inter-state network. PM-DHARA is aimed at the layer below it, the lines inside each state.

India's target of 900 GW of clean power capacity by 2035 depends on those lines being built, and on someone being able to pay for them.

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4.54 lakh units

That is how many passenger vehicles Indian automakers dispatched to dealers in the domestic market in September, marking a 21.8% year-on-year increase, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said on Thursday. Dispatches had stood at 3.73 lakh units in the same month last year.

The Core had earlier reported that festive demand was expected to lift the car market, but global risks linger.

Overview: Total two-wheeler sales also recorded healthy growth, rising 13.5% to 24.63 lakh units last month, compared with 21.70 lakh units in September last year. Three-wheeler dispatches to dealers also rose 16% to 98,162 units in September 2026, as against 84,635 units in the year-ago period.

Setting: SIAM President Shenu Agarwal attributed the performance across all segments to a reduction in prices after GST cuts last year, steady demand in both rural and urban areas, healthy movement of goods, spending on infrastructure projects, and customers gradually replacing their old vehicles.

Future: “Industry looks forward to the festive season for the continued momentum while remaining cautiously optimistic due to prevailing geo-economic uncertainties,” Agarwal said.

Air India Tightens Strings Amid Losses

Air India has formed a dedicated team to identify cost savings across operations and tightened spending approvals as geopolitical disruptions and high jet fuel prices strain its finances, CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told employees in an internal memo, an Air India spokesperson confirmed.

Background: The airline reported losses exceeding $2 billion in the fiscal year ended March and faces regulatory scrutiny following a fatal crash in June 2025 that killed 260 people.

Airspace restrictions and Middle East conflict-related disruptions have forced longer routes, cancellations, and cuts to international services. Fleet modernisation has also been hampered by component shortages, delaying cabin upgrades.

Pivot: According to Reuters, Tewolde said the airline would reward employees for ideas that reduce costs or boost revenue, urging greater frugality and accountability as it seeks to restore profitability.

Protests Over Voter Revisions

The Supreme Court will hear a petition on October 26 alleging large-scale discrepancies in Maharashtra’s electoral rolls during the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Bar and Bench reported. Senior advocate Arvind Datar told the court that 1.2 crore voters had been flagged for logical discrepancies, while 40.6% of voters were missing from the rolls in Pune and some other areas. 

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has declined to stop a protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Connaught Place’s Central Park on Friday. 

The Lead: Founder Abhijeet Dipke has urged supporters to carry the national flag, protesting the detention of party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who remain in Tihar jail. Delhi Police has assured the court it will take measures to regulate the gathering.

Impact: Separately, Mumbai Police and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office have reportedly asked actor Imran Khan, a US citizen, to leave India by October 28, according to Indian Express. The notice follows his participation in a protest in Mumbai on October 10.

Jio Bets On Scale Ahead Of IPO

Jio Platforms is heading into its initial public offering (IPO) with rising revenue, expanding margins and a base of more than 533 million connectivity customers, the company said at its IPO press conference.

The company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,46,885 crore in FY26, while EBITDA rose to Rs 76,255 crore, with a margin of 51.9%.

“Jio is growing faster than global tech companies”, said Akash Ambani, Managing Director of Jio Platforms and Chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, at the IPO press conference.

Its IPO will open on October 21, with a price band of Rs 1,065-Rs 1,119 per share.

By The Numbers: Revenue from operations grew at a 15.8% compound annual growth rate between FY24 and FY26, while EBITDA grew at 17.8%.

Jio’s infrastructure includes 360,537 towers, over one million route kilometres of fibre and a spectrum bank of 26,800.5 MHz.

Its growth plans centre on mobility, home broadband and enterprise and international services, the company said at the IPO press conference.

Context: Jio is looking to build on its telecom scale by expanding broadband and digital services while targeting India’s growing enterprise technology market.

Its IPO will test investor appetite for a business that combines a large subscriber base with strong profitability.

PepsiCo Warns of Stock Shortage

PepsiCo told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that a continued ban on the "energy drink" label could drive its top-selling products out of stock nationwide in two months, Reuters reported.

Fast Facts: The Delhi High Court again refused to let PepsiCo resume making drinks carrying the label, barred by food regulator FSSAI.

"There will be no goods in the market after a couple of months," PepsiCo's lawyer Sandeep Sethi told the court, adding that starting over was "a long cumbersome process" as the company's cans were already bought and printed, as reported by Reuters.

Red Bull won a court reprieve last month from the regulator's order, but rivals PepsiCo, Monster and Reliance Consumer have so far been limited to selling existing stocks bearing the label. The next hearing is set for October 30.

Context: In June, FSSAI ordered makers of high-caffeine drinks to drop the term "energy drink" amid growing health concerns.

Energy drinks boomed in India after PepsiCo launched Sting in 2017, with its 20-rupee plastic bottles proving popular among 15 to 19-year-olds and in rural areas.

Blu Dot surpasses 2,000% ROAS with self-serve CTV ads

Home furniture brand Blu Dot blew up on CTV with help from Roku Ads Manager. Here’s how:

After a test campaign reached 211,000 households and achieved 1,010% ROAS, the brand went all in to promote its annual sales event. It removed age and income constraints to expand reach and shifted budget to custom audiences and retargeting, where intent was strongest.

The results speak for themselves. As Blu Dot increased their investment by 10x, ROAS jumped to 2,308% and more page-view conversions surpassed 50,000.

“For CTV campaigns, Roku has been a top performer,” said Claire Folkestad, Paid Media Strategist, Blu Dot. “Comping to our other platforms, we have seen really strong ROAS… and highly efficient CPMs, lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.”

Using Roku Ads Manager, the campaign moved from a pilot to a permanent performance engine for the brand.

Learn More

Why Indian Markets Jumped A 1000 Points On Thursday

On Episode 1006 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Amit Goel, Co-Founder & Chief Global Strategist at PACE 360 as well as Bhavesh Jain, Managing Director & CEO at TransUnion CIBIL.

• Why Indian Markets Jumped A 1000 Points On Thursday

• Could There Be More Cross Border Energy Deals Between India And The US?

• How Oil Transport Costs Are Spiking And Now In Focus

• Direct Tax Collections Are Up, So Are Refunds

• A Quick Glance At India’s Credit Health With TransUnion CIBIL