Winter Tightrope For Indian Aviation

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Good Morning. The government’s latest directive makes one thing clear: IndiGo has burned through its margin of error. A 10% cut in peak season is the government signalling to the airline that the chaos that has ensued over the past few days won't be tolerated. For passengers, the next few weeks may not necessarily mean mass cancellations, but they will expose how thin India’s aviation capacity really is.

India’s equity benchmarks fell again on Tuesday, with the BSE Sensex closing at 84,666.28, 436.41 points or 0.51% lower. The NSE Nifty closed at 25,839.65, falling 120.90 points or 0.47%. 

In other news, American tech giant Microsoft will invest billions on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in India. Meanwhile, in this week’s Build on Blockchain, how the technology can solve the issue of fake educational certificates. 

Govt Says IndiGo Must Cut Flight Ops By 10%: What Does This Mean For Holiday Travel

By Zinal Dedhia

What?

The chaos at IndiGo, and as a result, in Indian aviation, continued well into Tuesday, almost a week after the cancellations by the airline first made headlines. As per media reports, over 400 flights were cancelled, most of them in Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru.

While the Ministry of Civil Aviation has reiterated that IndiGo will be held accountable, the Civil Aviation Minister said on Tuesday evening that the airline will be asked to curtail its flying schedule by 10%.

“The Ministry considers it necessary to curtail the overall Indigo routes, which will help in stabilising the airline’s operations and lead to reduced cancellations. A curtailment of 10% has been ordered. While abiding with it, Indigo will continue to cover all its destinations as before,” Naidu posted on X.

While IndiGo’s flights continue to be cancelled, cutting down its operations by 10% during the winter season, one of the busiest of the year, could mean fewer flights for travellers. What can be expected in the coming days?

Why?

It is currently peak travel time for year-end holidays, and the immediate concern for thousands of passengers is obvious: What happens to those who have already booked flights for later this month? Will tickets be cancelled?

According to industry experts, the impact, at least this month, is likely to be limited.

“It is not going to affect immediately, which is December, January or February travel. It will be done in the most transitioned way. So the disruption there will be absolutely minimal,” a spokesperson from Cleartrip told The Core.

What Next?

The DGCA has also directed that the flights dropped by IndiGo be reallocated to other airlines to maintain seat capacity in the market and prevent fares from spiking.

But the question is: Are other airlines capable of absorbing these flights?

According to Lazar, the situation is mixed. “Akasa has pilots but not enough aircraft. Air India has both pilots and aircraft, but is already stretched domestically. SpiceJet and Air India Express are really the two that can. Maybe Akasa, if it tweaks its network, could do a little more.”

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Save your seat

By Vishwas Ved

What

The use of fake degrees by some Indian students to get admission in foreign universities is a serious issue and undeniably also a national embarrassment. 

In June this year, immigration officials at the Hyderabad airport uncovered a racket of students using fake degrees to secure admission in universities abroad.  

Investigations revealed that some certificates were arranged through dubious educational institutions and consultants. 

These cases show a wider problem, where students eager to study abroad are sometimes misled by fake degree sellers. When such cases become national headlines, it not only tarnishes India’s reputation but also causes trouble for meritorious students.

This is why a strong verification system is important.  A team in India is trying to fix this. The idea comes from Edubuk, a company that is helping Indian universities create certificates that cannot be faked. 

Edubuk’s founder, Apoorva Bajaj, recently told The Core that the company uses blockchain technology to deal with this problem.

Why? 

When a university or an educational board issues a certificate, Edubuk converts the file into a unique digital string called a cryptographic hash. 

The hash works like a digital fingerprint, and no two documents get the same one. The hash makes it easy to check whether a document matches the original stored on the blockchain.

During the verification, the hash of the submitted certificate is compared with the original hash stored on the blockchain. 

India isn’t the only country using blockchain for this. 

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

$41 billion

That’s how much the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents around 360 airlines accounting for over 80% of global air traffic, projects global airlines will earn in net profit in 2026.

Projected industry revenue in 2026: $1.053 trillion.

Estimated net profit in 2025: $39.5 billion

Projected revenue in 2025: $1.008 trillion.

IATA expects net profit per passenger to stay roughly the same in both years at $7.90, below the $8.50 recorded in 2023.

Despite years of supply-chain issues, delayed aircraft deliveries and geopolitical uncertainties, IATA expects 2026 to see a more stable environment: slower inflation and easing cost pressures should help airlines deliver record profits.

AI Rush

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on Tuesday that the company plans to invest $17.5 billion in India’s AI infrastructure.

The Context: India, specifically the state of Andhra Pradesh, has seen several big-ticket investments for AI in recent months. Reliance Industries, Brookfield and Digital Realty, in a joint venture, announced in November an $11 billion plan to construct a sprawling, “AI-native” data centre in Visakhapatnam. Google and the Adani Group declared a similar $15 billion investment in a data centre in the same city in October.

What Next? Microsoft said in a statement that the investment would spread over 2026 to 2029 and help advance India's cloud, AI infrastructure and skilling.

Battery Bids Backfire

India’s record-low battery storage bids are triggering concerns over project viability and safety, potentially slowing the country’s renewable energy push, Reuters reported. Despite tendering 83 GWh of storage since 2021, only 36 GWh has been awarded and just 500 MWh is operational, raising doubts about meeting the 2032 requirement of 236 GWh.

Context: Tariffs in some bids have fallen below Rs 1.5/kWh — levels industry experts call unworkably low — prompting established developers to exit and drawing in inexperienced players.

What’s Next? Analysts warn that such pricing encourages the use of cheaper, lower-quality batteries with shorter lifespans and higher fire risks. Some companies are also attempting to flip projects for a premium instead of building them. The India Energy Storage Alliance is urging the government to tighten tender norms and introduce technical criteria to prevent further market distortion.

$3bn Vietnam Push in Telangana

Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup will invest $3 billion in Telangana to build a multi-sector ecosystem spanning electric mobility, smart urban development, healthcare, education, tourism and renewable energy, the company said in a media release.

Future: The group, which launched its electric cars in India in September, has signed an MoU at the Telangana Rising Global Summit. It plans to launch India’s first large-scale electric taxi fleet, a mobility-as-a-service platform, develop a 1,080-hectare Vinhomes Smart City for 200,000 residents, create 10,000 jobs, build schools, hospitals and an EV charging network, along with setting up a 350-hectare tourism complex. It also proposes a 500 MW solar farm to power its ecosystem.

Setting: The Telangana government will support land allocation and approvals. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy called the investment a strong endorsement of the state’s green development vision.

Fatigue on Tracks

The All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) has asked the Indian Railways to cap working hours for loco pilots after the IndiGo crew fatigue crisis put national attention on duty limits. 

The Lead: The union wants a six hour ceiling for passenger train shifts and an eight hour ceiling for goods train shifts. It also seeks 16 hours of rest after every trip and scheduled breaks during long duties. The union submitted these demands this week, arguing that the current rules from 2005 lead to unpredictable and fatiguing rosters. 

Impact: AILRSA says long hours increase the risk of human error and endanger safety on busy routes. Indian Railways has not yet responded to the proposed duty hour limits.

Markets Slip Again As Santa Rally Hopes Fade

On Episode 747 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Ajay Bhalotia, General Secretary at All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) and Sumit Singhania, Partner at Deloitte India.

• Markets Slip Again As Santa Rally Hopes Fade

• Fresh Tariff Threats, This Time On Rice, Decoding The Impact

• Telangana Is Pulling Non Data Centre Investments As Well

• Oil Prices Are On Standby As Ukraine-Russia Talks Falter

• Indigo Says Operations Are Back To Normal

• How Big Tax Firms Are Racing To Save Your Time With Customised LLM Solutions

✍️ Zinal Dedhia, Kudrat Wadhwa, Shubhangi Bhatia | ✂️ Rohini Chatterji | 🎧 Joshua Thomas

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