Recent 6 months news in Business

Jupiter Wagons Ltd (JWL) has partnered with Italy-based Lucchini RS Holding SpA and SIMEST (Italian Society for Enterprises Abroad) SpA to set up India’s first fully integrated private-sector railwheel manufacturing platform, named Jupiter Tatravagonka Railwheel Factory Pvt Ltd (JTRWF).

Under this deal, Lucchini RS and SIMEST will acquire a combined 25% stake in JTRWF for an investment of ₹307 crore (EUR 28 million).

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the merger of AAPC India Hotel Management Pvt Ltd (AAPC India), Caddie Hotels Pvt Ltd (Caddie), Triguna Hospitality Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd (Triguna), Srilanand Mansions Pvt Ltd (SMPL), Techpark Hotels Pvt Ltd (Techpark), and Accent Hotels Pvt Ltd (Accent) into InterGlobe Hotels Pvt Ltd (IGH).

Japan-based Eisai has launched 'Leqembi' (lecanemab) in India after receiving approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). It is the first disease-modifying therapy in the country for early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

This launch addresses the rising dementia burden in India, which affected 8.8 million elderly individuals in 2023 and is projected to double by 2036.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a prohibition order against Dabur India Ltd for marketing food products with misleading claims such as "100% Pure" and "100% Natural".

These claims were found to be in violation of the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has approved the acquisition of Magma General Insurance from Sanoti Properties (owned by Adar Poonawalla) by Patanjali Ayurved and the DS Group for ₹4,500 crore. Under the share purchase agreement (SPA), Patanjali Ayurved will acquire a 73.56% stake, while the DS Group will acquire a 24.50% stake in the company.

Separately, the IRDAI has granted a licence to ProTec General Insurance, a joint venture (JV) between the M Pallonji Group and Divya Sehgal of True North.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has announced the launch of 'Indian Natural Gas Futures', the first exchange-traded energy derivative of India.

The contract is linked to a domestic benchmark and will be traded under the symbol 'NATGASIND'. Following the approval from the SEBI, trading is scheduled to commence on 27 July 2026.

Raghu Vamsi Aerospace Group has announced an investment of over ₹600 crore to set up an integrated nickel-based superalloy manufacturing facility in Telangana.

The plant, to be built on a 50-acre site near Hyderabad, will have an annual production capacity of 5,000 tonnes. The announcement was made at the Farnborough International Airshow 2026, held in the UK.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the amalgamation of Go Digit Infoworks Services Pvt Ltd with Go Digit General Insurance Ltd, with the latter remaining as the surviving entity.

Additionally, the CCI has approved the acquisition of units of Oaktree Capital Group Holdings, LP (OCGH) and Oaktree Equity Plan, LP (OEP) by Brookfield Asset Management Ltd (BAM).

Microsoft India, in collaboration with the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at the IIT Delhi, has launched UNNATI AI 2.0.

It is the second phase of the flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of Microsoft India, with the name signifying 'Unnati se Pragati' (progress through growth). The program aims to democratise access to AI technologies to strengthen the AI talent pipeline in India, with a special focus on fostering startups and innovation in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Infosys has been fined €175,000 (around ₹2 crore) by a French labour authority because the employee working time recording system of the company was found to be non-compliant with the legal requirements of the country.

Nvidia, in collaboration with Microsoft, SpaceX, Palantir, and other technology companies, has launched an AI safety initiative named the 'Open Secure AI Alliance'.

The primary objective of this alliance is to develop and share open-source AI security tools. This initiative was launched following a recent disclosure by OpenAI that an autonomous agent had compromised the infrastructure of the startup Hugging Face.

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has launched the Electronic Commerce Council of India (ECCI) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

The ECCI is a nationwide platform designed to strengthen the digital commerce ecosystem of India through collaboration among the industry, government, and other stakeholders. It has already onboarded 70 to 80 members.

The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has directed the code repository platform GitHub to remove and disable access to the source code of 'BitChat', a peer-to-peer messaging platform that functions without an internet connection by utilizing Bluetooth mesh technology.

pi-labs, an Indian AI and deepfake detection company, has partnered with Google Cloud to deliver secure, scalable, and mission-ready AI solutions in India.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh inaugurated the 3rd edition of Bharat Tex, India's flagship global textile event, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

During the event, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) established a bilateral industry platform in collaboration with the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX). The event generated business enquiries worth $2.8 billion and secured investment commitments of ₹14,300 crore across various states. Additionally, participating states signed over 30 MoUs.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio) has received technical approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to deploy a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation consisting of 1,600 satellites.

The company intends to file for global orbital slots under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to launch India's first home-grown satellite broadband constellation. The project aims to provide a capacity of 4.5–5 Tbps, supported by 20–22 ground stations in India.

Chitkara University in Punjab has launched the Atal Incubation Centre–Chitkara Incubation Foundation (AIC-CIF) and AIC-PRIDE Labs. The initiative involves an investment of ₹20 crore over 5 years.

It aims to strengthen the deep-tech startup ecosystem in India by supporting startups in drone technologies, agritech, and renewable energy.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has launched a Gemini Experience Centre (GEC) in Kolkata in collaboration with Google Cloud. The centre aims to showcase AI-led innovations for consumer businesses.

UK-based Aviva Plc has acquired the remaining 26% stake in Aviva Life Insurance Company India Ltd (Aviva India) from its Joint Venture (JV) partner, Dabur Invest Corp. (DIC).

With this, Aviva Plc has become the first foreign insurer to fully own its life insurance business in India.

The Government of India (GoI) has approved a Joint Venture (JV) between Dixon Technologies (India) Ltd and Vivo Mobile India Ltd (VMI) for the manufacturing of electronic devices and smartphones in India.

Dixon Technologies will hold a 51% stake, while Vivo Mobile India will hold the remaining 49% stake. The entity will be established with an initial paid-up capital of ₹5 crore, contributed by both entities in proportion to their shareholdings.