Indian Startup News, Area 52, Bhilai (2025)

17/10/2025

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) reported a 14.3% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 22,092 crore ($2.5 billion) for the quarter ended September 2025 (Q2 FY26), driven by strong performance across telecom, retail, and oil-to-chemicals (O2C) segments.

The company’s gross revenue rose 9.9% year-on-year to Rs 2.83 lakh crore ($31.9 billion), led by growth in its digital services and retail businesses, according to its quarterly earnings report.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 14.6% year-on-year to Rs 50,367 crore ($5.7 billion), while finance costs surged 13.5% to Rs 6,827 crore, largely attributed to 5G network rollout and higher debt levels.

17/10/2025

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation multiple development projects worth around Rs 13,430 crore in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.

“As Chandrababu said, looking at this rapid pace, I can say that in 2047, when it will be 100 years of independence, India will be developed. I am confident that the 21st century is going to be the century of India. The 21st century is going to be the century of 1.4 billion Indians,” said Modi as quoted by ANI.

17/10/2025

The Indian Railways has launched a door-to-door parcel delivery service between Mumbai and Kolkata, aimed at improving logistics efficiency and ensuring on-time deliveries.

The initiative will allow customers to book and track parcels online, offering both first-mile pickup and last-mile delivery.

According to an official statement, the service will help in faster and more reliable transportation of goods between the two metro cities.

As part of the launch, Railways also inaugurated a transit container train service between Delhi and Kolkata and commenced operations at an upgraded goods shed in Sonik, Uttar Pradesh.

Union Railways, IT, and I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the initiative aligns with India’s broader efforts to enhance multimodal logistics under the PM Gati Shakti mission.

“There are now over 115 Gati Shakti cargo terminals on the Indian Railways network providing multimodal services,” he said, adding that the Mumbai–Kolkata route will be the first to be saturated before expansion to other city pairs.

The Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), a railway PSU, will manage last-mile connectivity through partner businesses.

Officials said the new service could offer around 7.5% cost savings and 30% faster transit times compared with traditional road transport.

17/10/2025

Foodtech and quick commerce platform Eternal (formerly Zomato) reported a sharp rise in revenue alongside a significant decline in profit for the quarter ending September 2025 (Q2 FY26).

According to the company’s consolidated financial results, Eternal’s revenue from operations surged 2.8 times to Rs 13,590 crore, up from Rs 4,799 crore in the same quarter last year.

The jump in revenue was primarily driven by the company’s quick commerce arm, Blinkit, which recently transitioned from a marketplace-based model to an inventory-led structure.

Under the new approach, revenue now reflects the entire value of goods sold instead of just the commission earned, as per Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS).

However, the company’s profitability took a hit due to a 5.8x surge in material costs, leading to a 63% drop in quarterly profit to Rs 65 crore, compared with Rs 176 crore in Q2 FY25.

17/10/2025

The Indian Railways is preparing to roll out the next generation of Vande Bharat Express trains within the next 18 months, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced at the 16th International Railway Equipment Exhibition (IREE) 2025.

Since its launch in 2019, the Vande Bharat series has become a symbol of India’s modern rail transformation. The third-generation trains, Vande Bharat 3.0, are already in service and meet international standards for speed, comfort, and safety.

“India is working on the next generation of high-speed trains with a strong focus on the export market,” Vaishnaw said.

“Vande Bharat 3.0 already meets global benchmarks, accelerating from 0 to 100 kmph in just 52 seconds, faster than many trains in Japan and Europe, while maintaining lower noise and vibration levels.”

The upcoming Vande Bharat 4.0 will feature advanced design and performance improvements aimed at enhancing passenger experience and operational efficiency.

Vaishnaw said the new model will “set global benchmarks in every aspect of performance and comfort” and position India as a key player in the global high-speed rail industry.

17/10/2025

Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath revealed that his X account was compromised after he fell for a phishing email early Thursday morning.

In a detailed post on X, Kamath said the breach occurred due to a momentary lapse in attention, explaining that he clicked on a deceptive “Change Your Password” link, allowing attackers temporary access to his account.

“The attackers gained access to a single login session, using it to tweet a few scammy cryptocurrency links,” Kamath wrote. He added that because two-factor authentication (2FA) was enabled, the hackers could not take full control of his account.

Kamath described the phishing attempt as fully AI-automated, underscoring the growing sophistication of such cyber threats. “It goes on to show that no matter how careful we are, all it takes is one slip of the mind,” he said.

He further stressed the importance of holistic cybersecurity frameworks, saying that technical defenses like 2FA are essential but not sufficient on their own.

“As important as technical cybersecurity are human processes, policies, and procedures that account for worst-case scenarios and the psychology of the weakest link, which is us,” Kamath noted.

Despite regular awareness sessions and policies at Zerodha, Kamath admitted the incident was a reminder of how even seasoned professionals can fall victim to cyberattacks.

“All it took was one slight slip of the mind,” he said.

16/10/2025

India's top stock broker Groww on Thursday launched commodities trading on its platform, marking its entry into a new segment of the capital markets ecosystem.

The feature allows Groww customers with active trading accounts to trade in crude oil, gold, silver, and natural gas through the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) between 9 a.m. and 11:30 p.m., according to details available on the company’s website.

The move is part of Groww’s broader strategy to diversify its financial offerings and strengthen its presence across wealth and capital markets.

In recent months, the company, which is preparing for an IPO, has introduced several new services, including corporate bonds, a margin trading facility, Groww 915 (a platform for professional traders), and Groww W, a wealth management solution following its acquisition of Fisdom.

16/10/2025

Aadit Palicha-led Zepto today announced the successful closure of approximately $450 million in recent funding, comprising a mix of primary and secondary transactions, with a majority in primary.

Aadit Palicha, CEO & Co-founder at Zepto, said, “This financing is a reflection of our team’s ex*****on to grow the business rapidly while consistently building operating leverage. We now have approximately $900M of net cash in bank and more than well-capitalised for the future.”

16/10/2025

EV maker Ola Electric has announced its entry into the energy storage market with the launch of Shakti, a battery energy storage system (BESS) designed for residential and grid-scale applications.

“The biggest application of our giga factory will be in grid energy storage,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, founder of Ola Electric, during the launch event on Thursday.

“The Shakti portfolio is going to be a major part of our business going forward. Our own assessment is that over the next couple of years, cell consumption from our battery products will be bigger than from our automotive products,” he added.

The Shakti BESS will be powered by 4680 Bharat cells, which Ola introduced in August, and will be fully manufactured at the company’s Gigafactory in Tamil Nadu.

Ola showcased three configurations of the Shakti system, offering storage capacities of 1.5 kWh, 3 kWh (two 1.5 kWh units stacked), 5.2 kWh, and 9.1 kWh. Introductory pricing for the first 10,000 units starts at Rs 29,999, Rs 55,999, Rs 1,19,999, and Rs 1,59,999, respectively.

The company said the Shakti system will be available commercially from January 14, 2026 (Makar Sankranti).

16/10/2025

A heated debate has erupted on social media after OkCredit CEO Harsh Pokharna criticized Zoho’s messaging platform Arattai, calling it “just another WhatsApp copy” with “no real innovation.”

Pokharna, in a LinkedIn post, said Arattai’s recent surge in popularity, with traffic jumping from 3,000 to 350,000 daily sign-up, was more about marketing than disruption.

“Arattai is just another WhatsApp copy. Nothing new. No real innovation, except the emotion ‘it’s made in India,’” he wrote, adding that users switch apps only when “the product is 10x better.”

He described the app’s growth as a PR move designed to keep Zoho in the spotlight.

“This isn’t about beating WhatsApp. This is about staying in the news. It’s a PR play,” Pokharna said, arguing that Arattai’s surge in downloads was unlikely to dent WhatsApp’s dominance.

However, Pokharna’s remarks triggered widespread backlash from users defending Arattai’s Made-in-India ethos.

Several users countered the criticism, saying local alternatives often begin as “clones” before evolving into independent products.

“Would you ask the same question to people in China who use WeChat instead of WhatsApp or in Russia who use Yandex instead of Google?” Sablok wrote, calling Arattai a “great step in the right direction.”

16/10/2025

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & Information Technology inaugurated the 16th International Railway Equipment Exhibition-2025, Asia’s largest and the world’s second-largest railway exhibition at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi today.

The Union Minister announced plans to develop dedicated passenger corridors, engineered for maximum speeds of up to 350 kmph with an operating speed of 320 kmph.

He said that many such corridors will be constructed across the country, forming part of the Government’s Viksit Bharat vision, which targets the development of around 7,000 km of dedicated routes by 2047.

These corridors will be equipped with indigenously developed signalling systems and modern Operations Control Centres (OCCs).

16/10/2025

US-based crypto giant Coinbase has made a fresh investment in Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX, valuing the company at a post-money valuation of $2.45 billion.

Founded in 2018 by Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, Mumbai-based CoinDCX serves more than 20 million users across India and the UAE, offering access to over 500 crypto assets and 200 trading pairs.

The platform also caters to institutional investors and operates multiple verticals under DCX Group, including CoinDCX Ventures and Okto.

“After signing an agreement with coinbase for a fresh funding for CoinDCX, the team’s focus is now on how to make crypto more mainstream in India and the Middle East, and how to make blockchain technology central to the financial system of the future,” co-founder Neeraj Khandelwal wrote in a post on X.

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