One quick thing: PayU plans to raise $300 million ahead of IPO 

In today’s newsletter: 

• Ashwini Vaishnaw charts India’s chip revolution
• Quick commerce set for billion-order boom this Diwali
• Supreme Court to hear challenges to Online Gaming Act

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Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw believes semiconductors will do for India in the 21st century what steel did in the 20th...trigger an industrial revolution.

India isn't just chasing the semiconductor wave, but it is positioning itself to ride it. 

With 10 projects worth $18 billion underway and construction ongoing at 5 facilities, Vaishnaw sees chips as the foundation for everything from automobiles to consumer electronics.

"...if you have a steel industry, you can have automobiles, you can have truck manufacturing. Similarly, semiconductors are a foundational industry," Vaishnaw told us in an exclusive interview.

With India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 focusing on building out the ecosystem, from equipment makers to indigenous chipsets, Vaishnaw is betting semiconductors will be India’s “digital diamonds” and its next job creation engine.

As protectionist winds blow from Washington, Vaishnaw outlined why India remains an attractive destination despite geopolitical headwinds. 

Despite US tariff noise, companies continue to expand in India, drawn by design talent, policy stability, and trust built over the past decade, he said.

“This trust is why company after company wants to set up a base here,” Vaishnaw said, citing Apple’s investments as proof.

On anti-outsourcing rhetoric and IT job concerns, Vaishnaw reassured:

“We are continuously engaged with governments in the US, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. This vibrant industry, which is growing at a rapid pace and providing good, high-quality employment, will remain intact and grow.”

Meanwhile, India’s electronics exports have grown eightfold in 11 years, with smartphone global market share crossing 20%.

The minister outlined the progress made under India’s AI mission:

• 34,000 GPUs already empanelled, against an initial 10,000 target

• Indian-language LLMs, like Sarvam’s model, expected early next year

• A techno-legal approach to AI safety, anchored by a virtual AI Safety Institute

The minister is clear on a few things:

• No rethink on the ban of Chinese apps like TikTok

• Real money gaming firms must pivot to e-sports 

• DPDP Act rules will be finalised before the next Parliament session

Read the full interview

India’s festive script is flipping — quick commerce is hurtling toward a billion orders, as direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands let AI do the heavy lifting.

Quick commerce is piling on the plates this Diwali, and the servings keep getting bigger.

• The top five platforms are set to hit 1 billion orders by October, industry stakeholders tell us, with new entrants like Amazon Now and FirstClub only swelling the tally

Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto already deliver over 4.5 million orders daily, with BigBasket and Flipkart Minutes adding to the spread.

• Non-grocery is the surprise dessert — Instamart’s share has jumped from 7% of gross order value last year to 18.5% now

The billion-order binge has, however, drawn the regulator’s eye, and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) isn’t sold on the discounts.

• The watchdog is probing pricing strategies, foreign direct investment (FDI) compliance and whether some sellers get VIP treatment

From zero orders in 2020 to a $7.5 billion market in 2025, quick commerce’s rise is hard to miss.

• But analysts warn the sugar rush won’t last: growth outside the top 10 metros is proving harder to chew

With festive sales peaking, D2C brands are outsourcing delivery headaches to algorithms.

• Logistics platforms like Velocity’s AI cut fake return-to-origin rates (RTOs) by up to 7 points, while ClickPost’s models flag address errors and courier delays before they blow up.

• Another logistics platform, Prozo’s orchestration trims stockouts by 20%, while gifting platform FNP is automating “30-minute gifting” with personalised nudges

With festive e-commerce sales projected at Rs 1.2 lakh crore, AI is shaping up as the invisible worker who never calls in sick.

Dig deeper

The Supreme Court will decide if India's new online gaming law, which bans real-money games, holds up under the Constitution.

The top court today transferred all 3 petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, from multiple high courts to itself. 

• The government had earlier approached the Supreme Court seeking this transfer in a bid to avoid conflicting or multiple rulings on this matter

The petitioners include Head Digital Works, which operates the online rummy platform A23 Rummy, online carrom platform Bagheera Carrom and Clubboom11 Sports & Entertainment, which operates the online fantasy sports platform Boom11.

• These companies had filed petitions before the High Courts of Karnataka, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh.

• Any fresh challenge to the legislation would also be transferred to the apex court, it stated.

The law prohibits online money games, where a user makes a deposit, directly or indirectly, with the expectation of earning winnings on that deposit.

• This resulted in several real-money gaming companies suspending contests and games involving money on their platforms, though they continue to offer free-to-play options

It has also led to companies such as MPL, Pokerbaazi's parent firm and Games24x7 significantly reducing their workforce in recent weeks.

In July, the Supreme Court had reserved its judgment in a clutch of cases dealing with both GST levied on gaming companies as well as state-level legislation which sought to ban some real-money online games.

The apex court has to adjudicate the validity of GST notices worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore issued to online RMG firms and casino companies, as well as challenges to laws introduced by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that banned online games played for stakes.

• The GST Council recently hiked the tax rate for online money games from 28% to 40%, effective from September 22

Also read: Centre likely to lose Rs 10,000-12,000 crore revenue annually due to ban on real money gaming

• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned that AI’s rapid progress could eliminate entry-level white-collar jobs, such as first-year law associates handling repetitive but variable document reviews, by the end of this decade.
  
  
• Morgan Stanley estimates that annual water consumption by AI data centres for cooling and electricity could hit 1,068 billion litres by 2028, an 11-fold jump from 2024 levels.

Imagine turning neurons up or down like TV volume.

Researchers at UCL have done just that with a helmet that beams focused ultrasound into deep brain structures once only reachable through surgery.

• Tested on the visual system, it boosted and then muted brain signals for nearly an hour

UCL’s NeuroHarmonics hopes to bring a wearable version to clinics, marking a leap in non-invasive brain tech. Find out more

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