One quick thing: Meta apologises for Mark Zuckerberg's Indian elections remarks  

In today’s newsletter:

• BharatPe sets sights on IPO
• ShareChat hit by fourth round of layoffs  
• Budget 2025 may tweak duty on electronics

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After navigating a whirlwind of legal drama and leadership shakeups, BharatPe is back in the spotlight.  

The fintech unicorn is planning to go public in the next 18-24 months, contingent on market conditions, CEO Nalin Negi told us in an interview.

• The firm is working through internal deliberations, though no bankers have been appointed yet
  
  
• The company claims to have strong liquidity and targeting full-year EBITDA profitability in FY25

The IPO discussions come on the heels of BharatPe significantly reducing its losses by nearly 50% in FY24, hitting Rs 1,426-crore in revenue via streamlined processes and stringent cost management, Negi said.

Still nascent, BharatPe is working on a secured lending product after recalibrating its unsecured portfolio to align with RBI regulations.  

• The firm raised its stake in Trillionloans (NBFC arm) to 61%, now driving 30% of loan disbursements
  
  
• Meanwhile, work is on to build the new investment app, with mutual funds and insurance in the pipeline

BharatPe is expanding into consumer payments with the launch of its app in August. However, the company is not pursuing market dominance.

“It’s (BharatPe) a real case study in resilience,” Negi reflects on BharatPe's journey. "In my entire career; the last 2.5 years have truly been the peak of everything…”

Read the full interview

Social media unicorn ShareChat is once again trimming its headcount.

Following its annual performance review, the Google- and Temasek-backed startup plans to fire 5% of its workforce by the end of January.

• This translates to roughly 20-30 employees 

This latest round of cuts brings ShareChat's headcount down to around 500, a stark contrast to its peak of nearly 2,800 employees a few years ago.

This isn't ShareChat's first rodeo with layoffs. In the past two years, the company has let go of over 850 employees across multiple rounds.   

• It had fired between 40-50 employees in August last year
  
  
• In 2023, ShareChat laid off 600 employees in January and another 200 in December

The layoffs come amid a cost optimisation drive at ShareChat to improve profitability.

• In fact, ShareChat’s parent Mohalla Tech claims that the social networking platform is now profitable with over 15% EBITDA margin.

A company spokesperson, however, clarified that the current round of layoffs has “nothing to do” with the company’s profitability journey. 

Dig deeper

Ahead of the 2025-26 Budget, the government is focused on correcting custom duties for boosting domestic manufacturing in the electronics sector.

The government is reviewing the custom duty structure to fix inversions where taxes on raw materials exceed those on finished goods that have low Make-in-India potential. 

• A key consideration is to lower duties on inputs or components that lack significant potential for production in India

• For example, raw materials or components for electronics and chemicals

Inverted duty structure impacts industries such as electronics, chemicals, and steel.  

• For FY26, the government may specifically focus on components or parts used for smartphones and television manufacturing

In the 2024-25 Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised duty rationalisation.

• She slashed levies on mobile phones to 15% and reducing gold and silver duties to 6%

Meanwhile, after Apple and Foxconn sought the IT ministry’s intervention regarding delays arising out of Chinese ports, MeitY has informed the foreign ministry about the issue.

• An official told us that the issue pertaining to delays in shipment of specialised manufacturing equipment is something that the industry has been facing uniformly

• Around 93% of the top global executives think AI is unlikely to reduce headcount at their companies in the near future, Boston Consulting Group’s second edition of AI Radar survey has found.
  
  
• Nvidia-backed AI video platform Synthesia has raised $180 million in an investment round valuing the startup at $2.1 billion.

The 90-hour workweek debate has been heating up lately, and even Amul couldn't resist chiming in. 

The dairy giant used its signature doodle to take a playful yet pointed jab at L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan's controversial comments.

• Subrahmanyan recently suggested employees should work up to 90 hours a week, including Sundays

He even questioned the value of leisure time, asking, "What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife?"

Amul's doodle, featuring the tagline "Labour and Toil?", cleverly highlighted the "L" and "T". 

• And let's not forget the humorous touch: "Amul stares at bread daily," a tongue-in-cheek response to Subrahmanyan's comments

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