Newsletter
OpenAI's $122B fundraise, India's semiconductor push, and fuel prices spike.
🗓️ Morning, folks! ☀️
Markets kicked off the new financial year on a strong note, with Sensex and Nifty closing higher.
Sectorally, metals, banking, and IT stocks led the recovery, while pharma witnessed relatively subdued participation.
💡Spotlight: GST collections hit 10-month high 💰
India’s GST collections rose to ₹2 lakh crore in March, marking an 8.8% year-on-year increase and the highest level in the last 10 months.
This comes after a softer February print of ₹1.84 lakh crore, showing a clear rebound in tax collections as the financial year closed.
Why it matters: GST is one of the best real-time indicators of economic activity. A rise in collections typically signals stronger consumption, better compliance, and improved business momentum.
Let’s hit it! 💪🏻
1 Big thing: A billion-dollar bet on India’s credit story 💰
Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company (IHC) is investing nearly $1 billion to take control of Sammaan Capital.
Sammaan Capital is a non-banking financial company (NBFC) that provides loans, mainly for housing and small businesses.
Why is IHC investing: this is a classic growth market bet. India’s credit market is expanding rapidly, with total credit expected to grow at 12-14%, reaching over $5 trillion by 2030.
NBFCs already account for nearly 20% of total credit in India, and dominate segments like SME lending, affordable housing, and consumer finance, where bank penetration is still low.
For instance, only about 14-15% of MSMEs have access to formal credit, leaving a massive gap.
This is exactly where players like Sammaan operate, tapping into a huge, under-served market with long-term growth potential.
While we are on investments 💸,
Bharti Airtel is pumping $1 billion into its data centre arm Nxtra, alongside global investors like Alpha Wave, Carlyle, and Anchorage.
The deets: Alpha Wave will invest $435M, Carlyle $240M, and Anchorage $35M, with Airtel adding the rest, while still keeping control. Post this, Nxtra will be valued at $3.1 billion.
Why this matters: this money is going into AI-ready data centres, the backbone of everything from cloud computing to ChatGPT. Nxtra already runs 14 large data centres and 120+ edge facilities, and plans to scale capacity from 300 MW to 1 GW.
2. India upgrades semiconductor mission 💻
The government is planning a ₹1.2 lakh crore push for Semicon Mission 2.0, taking India’s chipmaking ambitions to the next level.
A big highlight: India now wants to target advanced chips (3nm and 2nm), the kind used in cutting-edge AI and high-performance computing.
Context: under the first phase, India has already approved 10 projects worth ₹1.6 lakh crore, including Micron’s chip plant, Tata’s fab unit, and Foxconn’s assembly plans. Companies like Kaynes have also started production, showing early momentum.
Why it matters: semiconductors power everything, from smartphones to EVs to AI.
India currently imports over 85-90% of its semiconductor needs, making it highly dependent on global supply chains. The country’s semiconductor demand is expected to touch $100-110 billion by 2030, up from around $30-35 billion today.
3. OpenAI builds a $122B war chest 👀
OpenAI has just pulled off its biggest funding round yet, raising a massive $122 billion at a whopping $852 billion valuation, as it gears up for a potential IPO this year.
The deets: big names like Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank have poured in billions, with SoftBank alone committing $110 billion.
At the same time, OpenAI is being a bit more careful with its spending. It has pulled back on some big plans and even shut down products like its short-form video experiment, Sora, as it tries to control costs.
Competition is heating up from players like Anthropic and Google, and a legal battle is also looming.
4. How Indian banks rank globally❗️
Indian banks are climbing the global brand ladder, but not all at the same pace.
Some big names have improved their rankings this year, showing stronger brand value and trust, while a few have slipped.
SBI stands out, leading the pack globally with a strong brand rating. Overall, it’s a mixed bag, but Indian banks are clearly becoming more visible and competitive on the world stage.
5. Why are fuel prices suddenly rising? 🥵
India’s fuel market just saw a sharp disruption triggered by the Middle East conflict and rising global crude prices.
What’s going on: jet fuel prices in Delhi briefly crossed ₹2 lakh per kilolitre before being rolled back to around ₹1.04 lakh, an effective increase of ~8.5% for domestic airlines. At the same time, premium petrol rose to ₹160/litre and commercial LPG hit ₹2,078 per cylinder.
Context: crude oil has surged past $100 per barrel amid supply risks around the Strait of Hormuz. Since India imports 80-85% of its oil, these global shocks quickly feed into domestic pricing.
But here’s the shift: instead of passing on the full impact, the government cut excise duty by ₹10/litre on petrol and diesel to keep retail prices stable. Meanwhile, fuel costs are being absorbed elsewhere.
6. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀
What went up ⬆️
🚢 Adani Ports gained 6% after the company announced that it has crossed the milestone of handling 500 million tonnes of cargo.
🛡️ BEL ended 5% higher after the Defence Ministry inked a ₹1,950 crore deal with the company for the procurement of two mountain radars and related infrastructure for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
🛒 Eternal rose more than 3% after Blinkit launched its quick commerce service at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
What went down ⬇️
🚗 Ashok Leyland shares fell 7% after weak March sales, growing just 5% year-on-year, far below expectations of a 15% jump.
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
🚗 Price hike: Car prices will rise from April 1 as Tata, BMW, Mercedes, Audi and others hike rates due to higher input costs and a weaker rupee.
📈 Record sales: Hyundai Motor India clocked its highest-ever quarterly domestic sales at 1.66 lakh units in Q4, driving total sales past 2.08 lakh.
💻 Mass layoffs: Oracle sent termination emails to thousands of employees, with up to 30,000 jobs at risk as it restructures to fund AI and cloud growth.
🍔 Food giant: Unilever and McCormick struck a $65 billion deal to merge their food businesses, with Unilever taking a 65% stake and $15.7 billion in cash.
💪🏻 D-street ready: Travomint files confidential IPO papers with SEBI, using a route that keeps details private while allowing flexibility on timing and valuation.
That’s a wrap. 🤝
Pour yourself an extra one this weekend, because we’ll see you on Monday as Good Friday is a market holiday.
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