Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 11: Indian rice export prices touched a one-year high this week. Tightening supplies and monsoon concerns are driving the move. Traders are watching the summer-sown crop closely. Monsoon Tightens the Outlook Below-normal rainfall is at the centre of the story. August precipitation came in 16% below normal, the weather department said. September rainfall is also expected below average. “Crop production estimates are being revised lower,” a Kolkata-based dealer said, citing the widening rainfall deficit. This reflects tightening expectations, not a confirmed crop failure. Prices Reach a One-Year High India’s 5% broken parboiled rice was quoted at…
Author: Industry Odisha
Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep11: India is pushing hard into coal gasification. The government’s ₹37,500-crore scheme backs the effort. Seven companies, including Adani and NTPC, have applied for incentives. China’s long experience in this technology is now drawing attention. A Bigger Ambition Than Before India targets 100 million tonnes of gasification capacity by 2030. The scheme could catalyse ₹2.5-3 lakh crore in investment, the government says. That figure remains a projection, not committed spending. The goal extends beyond burning coal for heat. India wants syngas that feeds chemical production too. From Industrial Heat to Chemicals India has long used gasifiers for…
Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep11: India’s packaged-food industry built its scale on low prices. Now it faces a sharper nutrition reckoning. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is considering tougher warning labels. They would flag products high in sugar, salt or saturated fat. A Market Built on Affordability India’s packaged-food market reached $137.25 billion in 2026. That’s up from $129.18 billion in 2025, according to IMARC Group. The firm projects it could reach $238.83 billion by 2034, though that remains a forecast. Low incomes relative to global averages shaped this growth. Cheap noodles, snacks and drinks reached households across…
Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep11: A new disclosure from Coforge has deepened questions about its board practices. The company said evaluation findings, including the chairman’s own lowest rating, stayed confined to two people. This came at OP Bhatt’s instruction, according to the filing. It follows his resignation as chairman on September 8. The Core Disclosure Coforge’s filing named exactly who saw the reports. Only the NRC chair and the board chairman had access. Other board members, including independent directors, were left out. The company attributed this restriction directly to Bhatt. Notably, the chairman’s category scored lowest across the evaluation. That finding…
Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 11: India hosts the 18th BRICS summit on September 12-13. The bloc arrives bigger and economically heavier than ever. It also arrives more divided than before. A Larger, Heavier Bloc BRICS has grown from five founding members to 11. Indonesia is the newest addition. The group’s global GDP share rose to 29.1% in 2025. That’s up from 19.7% when BRICS formed in 2009. China alone accounts for 60.4% of that combined GDP. India and Russia add further economic weight. The G7’s GDP advantage has narrowed too. It stood near 33 percentage points once; now it’s about…
Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 11: Flipkart wants its quick-commerce arm, Minutes, to dominate. “We would want to be the default app of India,” said Kunal Gupta, who heads the business. He argued the market cannot support eight or nine large players. Minutes Scales Fast Minutes now operates in more than 150 cities. Its Tier-2 customer base grew nearly 25-fold year-on-year, the company said. Around 60% of customers return to shop again, per Flipkart. Revenue is growing fourfold annually, Gupta said, without disclosing actual figures. Minutes expects over 1,200 micro-fulfilment centres by September. It targets 1,500 centres by year-end. The Dark-Store…
Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 11: India’s Regional Rural Banks have gone digital fast. Basic payment systems now reach nearly the entire network. But an assessment by NABARD, seen by Mint, flags deeper problems. Cybersecurity and data capabilities remain the weakest link. Where the Cyber Gaps Sit Only 11 of 28 RRBs have fraud risk management systems. Twelve lack a Security Operations Centre, which monitors cyber threats. Another 12 lack a Network Operations Centre, which tracks network health. These are capability gaps, not confirmed breaches. No RRB rated itself as largely or fully ready on data protection. None has analytics or…
Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 11: O.P. Bhatt has resigned as Coforge’s non-executive chairperson. He was also an independent director at the company. The move came in a regulatory filing this week. That filing referenced Coforge’s Board Evaluation Report, or BER. Why the Filing Matters Coforge said certain material information was not fully disclosed. This related to the BER and the chairman’s performance. The company did not detail what that information contained. The episode has renewed scrutiny of board-evaluation practices broadly. How Board Evaluation Works India’s framework began under the Companies Act, 2013. Sebi later added requirements for listed companies. A…
Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 11: Hindustan Unilever is pushing Horlicks into protein. The brand launched a ready-to-drink shake in trials this June. It has since expanded into protein powders too. Rivals and startups got there first. Why HUL Thinks It Isn’t Too Late Rajneet Kohli, who heads HUL’s foods division, is unfazed. “Being late to a party doesn’t mean you’re not there,” he said. He estimates only 3% of Indian households consume protein. That leaves a large, untapped audience, in his view. The company’s bet rests on category creation, not competition. Beyond the Gym Protein has traditionally meant gyms and…
Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 11: Ceat Ltd is reshaping its global strategy. The tyre maker acquired Camso from Michelin in 2024. The $225 million deal was Ceat’s largest ever. It now wants two brands, not one. Camso Widens Ceat’s Portfolio Ceat has long focused on on-road tyres. These serve trucks, cars, bikes and scooters. Camso brings something different. It makes off-highway tyres, tracks and wheels. Its markets include construction, agriculture and material handling. Together, the two portfolios complement each other. Cross-Selling Is the Real Prize Ceat and Camso serve overlapping customers. Some buyers need both agricultural and construction products. Others…