Arvind’s newsletter

1.Tesla likely to begin first deliveries in India from August:Bloomberg

Tesla Inc. will open its first showroom in India on Tuesday and begin deliveries as early as next month, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Elon Musk-led electric vehicle maker looks to tap potential demand in the third-largest automobile market to counter slowing sales elsewhere.

The opening of the Mumbai showroom will mark the formal entry of Tesla into the market, giving prospective customers access to pricing, available variants, and trim options, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private, as well as documents seen by Bloomberg News.

Deliveries are expected to start from late August, a separate person familiar with the development said. Customers will be able to configure and order their Tesla EVs from next week, the person added.

Bloomberg News first reported last month that the Mumbai showroom was gearing up for a mid-July opening and the first set of cars — Model Y rear-wheel drive SUVs shipped from Tesla’s China factory —  had arrived in the country. 

A second Tesla showroom — this one in New Delhi — is poised to open in late July, the people said. 

2.India Mulls First New Bank Permits in Decade to Fund Growth:Bloomberg

Indian authorities are exploring steps to create more, larger and stronger banks to fund what is expected to be one of the fastest paces of growth in the world for coming decades.

Officials from the Finance Ministry and central bank are discussing a variety of possible options including authorizing large companies to apply for banking licenses as long as they limit their shareholdings, incentivize non-bank finance companies to acquire full banking permits, and make it easier for foreign investors to raise stakes in state-run banks, the people said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private.

The talks are at very early stages and there is no certainty the changes will be implemented or when any decisions could be expected. Representatives from the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India did not immediately reply to emails sent seeking comment.

Right now only two Indian lenders — State Bank of India and HDFC Bank Ltd. — feature in the top 100 global banks by total assets. China and the US have rivals among the top 10, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. India’s banking sector is one of the most heavily regulated with strict curbs on the entry of both large Indian companies and foreign lenders.

3.Adani Group close to acquiring Jaiprakash Associates, makes ₹12,000 cr bid: Bloomberg

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate is the frontrunner to buy the insolvent Jaiprakash Associates, setting the stage for his first $1 bn+ acquisition since a short-seller attack in 2023 and a US bribery probe last year. Adani Group leads the race to acquire the infrastructure developer with an unconditional bid of at least 120 billion rupees ($1.4 billion), according to people familiar with the bidding process. Others such as Dalmia Bharat, Jindal Steel & Power and Vedanta have also put in bids, but with conditions seeking clarifications on legal disputes, giving Adani’s unconditional bid a strong chance of succeeding.

4.Domestic air passenger traffic touches 13.8 mn in June, says report: Business Standard

Domestic air passenger traffic rose 5.1 per cent to over 1.38 crore in June on an annual basis but declined marginally compared to May, a report said on Friday.

Rating agency ICRA also said the country's aviation industry is projected to report a net loss of Rs 2,000 to 3,000 crore in FY2026, amid rising ATF prices and geopolitical risks.

While maintaining a stable outlook for the industry, ICRA said that supply chain disruptions, including Pratt & Whitney engine issues, continue to impact capacity and costs.

5.Washington’s hawkish turn against Russia intensified as US President Donald Trump said he would send weapons to Ukraine via NATO and may back new sanctions on Moscow. 

The twin moves a sharp contrast to the early months of the Trump administration, which were characterised by fitful attempts to coax Russia into a ceasefire as part of a broader rapprochement.

Alongside talks by Kyiv’s US and European allies in Rome to bolster Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, the latest announcements suggest growing momentum to repel Russia’s recent battlefield progress.

Still, analysts cautioned against reading too much into the White House’s apparent shift: “Trump’s record on Ukraine is a reason for caution,”a former top US diplomat argued. “I’m not holding my breath.”

6.US Government’s Rare Earths Investment:Marketwatch

The US Defense Department has purchased $400 mn of stock of MP Materials, operator of the US’ sole rare earths mine, the company revealed yesterday. The deal requires MP Materials to build a new magnet manufacturing facility in the US and makes the Pentagon the company’s single largest shareholder, owning 15% of all shares. MP Materials’ stock rose roughly 50% on the news—the highest price point in three years. 

There are 17 rare earth elements in the world. The deal gives the US military preferential access to two—neodymium and praseodymium—at a 10-year minimum price of $110 per kilogram. Those ingredients are found in commercial items like car batteries and smartphones, but also weapons, including F-35 planes, drones, and submarines.

China operates the largest rare earths mine and accounts for 70% of the global market. MP Materials operates the second-largest mine, in Mountain Pass, California. The deal comes as the Trump administration works to build up US independence in the industry, and amid ongoing trade negotiations.

7.Italian candy giant Ferrero struck a deal to acquire American cereal-maker Kellogg for $3.1 billion: Forbes

The deal comes as the food industry grapples with changing consumption habits. Americans are increasingly turning to store branded snacks in search of a deal, or, amid a boom in weight loss drugs, prioritizing healthier, less sugary options. The sector is also facing political pressure.

Kellogg, which makes Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes, is working to phase out artificial dyes following US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to “Make America Healthy Again.”

For Nutella-maker Ferrero, the acquisition marks a deepening of its ambitions in the US market

8.The law of unintended consequences strikes again: Tim Hartford in Financial Times

Economists love to tell each other stories about perverse incentives. The “cobra effect” is a favourite. It describes an attempt by the British Raj to rid Delhi of its cobras by paying a bounty for each cobra skin, thus encouraging a thriving cobra-farming industry. The cobra story is probably an urban myth — or a policy wonk’s version of one — but there is more evidence of a very similar scheme for Hanoi’s rats in the early 1900s. Rat tails brought a bounty from the colonial government, and soon enough the city was crawling with tailless rats who had had their valuable tails clipped before being released to breed.

It’s easy to dismiss such policy blunders as a thing of the past, but the Straits Times and Climate Home News recently reported on a striking scheme in Melaka, Malaysia, where locals were selling cooking oil that would eventually be used to supply European producers of aviation fuel. The underlying idea of turning a waste product, used cooking oil, into something that can be blended into aviation fuel seems as appealing as getting the cobras out of Delhi. Cooking oil starts tasting bad after being used for frying three to five times, but as an input to aviation fuel, used oil is perfectly good.

At this point two intriguing forces intersect: European governments are demanding that airlines use more biofuels from sustainable sources — used cooking oil being one — while the Malaysian government subsidises cooking oil. This means that in Malaysia buying fresh oil is cheap and selling used oil is lucrative. If you run a food stall or restaurant in Malaysia, you can buy subsidised fresh oil, fry food a few times, then sell the waste oil at a profit. It’s a nice side-hustle.

The trouble is, writes financial journalist Matt Levine, “If you don’t run a restaurant, you can buy fresh cooking oil for $0.60, not use it to fry food any times, and then say, ‘Oh, yeah we totally used this oil,’ and sell it to a refiner for $1.” That seems a simpler and more scalable way to proceed. It certainly cuts out the precarious, time-consuming hassle of actually running a restaurant.

It is hard to know how much fresh oil is being resold this way, but fraudsters have both the motive and the opportunity. Climate Home news notes that Malaysia collects an astonishing volume of “used” cooking oil: more per person than anywhere else, and two and a half times as much as second-placed Singapore.

Read on gift article.

9.The Original 'It' Bag: Birkin

The original Hermès Birkin bag sold yesterday at Sotheby’s Paris for approximately $10.1M ( €7m ) the most expensive handbag ever sold at auction. The black leather prototype featuring actress Jane Birkin’s initials, a nondetachable strap, and gilded brass hardware, was purchased in under 20 minutes by a Japanese private collector.

The bag’s story began in the 1980s when the actress met Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight. Frustrated with her handbag, Birkin described her ideal bag to Dumas, and they famously sketched the design on an airsickness bag. Today, the bag is a global symbol of exclusivity and wealth, with prices for new bags typically ranging from $10K to $60K and waitlists that can last years. Only select clients—often those who have spent thousands on prior purchases—are invited to buy.

Birkins are widely considered investment pieces with some estimates showing an average annual value increase of 14.2%. Each bag is made by a single artisan reportedly takes at least 18 hours to construct.

10.Top 10 highest paid actors in the world: Forbes

The global film industry thrives on star power. From record-breaking blockbusters to billion-dollar franchises, actors are often the driving force behind a movie’s commercial success. With massive box office appeal, brand endorsements, and backend deals, top Hollywood actors earn far beyond their base salaries.