Arvind's Newsletter

1.India service sector growth hit 15-year high in August but inflation intensifies, PMI shows: Reuters

India's services sector growth accelerated to a 15-year high in August on robust demand, which also pushed prices higher at the fastest rate in over a decade, a business survey showed on Wednesday.

India’s services sector continued its strong run, hitting a 15-year high in August on new orders and rise in output led by international demand, with the HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbing to 62.9, up from 60.5 in July, according to S&P Global data released on Wednesday. Composite PMI Output Index rose to 63.2 in August from 61.1 in July.

2.Alphabet expands Google Pixel 10 production in India, plans global exports: Business Standard

ndia is fast becoming a key hub for Google Pixel smartphone production. Alphabet is not only increasing local manufacturing of its premium Pixel 10 Series but is also preparing to export these devices, according to a report by The Economic Times. The company’s move comes as it seeks to reduce risks from US tariffs and strengthen its supply chain outside Taiwan. 

The US tech giant is in advanced discussions with its current Indian manufacturing partners, Foxconn and Dixon Technologies, as well as potential new suppliers like Micromax-owned Bhagwati Products. These vendors already assemble the Pixel 9a model, which Alphabet may phase out soon, the news report said

While Alphabet has not confirmed specific export destinations, industry executives suggest India could serve as a production hub for international markets, including the US, the news report said.

3.15% of FMCG volume is now premium, fueled by rural and local brands: Economic Times Brand Equity

Rs 98000 crores is the value premium brands now contribute to India’s FMCG spending, according to Worldpanel by Numerator's (formerly Kantar) Consumer Connections 2025 survey.

Premium products now make up 15% of India's total FMCG spends as follows:

◦ Categories driving this include detergents, soaps, haircare, toothpaste, edible oils, skin creams, biscuits, and basmati rice.

◦ Super premium buyers are moving their spend from essentials like groceries and dairy to lifestyle-led categories such as housing, travel, luxury cars, smartphones and home décor.

◦ Small packs are driving penetration, as they have done for other categories earlier, in the adoption of premium products.

Rural India is contributing to the premium FMCG segment like never before, and has seen significant growth in five years: from 30% in 2021 to 42% in 2025 for super-premium categories and over 50% for affordable premium.

4.Jio to call for formal banker pitches this month for India’s biggest IPO: Mint

A decade after shaking up India’s telecom space with free calls and dirt-cheap data, Jio is now gearing up for its next big disruption—an IPO that could be India’s largest by a private company. Reports suggest Jio Platforms will kick off banker presentations this September for a listing expected to raise $8-10 billion, pegging the digital and telecom giant’s valuation at a staggering $120-125 billion.

But will this blockbuster listing, planned for the first half of 2026, truly deliver for Reliance shareholders? Or will the so-called “holding company discount” clip their gains? While analysts at Nuvama warn of muted benefits for RIL’s shareholders, Citi believes Sebi’s new rule allowing mega firms to list with just 2.5% float could change the game.

More than a dozen banks, including Morgan Stanley, Kotak, Goldman Sachs and Axis Capital, are already circling for a piece of the action. And with global giants like Meta, Google, and KKR looking at an exit, this IPO could test not just India’s market appetite but global investor confidence, too. Read full report below.

5.Amazon Fresh bets on regional foods, pilots faster delivery for festivals, as it plays catch-up: Business Standard

Amazon Fresh is doubling down on regional flavours and faster delivery to make the most of the lucrative festival season amid intensifying competition from quick-commerce platforms like Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit and Zepto.

The company has launched a ‘Local Delight Store’, featuring regional products and has expanded partnerships with over 11,000 farmers across the country. The company is also piloting ‘Amazon Now’-- an ultra-fast delivery service for everyday essentials in select areas.

6.Google won a landmark legal battle in the US, avoiding having to sell its Chrome browser in a case over its monopoly in online search:

A US judge said that it must share some data with rivalS and can’t strike exclusive deals, such as the one it has had with Apple’s Safari browser, but stopped short of more severe penalties demanded by prosecutors under former US President Joe Biden. Notably, the judge acknowledged that the growth of artificial intelligence had “changed the course of this case,” pointing to the threat to Google’s lucrative search business.

The order falls short of the most extreme outcomes feared by investors, such as a full ban on advertising revenue share deals with the likes of Apple. Shares in Google parent Alphabet rose almost 7 per cent in New York trading, while Apple gained about 3 per cent. The gains lifted the broader market, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite up 0.8 per cent.

7.Trump family amasses $6 billion fortune after crypto launch: Wall Street Journal

The Trump family notched as much as $6 billion in paper wealth on Monday after its flagship crypto venture opened trading of a new digital currency.

The launch is akin to an initial public offering, in which the cryptocurrency, called WLFI, can now be bought and sold on the open market like a listed company’s shares. Beforehand, people who had privately bought WLFI from the Trump venture, World Liberty Financial, hadn’t been able to exchange their tokens.

The trading debut was most likely the biggest financial success for the president’s family since the inauguration. The Trump family, including President Trump himself, holds just under a quarter of all WLFI tokens in existence. Trump’s three sons are co-founders of World Liberty, while it names the president a “Co-Founder Emeritus."

WLFI is likely now the Trumps’ most valuable asset, exceeding their decades-old property portfolio. While the president’s family has continued to pursue property deals around the world since taking office, the fast-moving crypto business has had the biggest early impact.

8.OpenAI is adding emotional guardrails to ChatGPT: Axios

ChatGPT guardrails for teens and people in emotional distress will roll out by the end of the year, OpenAI promised Tuesday.

Why it matters: Stories about ChatGPT encouraging suicide or murder or failing to appropriately intervene have been accumulating recently, and people close to those harmed are blaming or suing OpenAI.

ChatGPT currently directs users expressing suicidal intent to crisis hotlines. OpenAI says it does not currently refer self-harm cases to law enforcement, citing privacy concerns.

The big picture: Last week the parents of a 16-year-old Californian who killed himself last spring sued OpenAI, suggesting that the company is responsible for their son's death.

Also last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that a 56-year-old man killed his mother and himself after ChatGPT reinforced the man's paranoid delusions, which professional mental health experts are trained not to do.

Last month, the mother of a 29-year-old wrote an op-ed in The New York Times about how her daughter asked ChatGPT to help write her suicide note.

9.Two major companies lost their CEOs over alleged ethical violations, as boards’ scrutiny of corporate titans’ performance outside of the C-suite grows. 

Swiss giant Nestlé fired its chief over an “undisclosed romantic relationship” with a subordinate, while Suntory’s boss resigned following a police search of his home for illegal drugs, products the executive said were supplements.

Also this year, the head of the US grocery store chain Kroger quit over a company probe into his personal conduct, while the retailer Kohl’s fired its boss after he was found to have had a relationship with a supplier. And not to forget, the Astronomer CEO who was caught in an embrace with the company’s HR chief on a “Kisscam” in Coldplay concert and had to resign.

“Failing to fully examine or take an executive’s personal life into account increasingly looks like a mistake,” a Bloomberg columnist wrote recently.

10. No Other Choice review: 'Deliriously entertaining' South Korean masterpiece is this year's Parasite: BBC

Oldboy and The Handmaiden director Park Chan-wook has premiered a "bleakly hilarious" comedy about economic anxiety at the Venice Film Festival, and it could be a huge international hit.