Best of the Week: What happens when one airline dominates

Dear reader,

More than a week of chaos in Indian aviation has exposed how fragile the system is when dominated by a single airline.

IndiGo cancelled more than 2,000 flights after new crew duty rules took effect. These rules cap flying hours to reduce pilot fatigue. They were announced in early 2024 with a phased rollout, yet IndiGo was unprepared. Its lean staffing model, once key to controlling costs, left it with too few pilots per aircraft, even as its fleet kept expanding. When the new norms kicked in, the airline could not cope.

Since IndiGo operates more than half of all domestic flights, the disruption quickly paralysed the entire network. Other carriers lacked the capacity to absorb stranded passengers. The government eventually postponed the rules to ease the crisis, but the episode revealed a deeper problem. India’s aviation market has become so concentrated that operational lapses at one airline can bring the whole system to a halt.

Read Mint’s comprehensive coverage of the crisis at nation’s biggest carrier.

On to the best of Mint’s journalism from this week:

Government plans bigger push for labour-intensive sectors in FY27 budget

The government is preparing a stronger push for labour-intensive industries in the FY27 budget, aiming to support job creation and tap India’s demographic dividend. Officials say new and expanded schemes will focus on fiscal incentives, skilling and market access, along with higher spending on health and education.

The move seeks to balance capital-heavy manufacturing with sectors that generate more employment and help build a stronger base of mid-sized enterprises.

India’s informal-heavy economy and limited number of firms in the mid-income bracket have sharpened the need for targeted support. Experts say boosting MSMEs, improving infrastructure in smaller cities and raising productivity in low-margin sectors like textiles and auto parts are essential.

IPL’s $2 billion question: Can RCB justify its valuation?

United Spirits is weighing the future of its RCB ownership as soaring IPL valuations collide with Diageo’s global cost pressures. The liquor major is reviewing its 100% stake in the franchise, which contributes under 2% to revenue and sits awkwardly within its core alco-bev portfolio.

Potential buyers range from Adani Group to Serum Institute, buoyed by reports that Diageo may seek up to $2 billion, far above the Gujarat Titans’ recent $860 million benchmark. The team is profitable and has enjoyed recent sporting highs, but growth is capped by broadcasting-linked revenues and Virat Kohli’s impending exit.

What to expect from India’s customs reforms

India is moving ahead with a major customs overhaul to simplify duties, cut costs for businesses and strengthen its role in global supply chains. Exporters who rely heavily on imported inputs have long argued that the current structure raises their costs and slows operations due to port delays.

The reform is expected to reduce basic customs duties, shrink the number of tariff slabs and introduce more transparent, tech-driven processes with minimal physical checks. Fixing duty inversion is a key priority, especially for sectors like electronics, mobile devices, chemicals, textiles and white goods.

Indian comic icons get a makeover to win back Gen Z

India’s classic comic heroes are stepping back into the spotlight with fresh storylines, modern settings and digital-first formats. Publishers are revamping icons such as Chacha Chaudhary, Suppandi, Nagraj and Shikari Shambu to reconnect with Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who have drifted toward Japanese manga.

Characters now take selfies, talk about mental health and use AI, while keeping the nostalgic charm that Millennials grew up with. Rising spending power helps. Fans who once bought ₹10 issues now pay ₹200-300 for new releases and over ₹1,000 for special editions. Publishers are expanding into animation and experimenting with diverse stories that reflect how young people speak and what they care about today. Manga still dominates sales, supported by OTT tie-ins and quick-commerce deliveries, but Indian creators believe the way forward is reinvention.

Sanjay Malhotra’s first year shows a governor using his moment

Sanjay Malhotra’s first year as RBI governor was shaped by a rare window of low inflation and steady growth, and he moved fast to use it. He delivered 125 bps of rate cuts, pitching them as insurance in a world still jittery with uncertainty.

Unlike his predecessor Shaktikanta Das, Malhotra let the rupee weaken, embracing the “impossible trinity”, a principle that says a central bank cannot control monetary policy, capital flows and the exchange rate at once.

His hands-off stance even prompted the IMF to shift India’s forex regime classification. With growth upgraded to 7.3% and inflation undershooting forecasts, Malhotra’s approach won praise, but experts say future moves will depend entirely on how quickly the macro cycle shifts.

AI bots reshape India’s debt recovery business

AI is quietly transforming India’s debt collection industry, replacing gut-based decisions with data, behavioural profiling and automated empathy. Startups like DPDzero, Credgenics and Gnani are helping lenders shift from Excel sheets to AI-driven systems that analyse tone, payment patterns and past interactions to tailor conversations.

Borrowers are now segmented into personas such as supportive, bargaining or escapist, allowing algorithms to adjust scripts, timing and follow-ups. Voice bots increasingly handle early-stage delinquencies in multiple languages, while human agents step in only for complex cases.

Lenders say this hybrid model improves recovery rates and reduces losses, with AI-assisted agents collecting more while sounding more empathetic than traditional callers.

Mint Explainer | Dirty air trick: How North Indian rice farmers outsmart satellites

A new study by the think tank International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iForest) suggests North India’s air pollution story is more complicated than official data shows. Researchers found that many farmers in Punjab and Haryana light paddy stubble fires after 3 pm, long after polar-orbiting satellites make their daily pass.

These satellites, which provide “active fire counts” using sensors that detect heat signatures, had indicated a 90% drop in fires since 2021. But when iForest switched to geostationary satellites, which continuously monitor the same region, it found that nearly 29,000 sq km of farmland actually burned in 2025.

That points to a far smaller decline of just 25-35%. The findings matter because Delhi’s pollution models rely on the sharper but time-limited fire-count data to estimate how much stubble burning contributes to winter smog.

Big Tech’s India push

Amazon is deepening its India bet as Big Tech races to build AI infrastructure in the country. The company plans to invest $35 billion by 2030 across e-commerce, cloud, entertainment, and devices, while expanding quick-commerce operations and speeding up deliveries in smaller cities.

This comes as global rivals pour money into AI-ready data centres. Microsoft has also committed $20.5 billion this year, including a new Hyderabad facility opening in 2026 and wider sovereign cloud services. Its plan also includes training 10 million more people in AI skills.

Together with large moves by Google, AWS, Reliance, TCS, and L&T, total AI-centric data-centre commitments for 2025 now stand at $42.5 billion, signalling India’s growing strategic role in global tech.

New twist in Byju’s-Aakash rights issue saga

The Byju’s Aakash battle has taken a sharper turn. Fresh RoC filings show UAE businesswoman Bisy Philip subscribed to ₹16.09 crore worth of Aakash shares. This is the same entitlement earlier linked to Beeaar, the Singapore vehicle tied to Byju Raveendran.

The switch suggests a quiet renunciation that likely needed approval from the Manipal-controlled AESL board. Creditors are expected to question the move. They believe it may divert value from Aakash shares that were pledged for earlier loans. The dispute adds new uncertainty around control of AESL at a time when Byju’s troubles are still widening.

Railways eyes three new cargo corridors to lift freight speeds

Indian Railways is weighing three new dedicated freight corridors (DFCs) worth about ₹1.5 trillion to build a nationwide cargo loop and deepen its reach across the east, south and central regions. Detailed project reports are ready and a corridor will be picked first based on feasibility and demand.

The East Coast corridor is likely to lead, given its strong mineral flows and port links. The plan comes as freight volumes rise and existing corridors ease congestion. But some experts question whether more DFCs are worth the cost, pointing to underused routes and arguing for faster passenger lines and better first and last-mile links instead.