Pirojsha Godrej has a ₹5-trillion ambition

Pirojsha Godrej doesn’t flinch at big numbers. He took Godrej Properties Ltd. from ₹40 crore in sales to ₹34,000 crore. Now, at 45, he’s setting his sights on something far more audacious—tripling the entire Godrej Industries Group to a ₹5 trillion market cap in five years.

Pirojsha plans to list Godrej Capital and Godrej Chemicals, double market share in real estate, revive FMCG on the back of GST tailwinds, and build a full-service financial empire. And launch film studios in Mumbai.

What keeps him up at night? Not the businesses, it’s the unpredictability from Washington. “With the current occupant of the White House, you have no idea how to plan,” he says, with candour.

And for those wondering if India’s next big business leader will burn himself out chasing it all, he laughs off the 70-hour work week. “Not at all, not at all.” Read and watch the full interview by Nehal Chaliawala and Satish John.

THE MAIN STUFF

India halts new LPG connections amid Iran war: Planning to get a new gas connection? You will have to wait. State-run oil firms have quietly paused issuing new LPG connections as supply tightens due to disruptions in West Asia and the Strait of Hormuz.

There’s no official circular, but the systems simply aren’t accepting requests. The focus is to ensure uninterrupted refills for existing users. With India importing nearly two-thirds of its LPG, the ripple effects are real. Some households are even shifting to piped gas. Read on.

Explained — RBI’s new e-mandate rules: The Reserve Bank of India is stepping in on auto-debits. New rules tighten how e-mandates for your OTTs, SIPs, bills work, with clearer alerts, stricter authentication, and easier cancellations. Now, you’ll get a heads-up 24 hours before every debit, and payments above ₹15,000 need extra verification. There’s also better grievance redressal if something goes wrong.

The idea is: more control, and less confusion. But will added checks improve trust, or make payments feel more cumbersome? Read more.

BJP’s Tamil-Bangla test: As Tamil Nadu and West Bengal head to the polls, the contrasts couldn’t be sharper. In Tamil Nadu, it’s a battle of tradition. Will power alternate again, or can M.K. Stalin break the cycle?

Meanwhile, West Bengal tests longevity. Can Mamata Banerjee secure a fourth term amid a strong Bharatiya Janata Party push? Add freebies, voter roll tensions, and economic contrasts, and the stakes rise further. Read on.

PwC plans one global consulting playbook: Can consulting finally go borderless? PwC is exploring a global reset, aligning teams across countries to deliver the same playbook, technology, and process for clients everywhere. The aim is to cut the “fragmented” experience and compete better with integrated rivals.

But timing is tricky. With deal pipelines slowing and AI reshaping consulting, will standardisation boost speed, or dilute local expertise? For PwC India, adoption will hinge on local partners. Read more.

India plans stricter AI regulations: Is India about to get stricter on AI? The government is rethinking its relaxed stance, with expert panels now working on sharper, more prescriptive rules. Why the shift? Rapid advances, and rising risks, across sectors like finance and energy. So far, India relied on existing IT laws. But with powerful new AI models and concerns like deepfakes, that may not be enough anymore. Will tighter rules boost trust, or slow innovation? Read on.

NEWS IN NUMBERS

• $360: The average monthly increase in social security benefits for over 2.9 million public servants in the US after the Social Security Fairness Act repealed some key provisions in January 2025.
• ₹15,000: The maximum amount for recurring digital transactions that can be processed without OTP under RBI’s new consolidated e-mandate framework, effective immediately.
• ₹19,152 crore: The value of financial stocks sold by FPIs in the first half of April 2026, the hardest-hit sector, as part of a broader ₹48,141 crore equity selloff amid widespread risk-aversion.
• 185: The number of roles in the US expected to be impacted by ASML’s layoffs, reduced from 300, as the chipmaker restructures to simplify its organization and improve efficiency.
• 3.3%: The UK's CPI inflation rate in March, up from 3% the previous month, driven by an 8.7% surge in motor fuel prices, the largest monthly jump since Russia’s 2022 Ukraine invasion.
• ₹1,356 crore: The consolidated net profit reported by Tech Mahindra in Q4FY26, up 19% from ₹1,142 crore in the same quarter last year.
• $1.5 billion: The maximum amount OpenAI is planning to commit to DeployCo, a new joint venture with private equity firms aimed at accelerating AI adoption across enterprises.

AROUND THE WORLD

• More banks are earning $100 million fees for advising big M&A targets
• Secretive shipments of Iranian oil to China are under threat by the US
• How Asia’s biggest nations are riding out the energy shock
• A tale of two indexes: Which inflation metric should you trust?
• Israel’s open-ended wars have eroded its security

CHART OF THE DAY

Private doctors are the most common source of treatment for Indians, shows the government's latest health spending survey. However, government-run facilities have greater demand in rural areas than in towns and cities.

LOUNGE RECOMMENDS

Wellness vs Psychotherapy: The New Yorker recently ran a piece titled, What I Know About You Based on How Many of Your Friends Are Becoming Therapists. It was witty, filled with observations that many of us can relate to. The article indicated a trend we are seeing across the globe: many people in their late 30s-50s are now studying to become therapists. Read more.

WHAT THE FACT

YouTube’s first video goes live: On this day in 2005, YouTube saw its very first upload by co-founder Jawed Karim from the San Diego Zoo. What started as a casual 18-second video soon sparked a global content revolution. Within just a year, the platform had ballooned to around 100 million videos.

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