5103: Stranded energy cargoes, downgraded growth & the Andaman basin gas promise | MC Editor's Picks

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A month into the war with Iran, the strain on India's financial markets is building.

Archishma Aya reports that the Rupees brief rebound after the reserve bank of India

capped banks for expositions quickly faded, slipping to a record low vis-a-vis the US dollar,

past 95 Rupees as pressures from soaring oil prices, capital outflows and aggressive

hedging resurfaced.

The episode shows how constrained the RBI's room for maneuver has become.

However, the strain wasn't confined to the currency markets, equities cracked too.

J. Jaganath reports that the Sensex fell more than 2% amid crude surging above $114,

a weakening Rupee and heavy selling in banks after RBI proposed curbs on their forex positions

reports J. Jaganath.

Alongside, India's market capitalisation has logged its steepest decline in three years,

with the country's share of global market cap slipping below 3% for the first time in

four years, reports Ravindra Sonavanay.

A battle for the assets of an insolvent company has reached the top court.

Pavan Burugula reports that Vedanta has approached the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the Adani

Group's resolution plan for J.P. Group's assets after the national company law appellate

tribunal declined to intervene.

Vedanta claims its bid offered superior value and that the committee of creditors erred

in backing Adani's proposal.

One company in the Tata Group is doing all the heavy lifting.

Dividends of about 1.7 lakh crore rupees from Tata Consultancy Services since FY20 have

helped Tata Sons absorb mounting losses at Air India and fund cash burn at Tata Digital

reports Pavan Burugula.

Since FY20, Tata Sons has received an average of 30,000 crore rupees annually in dividends

from TCS along with 40,000 crore rupees through buybacks.

Local regulations are tightening.

Aihik Sur reports that the government's draft amendments to the IT rules released on

Monday could bring user-generated news content under publisher style oversight.

While users themselves won't be treated as publishers, platforms such as Facebook and

Instagram may now have to comply with government directions on such content, including takedowns,

warnings or disclaimers.

The effects of the Iran war continue to impact the economy and companies.

Arunima Baradwaj reports that at least 10 foreign flagged energy cargoes bound for India

carrying LPG, crude and LNG remain stranded in the Persian Gulf, even as Indian flagged

vessels are being allowed to pass through the strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, the gas find in the Andaman Basin offers longer term promise, though commercial

output may still be years away.

The risks are not limited to energy.

Danish Khan reports that India is preparing contingency plans as the conflict threatens

sub-sea cable infrastructure, while Swaraj Bhagavanka writes that soaring airfares are already

reshaping summer travel plans, pushing many Indians to reconsider or re-root their holidays.

Economists, meanwhile, have cut their growth estimates for FY27 by 20 to 60 basis points,

writes Priyansh Verma.

In a conversation with Meghna Mital, Rakesh Mohan, a part-time member of the Prime Minister's

Economic Advisory Council, said the Iran-linked energy shock will require a coordinated,

full-spectrum policy response, spanning fiscal, monetary and administrative measures.

He expects financial stress in India's aviation sector to worsen as rising fuel costs and

route disruptions linked to the West Asia crisis begin to bite.

And finally, amid the noise around growth narratives, venture capitalist Vinod Kostler

weighs in on what matters.

He told Tushar Goenka and Bhavya Dilip Kumar that while new-age AI startups use varied

ways to report growth, what ultimately matters is the underlying cash flows.

Kostler's comments come as vibe-coding start-up emergent, which raised around $30 million

from Kostler Ventures has found itself at the centre of a debate over how AI companies

should report revenue.

That's all for today's episode.

Thank you for tuning in.

If you have any feedback or topics you'd like to discuss, feel free to reach out to

us.

Until then, stay informed and stay ahead with Money Control.