Category business

India, Jan 10:  Yupp Video Services (YVS), YuppTV’s B2B technology arm and a global leader in white-label OTT platforms and streaming solutions announces its strategic partnership with Get After It Media (GAIM), home to The Heartland Network, Retro TV, The Family Channel, The Action Channel, and Rev’n. This collaboration delivers Heartland+, a next-generation OTT application that expands GAIM’s flagship on-air network, Heartland, into the digital forefront with advanced ad stack features and innovative content verticals.

Heartland+ will be backed by latest streaming technology, creating a diverse portfolio of ad units and subscription-based services. The app will bring consumers the very best of Heartland content alongside new verticals focused on family viewing and action-driven entertainment – all wrapped around the network’s core affinity for country music. YVS’s proven expertise in building scalable, data-driven OTT platforms ensures seamless delivery across connected TVs, mobile devices and web.

With rollout commencing in the 2nd Quarter, users can expect premium access to Heartland’s country music library, family-friendly shows, action content via flexible subscriptions; advertisers will gain advanced data-driven ad units for scaled targeting. Consumers will enjoy seamless, multi-device streaming, unlocking new revenue streams and audience engagement for GAIM’s evolving ecosystem.

Uday Reddy, Founder & CEO from YVS said, “Our partnership with GAIM to launch Heartland+ blends our decade-long OTT expertise with their authentic country music heritage and family values. This app will deliver advertisers enhanced targeting precision through advanced data analytics, while providing viewers with seamless, multi-device access.”

Joel Wertman, Co-President and CEO, Get After It Media, commented, “We look to partners such as YVS to help us enable data-driven audience solutions for advertisers looking to reach their customers with maximum efficiency and targeting capabilities at scale. The future of our business is highly dependent on our ability to bring innovative and data-driven audience solutions to our customers.”

Chennai, Jan 10: The Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) recently released provisional data on production, import, and sales of major fertilisers for April–November 2025, revealing a notable rebalancing of India’s fertiliser supply chain with growing reliance on imports to support nutrient availability across the country.

The data shows significant variation across key nutrients, with imports playing an increasingly pivotal role in supplementing domestic production during the critical crop nutrition months.

UREA: Imports Drive Supply as Domestic Output Slips

Urea sales reached 25.40 million tonnes during April–November 2025, a 2.3% increase from the same period last year. However, this growth masks an important supply chain shift: domestic urea production fell 3.7% to 19.75 million tonnes, while imports surged 120.3% to 7.17 million tonnes—nearly doubling from 3.26 million tonnes in the previous year.

In November alone, urea sales were 3.75 million tonnes, up 4.8% year-on-year. November imports jumped 68.4% to 1.31 million tonnes, compared to 0.78 million tonnes in November 2024. This import surge reflects planned supply management to ensure continuous availability during critical crop nutrition windows.

“The April–November data reveals the fertiliser sector’s evolved approach to nutrient security,” said Mr. S. Sankarasubramanian, Chairman, FAI, “While we’ve achieved sales growth through coordinated planning, the significant reliance on imports—particularly for urea and DAP—underscores the importance of strategic supply chain management and forward-looking import policy to ensure uninterrupted farmer access.”

DAP: Imports Offset Production Decline

DAP sales remained flat at 7.12 million tonnes during April–November 2025, down marginally 1.0% from last year.

However, the underlying dynamics show a clear supply shift:
Domestic DAP production declined 5.2% to 2.68 million tonnes
DAP now depends 67% on imports for meeting nutrient demand, up from 56% last year
This structural change highlights India’s growing dependence on phosphatic imports to maintain fertiliser availability despite flat sales figures. The import reliance reflects both global market dynamics and the sector’s strategic choice to ensure farmer access to this critical primary nutrient.
Complex NPK Fertilisers: Strong Growth Amid Rising Import Dependency
NP and NPK complex fertiliser sales held steady at 10.38 million tonnes during April–November 2025, a marginal 0.1% increase. However, production and import trends reveal significant momentum:
Production surged 13.8% to 8.15 million tonnes
Imports nearly doubled, rising 98.7% to 2.72 million tonnes (from 1.37 million tonnes)
This dual growth signals farmers’ increasing preference for balanced, multi-nutrient formulations that address soil-specific and crop-specific nutrition requirements more precisely than single-nutrient products.
MOP: Solid Demand
MOP sales increased 8.6% to 1.55 million tonnes during April–November 2025,
SSP: Indigenous Phosphatic Strength Growing
Single Super Phosphate (SSP), India’s home-grown phosphatic fertiliser, demonstrated robust momentum:
Production increased 9.5% to 3.97 million tonnes
Sales rose 15.0% to 4.16 million tonnes

The SSP performance underscores farmer confidence in indigenous fertilisers and validates the sector’s capacity to deliver phosphatic nutrients domestically at competitive cost and quality.

Overall Narrative: Coordinated Supply Planning with Growing Reliance on Imports

The April–November 2025 data reflects a matured supply chain where domestic production and imports function in complementary roles. The key takeaway: Imports are structural, not supplementary. Urea imports at 120% growth, DAP imports at 54% growth, and complex fertiliser imports at 98.7% growth indicate that India’s fertiliser sector has integrated global supply chains into core planning.

“The standout stories in this data are twofold,” said Dr Suresh Kumar Chaudhari, Director General, FAI. “First, the structural shift toward import-driven supply management for nitrogen and phosphate nutrients. Second, the strong performance of indigenous phosphatic fertilisers like SSP, which have grown 15% in sales. This signals a balanced approach—we’re securing critical nutrients through planned imports while strengthening domestic phosphatic production. Going forward, FAI will focus on data-driven planning and diversification in nutrient use to support sustainable agriculture.”

FAI will continue to monitor fertiliser production, import and sales trends and engage with stakeholders across the value chain to facilitate coordinated action in line with national agricultural priorities. The Association remains committed to evidence-based dialogue, supply chain transparency, and promotion of balanced fertilisation practices suited to India’s diverse agro-climatic zones.

Moscow, Jan 09:  “The Kursk region has been front-page news this past year. The news was largely alarming. Operation of the existing Kursk Nuclear Power Plant and construction of new power units occurred amid constant provocations and direct attacks from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This makes it all the more valuable that at the end of the year, the first power unit of Kursk NPP-2 was connected to the national power grid for the first time. So, the Kursk nuclear scientists deserve congratulations and thanks for such a wonderful New Year’s gift, and the entire country  for  acquiring a new source of clean energy. Much work remains ahead for the Kursk residents. But the following can already be confirmed. The Kursk unit  is  the first embodiment of the latest VVER TOI nuclear power unit design. This design not only incorporates the latest advances in nuclear energy. It is also the most powerful power unit in Rosatom’s fleet: 1250 MW, which is 50 MW more than the previous record-holders —  the power units of Leningrad NPP-2.  And secondly … “On December 30, 2024, the general plan for the deployment of power facilities through 2042 was approved, according to which we are to build 38 power units. And today, a year later, we are taking the first step in 38, the goal of which is to increase nuclear generation in the country’s energy mix from the current 20% to 25%,” noted Alexey Likhachev, Director General of the Rosatom State Corporation .

The power start-up took place in the presence of the heads of Rosatom’s Electric Power and Engineering Divisions and key contractors.

“Today’s power start-up is the result of the hard work of tens of thousands of people—from those who poured the first concrete in 2018 to the engineers involved in the commissioning operations. Despite external threats, every specialist successfully completed their work, recognizing their responsibility to the team and to the country. The new power unit will increase nuclear power generation by more than 50% to meet the needs of the Kursk Region and ensure the stable operation of the Central Asian Unified Energy System of the Centre, guaranteeing its energy stability and confident progress,” said Andrey Petrov, First Deputy Director General for Nuclear Energy at Rosatom State Corporation and President of JSC ASE (general designer, Engineering Division of Rosatom State Corporation).

The first connection of the generator to the grid was performed by Valery Yakushev, the electrical shop shift supervisor. “Our power unit has finally found its purpose and begun generating electricity. Considering it will operate for up to 100 years, being a part of this event  is  a great honor for me,”  he  shared after the historic occasion.

During the power startup phase, the power unit’s capacity will be gradually increased to 35-40%. This will be followed  by  a lengthy period of ramping up to 100%.

“The power unit’s commissioning is proceeding according to plan. Comprehensive testing of the unit is currently underway, ensuring the required power level is reached  . The equipment and systems must operate efficiently, reliably, and safely, as required by the process regulations,” noted Alexander Shutikov,   CEO of Rosenergoatom Concern JSC  . ” After all the process operations, we will confirm with Rostekhnadzor that the unit’s characteristics and physical parameters comply with modern nuclear energy standards and requirements.”

The commissioning of Unit 1 of the replacement plant is scheduled for 2026. The implementation of projects similar to the VVER-TOI project will ensure reliable energy supply to the region and make a significant contribution to the country’s economic development.

By: Richa Agarwal, CEO of Emami Art and Chairperson, KCC

Field Notes (On the Afterlife of Trees) is the first-ever solo exhibition by the young and emerging artist, Vishal Kumar Gupta. At the core of his practice is the deliberate and poetic depiction of the idea of fragmentation. By using it as the central idea of his artistic practice, Gupta, creates a world of abstraction and ambiguity. His deep engagement with the natural world and the overlooked objects brings a fresh perspective on visual representation as well as the use of material itself. Displayed in a fluid and expansive style, the exhibition features his most recent works, we hope the viewers have a great time discovering the spectacular world in his work.

By: Ushmita Sahu, Director and Head Curator of Emami Art

In his debut exhibition, Field Notes (On the Afterlife of Trees), Vishal Kumar Gupta explores painting with a sense of discovery. One of the key qualities of Vishal Kumar Gupta’s work is his joy in exploring the essence of painting itself. Gupta draws inspiration from the intricacies of the natural world and its most overlooked aspects. Through expressive, painterly investigations of twigs, branches, and weathered stumps, Gupta does not merely depict nature but channels its organic self and embodied time. So, the practice itself is a comprehensive exploration of time, memory and embodiment. The first-ever solo exhibition is conceptualised and designed as an introduction to the curious world of Gupta’s artistic practice.

Delhi, jan 1:Continuing the momentum of its highly impactful “SIs for India” series across Mumbai and Pune, Digisol Systems Ltd.  India’s Own Networking Brand hosted an exclusive conclave for leading System Integrators in Delhi, reaffirming its commitment to empowering the backbone of India’s digital infrastructure.

The Delhi meetup was not just about business  it was about connection and gratitude. It brought together Digisol’s fastest growing and most committed SI partners who have consistently powered Digisol’s expansion across government, enterprise, education, hospitality and FTTH deployments in North India. Against a backdrop of soft live music, partners connected over dinner, not as vendors and suppliers, but as collaborators celebrating a shared journey.

A defining highlight of the evening was the strong presence of Digisol’s Delhi sales leadership and frontline field team, along with members from the Mumbai Head Office, reflecting Digisol’s culture of staying deeply connected with partners  not only in meetings and site visits, but also by simply taking time to appreciate the people behind the projects.

The evening was consciously designed to offer partners a relaxed space to unwind and be acknowledged for the effort, trust and commitment they bring to Digisol every day  a small gesture of appreciation for the role they play in strengthening India’s networking ecosystem.

During the interaction, SIs openly shared how Digisol’s reliable product performance, TEC-certified Made-in-India portfolio, competitive pricing and responsive technical support have enabled them to confidently win projects against multinational brands.

Digisol leadership reiterated that the company’s growth story is written not through advertising campaigns, but through partner profitability, repeat deployments and field-proven stability. Several partners acknowledged that Digisol today enjoys stronger customer recall, smoother tender acceptance and faster project closures  positioning it as a dependable long-term business platform.

The session also featured in-depth discussions on:

• Growing FTTH and enterprise networking opportunities across North India
• Rising preference for Indian-manufactured, TEC-certified networking solutions
• Expanding Digisol’s footprint in smart cities, education and government infrastructure
• Strengthening partner margins, training and on-ground support systems

The Delhi conclave once again reinforced Digisol’s mission  to build India’s networking ecosystem through Indian partners, Indian technology and Indian trust.

As Digisol continues its nationwide SI engagement program, the company remains focused on one vision: transforming system integrators from resellers into true growth partners in India’s digital future.

With January to March being the busiest months for corporate gatherings, team celebrations, and business meetings, SALT Indian Restaurant Bar & Grill has introduced a thoughtfully curated corporate special menu, designed keeping the professional audience in mind. Rolled out across all SALT outlets, the offering features 30+ unlimited dishes, served hot and fresh directly at the table, ensuring a seamless and indulgent dining experience that fits perfectly into the corporate calendar.

Crafted to cater to discerning palates, the menu showcases SALT’s contemporary interpretation of Indian classics, combining comforting flavours with refined presentations. Guests can begin their culinary journey with crowd favourites such as Paneer Anjeer Tikka, the indulgent Truffle Murgh Tikka, and the flavour-packed Kala Gajar & Chukunder Galouti – starters that strike the perfect balance between indulgence and elegance. Ideal for corporate lunches, after-work dinners, and team get-togethers, the menu ensures great food remains at the heart of every gathering.

The main course selections continue to impress with robust flavours and comforting textures. Signature dishes such as the aromatic Gobi Mussallam, the bold Kolhapuri Chicken Rassa, and the rich Mutton Champanar reflect SALT’s commitment to delivering elevated Indian cuisine that appeals to both traditional and modern tastes. Thoughtfully curated desserts, including the Saffron Pistachio Bhapa Doi, offer a sweet conclusion, making the overall dining experience wholesome and satisfying.

With this special offering, SALT Indian Restaurant Bar & Grill further strengthens its position as a preferred destination for corporate dining. By combining unlimited table-served dishes, flavour-forward menus, warm hospitality, and a welcoming ambience, SALT ensures that every corporate meal whether a formal meeting or a relaxed team celebration is memorable and meaningful.

New Delhi, Jan 09: TravClan, a global B2B travel platform serving over 15,000 travel businesses, has announced its expansion into Europe with strategic capital from August One. The move is driven by increasing demand from international travel companies seeking scalable technology, reliable distribution, and operational infrastructure built for the complexities of the travel industry. The capital will be used to establish on-ground operations in Europe, launch its VOLT platform for European markets, and build local supplier partnerships.

The global B2B travel distribution ecosystem accounts for more than USD 500 billion in annual bookings. Despite this scale, a large part of the market continues to operate on fragmented systems, manual workflows, and spreadsheets, limiting efficiency, visibility, and margin control for independent travel businesses. TravClan addresses this gap through a unified technology and distribution platform designed for scale.

TravClan has established itself as a trusted operating layer for travel entrepreneurs across India, South East Asia and the Middle East, helping them simplify supply chains, improve margins, and scale operations. TravClan continues to see strong traction across its Hotels and Holidays businesses, which together contribute more than 80 percent of the company’s revenue.

As part of its international expansion, TravClan is deepening investment in VOLT, its API-first platform built for modern, high-volume travel businesses. VOLT functions as a unified connectivity layer across flights, hotels, holidays, and experiences, enabling travel companies to deliver consistent and personalized customer journeys while improving operational efficiency.

Commenting on the expansion, Chirag Agarwal, Co-Founder and COO, TravClan, said,

“Travel businesses in Europe face similar challenges we have solved across Asia – fragmented supply, manual operations, and thin margins. We are opening our API platform to European markets and building strong local supplier partnerships.”

Sameer Narula, Managing Director, August One, said,

“We back founders who use technology to elevate traditional industries and enable entire ecosystems. By connecting agents, suppliers, and on-ground services in a single platform, TravClan has simplified complex travel planning with speed, reliability, and operational excellence”

Arun Bagaria, Co-Founder and CEO, TravClan, added,

“The future of travel isn’t winner-takes-all OTA platforms. It’s millions of entrepreneurs powered by shared infrastructure. We’re using AI to make independent agencies more competitive than ever – giving them the same predictive pricing, personalized recommendations, and operational automation that only billion-dollar OTAs could afford before.”

TravClan has raised over USD 8 million to date and has been recognised as one of LinkedIn’s Top 20 Startups in India for two consecutive years. The company’s expansion into Europe reflects growing demand for a unified operating platform among international travel businesses.

Mumbai, Jan 9: Jindal  Limited, part of the prestigious B.C. Jindal Group, and one of India’s leading downstream steel products manufacturers, today announced the unveiling of its channel partner loyalty program, ‘JLP Shakti  Jindal India Loyalty Programme’, at a glittering event in Mumbai.

The Mumbai event was part of a series of on-ground activations planned across the country to roll out the program among leading dealers and retailers of coated steel products in Jindal India’s key markets. Prior to this, the company successfully unveiled JLP Shakti in Kolkata, Kanpur and Visakhapatnam through well-curated launch events, each witnessing enthusiastic participation from its dealer and retailer partners.

Through this initiative, the BC Jindal Group, led by Shyam Sunder Jindal, Promoter, BC Jindal Group, plans to strengthen its long-term brand association with esteemed partners through rewards, recognition, and proactive engagement in the region. Additionally, Jindal  Limited aims to incentivize loyalty, drive consistent sales performance, and create a digitally connected ecosystem of partners that aligns with the company’s long-term growth and customer engagement strategy through this unique program.

“As one of the leading players in the downstream steel product manufacturing space, we remain committed to further enhancing our presence across regions in India by strengthening our relationship with our partners. In line with this endeavour, we have introduced the JLP Shakti program that will build a digitally connected partner ecosystem, ensuring a stronger, mutually rewarding future. In addition to this, at the Milaap retailer meet, we engaged with our channel partners and apprised them about our premium and innovative product offerings like Jindal Sabrang and NeuColor that are witnessing a strong demand in the region,” said a Jindal (India) Limited spokesperson.

Organized in association with the company’s authorized dealer, D. Chandresh Steels Pvt Ltd., the event witnessed enthusiastic partnership from over 100 prominent retailers from the region and senior company officials.

During the Mumbai meet, participants were introduced to the key features of JLP Shakti, including its multi-tier engagement structure, performance-based rewards, transparent tracking mechanisms, and digital dashboards. The programme aims to create a seamless and connected partner ecosystem, aligned with Jindal (India) Limited’s long-term growth and customer engagement strategy.

As part of the engagement, company representatives also outlined the future plans for the region, gathered first-hand feedback from partners, and addressed operational and market-related challenges, reinforcing Jindal  Limited’s position as a trusted and long-term partner.

Currently, BC Jindal Group’s Jindal  Limited has two advanced manufacturing facilities in West Bengal, and their capabilities include advanced color coating, galvanizing, and galvalume technologies. The company offers a comprehensive range of products across three major divisions that include sheets, pipes, and aluminum foil. With strong brands like Jindal Sabrang, Jindal NeuColour and Jindal Rangeen, Jindal  Limited dominates the colour-coated sheets market, particularly in Eastern India, and maintains a significant presence across the country. At present, 70% of the company’s total production consists of coated flat steel products, which remains a key area of focus for future growth and expansion.

Jindal India Limited, founded in 1952, is part of B.C. Jindal Group, a leading Indian conglomerate. The group, led by Shyam Sunder Jindal, Promoter, B.C. Jindal Group is engaged in a diverse portfolio of businesses like packaging films, energy & steel products.

New Delhi, Jan 09:  Groww Mutual Fund has announced the launch of the Groww Small Cap Fund, an open-ended equity scheme predominantly investing in small cap stocks. The New Fund Offer (NFO) will be open from January 08 to January 22, 2026. The scheme seeks to generate long-term capital appreciation by investing in high-quality, scalable small cap companies through a disciplined bottom-up investment approach, guided by Groww Mutual Fund’s QGaRP framework – Quality and Growth at a Reasonable Price. 

India’s economy is undergoing a broad-based transformation, with strengthening physical, financial, and technological capacity reshaping the opportunity set for businesses across the size spectrum. Rising infrastructure spending, deeper capital markets, improved access to formal credit, and population-scale digital platforms are reducing historical disadvantages faced by smaller companies. As a result, many small businesses today are better positioned to scale operations, access new markets, and compete more effectively.

SSHistorically, small caps have also demonstrated the potential to deliver higher long-term returns than large caps, driven by a relatively smaller base and greater headroom for growth. 

 Past performance may or may not be sustained in future and is not a guarantee of any future returns. The above performance does not in any manner indicate the performance of any individual scheme of the mutual fund. Please consult your financial advisor before investing.

Small caps further offer exposure to a wide and diverse set of niche, specialised, and emerging sectors that are underrepresented or absent in other segments. This breadth spans industries benefiting from structural trends as well as areas where growth is often driven by company-specific execution rather than macro cycles alone.

Despite this diversity, a large part of the small cap universe continues to receive meaningfully lower analyst coverage creating information gaps that can lead to opportunities for disciplined, research-led investors to identify quality businesses early in their growth journey.

Finally, after a year of relative underperformance, the small cap segment has seen moderation in valuations across pockets, even as fundamentals for many companies have continued to improve. This combination of improving fundamentals and more reasonable valuations has broadened the opportunity set for bottom-up stock selection.

^Based on Q2FY25 and Q2FY26 data. | *1 year returns as on Nov 25, 2025. | Please consult your financial advisor before investing.

Past performance may or may not be sustained in future and is not a guarantee of any future returns. The above performance does not in any manner indicate the performance of any individual scheme of the mutual fund. Please consult your financial advisor before investing.

Groww Small Cap Fund follows a true-to-label mandate, investing predominantly in small cap stocks, with zero large cap exposure. The Scheme is purely bottom-up in nature, avoiding macro-led or thematic calls, and focuses on identifying businesses with strong fundamentals, sustainable growth drivers, and reasonable valuations.

At the core of the investment process is Groww Mutual Fund’s QGaRP framework, which evaluates every investment across three key dimensions of business and management quality, potential for growth, and valuation discipline.

The Groww Small Cap Fund may be considered by investors seeking long-term capital appreciation through a disciplined, true-to-label small cap strategy. It may suit those with a multi-year investment horizon who are comfortable with higher interim volatility and wish to complement existing large and mid cap allocations with selective exposure to India’s small cap universe.

Scheme details

• Scheme Type: An open-ended equity scheme predominantly investing in small cap stocks
• Benchmark: Nifty Smallcap 250 Index – TRI
• NFO Period: January 8 – January 22, 2026
• Fund Manager: Mr. Anupam Tiwari
• Minimum Investment: ₹500 and in multiples of Re. 1 thereafter
• Exit Load: 1% if redeemed within 1 year from the date of allotment; Nil thereafter

Mumbai, Jan 9: 1 Finance recently announced the approval received from the Reserve Bank of India  to operate as a Non-Banking Financial Company, Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform . The approval marks a key milestone for the firm’s entry into the regulated peer-to-peer lending space, reinforcing its commitment to compliance-first, responsible digital lending and borrowing.

With the RBI registration in place, 1 Finance is preparing to launch its P2P platform, 1 Finance P2P. The platform will be designed to enable transparent, risk-aligned participation for borrowers and lenders, and built-in strict adherence to RBI’s NBFC-P2P framework, with robust governance, escrow-based fund flows, and full lifecycle disclosures.

“RBI registration is a significant milestone and reflects the strong regulatory focus and execution discipline of our teams,” said Jeet Marwadi, Founder and Managing Director, 1 Finance.

“As personal credit demand continues to grow and the P2P ecosystem matures, there is a clear need for platforms that prioritise governance, transparency, and long-term outcomes. I am proud of the work that has gone into building 1 Finance P2P, and I look forward to the platform contributing meaningfully to the evolution of responsible and well-regulated peer-to-peer lending in India.”

Mohan Parsuramka, Chief Operating Officer at 1 Finance further said,

“The P2P lending ecosystem in India is entering a more mature phase, supported by stronger regulation, better data access, and increasing digital adoption. As the market evolves, platforms have a responsibility to move beyond volume-led models and focus on sustainable credit outcomes. Receiving RBI approval is an important milestone, and 1 Finance P2P is being built with a long-term view, emphasizing structure, accountability, and responsible participation for both borrowers and lenders.”

1 Finance P2P aims to contribute to the continued maturation of India’s peer-to-peer lending ecosystem by promoting structured growth, informed participation, and trust-led practices within a regulated environment.