Recent 6 months news in Business

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the amalgamation of Go Digit Infoworks Services Pvt Ltd with Go Digit General Insurance Ltd, with the latter remaining as the surviving entity.

Additionally, the CCI has approved the acquisition of units of Oaktree Capital Group Holdings, LP (OCGH) and Oaktree Equity Plan, LP (OEP) by Brookfield Asset Management Ltd (BAM).

Microsoft India, in collaboration with the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at the IIT Delhi, has launched UNNATI AI 2.0.

It is the second phase of the flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of Microsoft India, with the name signifying 'Unnati se Pragati' (progress through growth). The program aims to democratise access to AI technologies to strengthen the AI talent pipeline in India, with a special focus on fostering startups and innovation in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Infosys has been fined €175,000 (around ₹2 crore) by a French labour authority because the employee working time recording system of the company was found to be non-compliant with the legal requirements of the country.

Nvidia, in collaboration with Microsoft, SpaceX, Palantir, and other technology companies, has launched an AI safety initiative named the 'Open Secure AI Alliance'.

The primary objective of this alliance is to develop and share open-source AI security tools. This initiative was launched following a recent disclosure by OpenAI that an autonomous agent had compromised the infrastructure of the startup Hugging Face.

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has launched the Electronic Commerce Council of India (ECCI) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

The ECCI is a nationwide platform designed to strengthen the digital commerce ecosystem of India through collaboration among the industry, government, and other stakeholders. It has already onboarded 70 to 80 members.

The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has directed the code repository platform GitHub to remove and disable access to the source code of 'BitChat', a peer-to-peer messaging platform that functions without an internet connection by utilizing Bluetooth mesh technology.

pi-labs, an Indian AI and deepfake detection company, has partnered with Google Cloud to deliver secure, scalable, and mission-ready AI solutions in India.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh inaugurated the 3rd edition of Bharat Tex, India's flagship global textile event, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

During the event, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) established a bilateral industry platform in collaboration with the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX). The event generated business enquiries worth $2.8 billion and secured investment commitments of ₹14,300 crore across various states. Additionally, participating states signed over 30 MoUs.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio) has received technical approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to deploy a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation consisting of 1,600 satellites.

The company intends to file for global orbital slots under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to launch India's first home-grown satellite broadband constellation. The project aims to provide a capacity of 4.5–5 Tbps, supported by 20–22 ground stations in India.

Chitkara University in Punjab has launched the Atal Incubation Centre–Chitkara Incubation Foundation (AIC-CIF) and AIC-PRIDE Labs. The initiative involves an investment of ₹20 crore over 5 years.

It aims to strengthen the deep-tech startup ecosystem in India by supporting startups in drone technologies, agritech, and renewable energy.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has launched a Gemini Experience Centre (GEC) in Kolkata in collaboration with Google Cloud. The centre aims to showcase AI-led innovations for consumer businesses.

UK-based Aviva Plc has acquired the remaining 26% stake in Aviva Life Insurance Company India Ltd (Aviva India) from its Joint Venture (JV) partner, Dabur Invest Corp. (DIC).

With this, Aviva Plc has become the first foreign insurer to fully own its life insurance business in India.

The Government of India (GoI) has approved a Joint Venture (JV) between Dixon Technologies (India) Ltd and Vivo Mobile India Ltd (VMI) for the manufacturing of electronic devices and smartphones in India.

Dixon Technologies will hold a 51% stake, while Vivo Mobile India will hold the remaining 49% stake. The entity will be established with an initial paid-up capital of ₹5 crore, contributed by both entities in proportion to their shareholdings.

Instamart, a quick commerce platform, has partnered with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) to launch an on-demand Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder delivery service.

This marks the debut of the next-generation 10 kg composite LPG cylinder named 'HP Navya' from HPCL on the platform. Initially available in Bengaluru, the 'HP Navya' cylinder is designed to be lighter and corrosion-resistant.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of ₹126.87 crore on HP India and a combined fine of ₹1.22 crore on 5 of its resellers for operating a cartel in the sale and supply of personal system products like laptops, desktops, and accessories.

Kutch Copper Ltd (KCL), a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), has received the London Metal Exchange (LME) certification for its "Adani Copper" Grade A cathodes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the CG Semi Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in Sanand, Gujarat. This facility marks the commencement of commercial chip production.

Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (POWERGRID) has secured a green loan of ¥80 billion from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to finance the Khavda–Nagpur High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission project.

The project is designed to evacuate renewable energy from the Khavda Renewable Energy Park in Gujarat to Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) and International Resources Holding (IRH), a part of the International Holding Company (IHC) group, have signed an MoU with the Odisha government on setting up an integrated greenfield aluminium project with an investment of $11.5 billion (₹1.08 lakh crore).

Amazon, a US-based multinational technology company, has announced an investment of $48 billion in India for the period between 2026 and 2030.

The investment aims to strengthen the e-commerce, AI, cloud computing, and logistics businesses of the company in India.