Daybreak

Complan's pitch to Indian parents has long been simple. It helps kids grow taller, faster. Last month, FSSAI asked its maker to show the studies behind it's claim: "clinically proven 2x growth".

Nestle got a similar notice for two of its baby formulas.

So did several other brands, as the FSSAI swept the industry, hitting products like atta to infant formula. So, why is the regulator going after brands that have been around for so long, so aggressively, and why now?

Tune in.

This episode was edited by Arnav Prakash.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Eight jewellery companies have listed on India’s main board this year. Many of them are the behind-the-scenes makers who supply to big brands like Malabar, Kalyan, and Senco. Investors have lapped them up. One issue was oversubscribed a hundred times. On paper, it’s easy to see why, because their profits are soaring.

But they have to pay for gold upfront and wait months for retailers to pay them. In the end, their bank credit is almost wiped out.

So most of what investors handed over is going into repaying loans and buying gold. In this edition of Long and Short from The Ken newsroom written by Debanjali Biswas and read aloud by Snigdha, we look at what exactly investors are buying into.

Tune in.

This episode was edited by Arnav Prakash.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

This Diwali, gift The Ken!

Tenants across India's six biggest metros have handed landlords Rs 1.26 trillion in security deposits, a new NoBroker study estimates. Around $15 billion of tenant money, refundable in name, sits in landlords' accounts earning interest for people it does not belong to.

In this episode, host Snigdha Sharma ask what a deposit actually costs a renter, and arrives at a number: nearly a month's rent, every year. The same tenant who pays 2 months' deposit in Mumbai is asked for 10 in Bengaluru, and in Delhi NCR, about 4 in 10 never got their full deposit back.

Renting was meant to be a phase. But with home ownership drifting out of reach, tenants may be extending this loan for decades.

Tune in.

Recommendations:
It sucks to be a tenant in Bengaluru right now

*This episode was originally published on July 17, 2026.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

India's RDI fund of Rs. 1 lakh crore was launched to give patient capital to deep-tech startups. 

A year later the cash, is barely flowing. Out of 162 alternate investment funds, only 2 government intermediaries have approved letters, and most of their startups are still waiting. Fund managers say that they've experienced radio silence after applications, allegations of conflict of interests, and return expectations that don't suit R&D focused companies. Meanwhile, overall startup funding is also down.

So, why did the fund meant to speed things up end up slowing everything down?

Tune in.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

“Don’t travel by air.” That was a Supreme Court judge’s response on Monday, when a petitioner asked for an urgent cap on airfares before Diwali, Bhai Dooj and Chhath. Airlines blame jet fuel, and they have a point. Jet fuel in Delhi costs about 46% more than it did a year ago, and fuel now makes up nearly 40% of IndiGo’s costs. 

But fuel alone can’t explain a ticket that costs four times the usual price.

Here’s the stranger part: fewer Indians are flying. Domestic passenger numbers have fallen for four months in a row. Instead of cutting fares to win flyers back, airlines have cut flights, and by more than passengers have fallen.

In today’s episode, host Snigdha Sharma breaks down the airline maths behind fewer flights and costlier tickets and what could help.

Tune in.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

At India's premier engineering schools, the humanities and social sciences or HSS have become a put-down. "Oh, you're being so HSS" is what students say to anyone seen as too "woke".

This tension has now surfaced again at IIT Bombay where the protests following the passing away of student Sahil Wakode, were largely lead by humanities doctoral students. Engineers describe a "hyper-apolitical" campus, while humanities faculty say that the division comes from a shallow idea of education.

Critics outside the campus though, have questioned the need for humanities in these institutes in the first place, and have called for the departments to be shut, though humanities have been part of the plan for IITs since 1945.

So, why does the IIT humanities student draw so much hostility, and why can't they talk it out?

Tune in.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

India’s homes cost 11 times annual income, more than double the affordability benchmark, and real wages fell 4% between 2012 and 2024. For Gen Z, buying a house on a salary alone barely adds up.

Inheritance is filling some of the gap, with gift deed registrations rising sharply in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. But family property often comes late, comes split, or comes with conditions.

What happens to the much larger group with no property to inherit at all?

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

For years, Vodafone Idea (Vi) kept losing subscribers.

Since February, that’s stopped, and the company is now pushing hard with unlimited data, family plans and stacked offers, even roping in Shah Rukh Khan.

Its losses are shrinking, AGR dues are falling and margins are at a decade high.

But Airtel and Jio are still growing far faster, and Vi’s market share keeps slipping. In this episode, we look at what’s changed on the ground, the ₹45,000 crore capex plan still awaiting funding, and whether Vi can hold on to the customers it’s winning.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Netflix paid 175 crore for the Hindi version of a single blockbuster. For a season of Roadies, the college-favourite reality show, it reportedly paid 18 and even agreed to share it with rival JioHotstar, something you wouldn't expect a platform built on exclusivity to do.

Today, on our first video episode of Daybreak, we look at the platform that made its name on shows like Sacred Games and Lust Stories ended up here. The answer runs through the family living room, a growing fear of offending someone, and how often you open the app. The question is: is the pivot working? And, what does it cost?

Credits:

Host: Rachel Varghese
Journalist: Debanjali Biswas
Direction: Rajiv CN
Video Producer: Rajiv CN

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Getting into a top American university has become a mountain of research papers, social projects and competitions. And wealthy Indian families are now starting the climb when kids are 14.

In this episode, host Rachel Varghese reads out Vishnu Prakash's piece from The Ken's newsletter, Make India Competitive Again: "How to 'manufacture' an Ivy League applicant".

It looks at why premium consultancies more than Rs. 5 lakh a year are booming, even as Indian departures abroad fall, what an anxious parent's money actually buys, and who really does the work behind a student's "personal profile".

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.