Daybreak

IndiGo had one of its worst weeks ever with hundreds of flights cancelled across major airports. New pilot rest rules kicked in on November 1, 2025 and the airline’s tight schedules and lean crew planning could not absorb the change. Thousands of passengers were stranded.

What really happened and why did India’s biggest airline struggled so suddenly? In this episode, we look at what this means for the country’s fast growing aviation system.

Because when one rule change can bring the busiest carrier to a halt the bigger question is how close to the edge we are flying?

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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.

Physicswallah grew with almost no funding kept most of its ownership and built a huge following around its founder Alakh Pandey. Then it shifted gears and started buying companies expanding offline and spending more to grow faster. The numbers changed the risks changed and the company itself changed.

Investors still showed up for the IPO but the real question is what comes next.

What happens when a company built on frugality and founder energy suddenly tries to scale like a giant?

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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.

The Indian government quietly mandated that all smartphones sold in the country must come pre-installed with Sanchar Saathi, a state-owned cybersecurity app that users cannot delete or disable.

The app tracks lost phones and blocks stolen devices. But it requires deep permissions. It can read messages, access phone data, make calls, and view photos. Privacy advocates warn these permissions could be expanded overnight to scan for banned apps, flag VPN use, or monitor SMS patterns.

The directive was sent secretly to manufacturers like Apple and Samsung, giving them 90 days to comply. Apple has already indicated it won't follow the mandate, citing privacy concerns.

Only a handful of countries have tried similar measures—Russia, China, and North Korea, which puts India in uncomfortable company. Host Rachel Varghese digs into what's going on.

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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.

Zepto is getting cheaper and everyone has noticed. But the real story is what the company is trying to fix behind the scenes. Aadit Palicha wants Zepto to feel like Dmart for quick commerce: lower prices, better availability, and more value each time you open the app.

But this shift comes with big questions. The company is burning more cash. Competitors are calling it out. Senior leaders are leaving. And the IPO clock is ticking.

Today, we look at why Zepto is changing its strategy now and what it means for the next year.

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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 wants 50,000 electric buses on the road by 2030. It's a clean mobility revolution that should clear the air in crowded cities.

But there's a problem: the power grid wasn't built for this. Cities are plugging bus depots into the same 11kV lines that serve homes and corner shops. In some areas, the strain is already showing: voltage drops and flickering lights in residential areas.

So, the country is racing to electrify its transport without electrifying the infrastructure beneath it. What happens when climate ambition outruns planning?

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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 restaurants just won a four-year battle for customer data access from Zomato and Swiggy. But here's the twist: this "victory" comes precisely as the industry becomes more platform-dependent than ever. 

While the NRAI celebrates phone number sharing, investors are pouring billions into QSRs and cloud kitchens—business models that assume permanent platform capture. With delivery platforms extracting 16-30% commissions and controlling discovery, logistics, and customer acquisition, data sharing is less a power shift and more a pressure valve. 

The real story? Restaurants are betting that platform-enabled scale will overcome platform-extracted margins. Host Rachel Varghese explores.

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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.

There's a quiet tension underlying India’s AI boom. Startups are swiftly building bold products on foundations they don’t control.

From synced ride-hailing fares to the regulator with only a single office, we look at the strange mix of innovation, vulnerability, and policy catch-up shaping the space.

What happens when the platform you rely on starts competing with you?

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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 years ago, Havells acquired Lloyd to become a household name in consumer electronics. Today, that dream has become its biggest headache.

Lloyd's revenue dropped 18% in the September quarter. Warehouses are jammed with unsold air conditioners after an unusually short summer. And, in January, new energy-efficiency rules will make clearing old stock costlier.

Despite tripling revenue, Lloyd's operating margins collapsed from 17% to -7% in four years. Lloyd has consumed over 3,000 crore rupees in capital—more than all other Havells verticals combined. Yet it remains India's third-largest AC brand, exactly where it was when Havells bought it. Where does the company stand right now?

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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.

Instant fashion is everywhere now. Open Myntra or Ajio and you will see the option to get clothes delivered in minutes. But who is this really for?

Are shoppers truly demanding 30 minute outfits?

In this episode, we dive into what is driving the push for instant fashion, how it works behind the scenes, and why it has become such a high stakes bet for India’s biggest fashion apps.

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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.

Arya.ag helped India's farmers escape the grip of moneylenders.

They could now store their grain in proper warehouses, get loans in seven minutes, and wait for better prices instead of selling at harvest-time lows. But there's a problem: agricultural prices have crashed to five-year lows.

Wheat that sold for Rs 4,000 per quintal two years ago now fetches just Rs 2,600. For farmers like Himanshu and Neetu, the math is brutal—saving Rs 18,000 on interest means little when revenue has dropped by Rs 70,000. So, what's happening?

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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.