Daybreak

Karnataka’s bike taxi ban has thrown Bangalore’s commute into chaos.

Since June 16, services like Rapido, Ola, and Uber Moto have been off the roads, thanks to a High Court-backed state ban.

But for thousands of gig workers and commuters, bike taxis were more than a convenience, they were a lifeline. As protests intensify and surge pricing spikes, this episode unpacks the policy deadlock, the Centre’s new guidelines, and why even women commuters are asking for the ban to be lifted.

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Rare-earth magnets, made from elements like neodymium and praseodymium, are essential to EV motors. But nearly all of them come from China. And since April, not a single shipment has arrived. Maruti Suzuki has already slashed production. TVS and Bajaj are counting down to a July deadline. Others, like Mahindra and Omega Seiki, saw this coming and started building workarounds.

This isn’t just a supply chain issue. It’s a geopolitical move. China controls over 90% of rare-earth processing and has tightened export rules, stalling approvals to countries like India. Now, even importing magnets requires a bureaucratic maze of guarantees, embassy sign-offs, and unanswered emails.

How are Indian EV makers are coping? 

Tune in to find out.

Post-pandemic, retail giants like Reliance and Aditya Birla Fashion were ready to bounce back and they weren’t being very subtle about it. Reliance Retail for instance opened nearly 6000 stores across fashion, groceries, electronics just in FY22 and FY23. But the retail dream of a booming post-Covid shopping spree that companies had sold themselves never really happened. Soon these companies had to hit rewind. Thousands of jobs were gone and hundreds of stores had to be closed down. 

Turns out, India’s fashion retail scene is scrambling for a reset.

But what exactly went wrong? Why did giants like Reliance, Aditya Birla, and Shoppers Stop stumble? And what’s the new playbook they’re following to survive?

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Everybody wants to invest, but not everyone knows how. There just aren’t many who can point investors in the right direction.

Registered investment advisors, or RIAs—either individuals or corporates licensed by the stock-market regulator—are an endangered species in India. While the country had about 192 million demat accounts as of March 2025, there were only about 941 advisors. That’s one advisor for over 200,000 investors. Pressure much?

You’d think the problem goes away if there were more Sebi-registered advisors. If only. In fact, the number of registered advisors in India has been declining over the past few years. Just in 2020, there were over 1,500 of them. The drop was largely attributable to the regulator.

Meanwhile, fintechs like ET Money and Value Research are attempting to plug this gap by offering investors automated advice for direct investment. But it's far from a done deal. 

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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.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here

Over the last four years, Croma has found itself in a curious spot. On paper, it’s Tata Digital’s crown jewel—contributing over half of its revenue and crossing ₹18,000 crore in sales last year. But behind the scenes, it’s also become Tata Digital’s favourite testing ground.

From sudden team transfers — like its entire marketing team being moved to Tata Digital overnight — to shifting strategies, Croma has borne the brunt of Tata’s endless experimentation. The result? Cracks in its business model, ballooning losses, but also one big silver lining: a 20 million-strong customer base that could be its ticket to a turnaround.

The real opportunity lies in tapping that customer base. But the catch? No one seems to know how to make that happen. 

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P.S The Ken’s podcast team is hiring! Here’s what we’re looking for.

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.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here

While Prada walks the ramp in Kolhapuris, here in India, Bata, the brand that once defined middle-class respectability, can barely find its footing. Bata which was once a household name, a back-to-school essential, a symbol of quality without fuss, is now finding itself squeezed. Too expensive for the value-hunting Zudio crowd and not fancy enough for the Birkenstock and Crocs-wearing folks.

Which is why Sandeep Kataria’s recent resignation as global CEO feels like a full circle moment. After all, it was under his leadership that Bata tried to pivot from utility to aspiration. But was it ever really able to shake off its image as the brand of the “everyman”? And more importantly, should it have even tried?

Here’s the deeper question: What do we, the Indian middle class, aspire to anymore? Is luxury about heritage and craftsmanship? Or just a European label and a five-digit price tag?

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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.

Category managers have shifted from routine e-commerce roles to powerful decision-makers in quick commerce. They now manage the limited shelf space in dark stores and decide which products get visibility on platforms like Instamart, Zepto, and Blinkit. 

Naturally, brands are aggressively courting them, with over 30,000 requests every month for just 150 slots. From hosting parties to taking them out for drinks, brands are pulling out all the stops. 

Meanwhile, category managers are urging brands to invest more in ads and marketing to stay competitive.

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*This episode was first published on Dec 19, 2024

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.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here

Turns out, in India’s healthcare industry, prevention isn’t just better than cure—it’s also far more investable.

The new buzzword making the rounds? Health assurance. Not insurance—assurance.

It means what it sounds like. Unlike traditional insurance, which kicks in after you fall sick, health assurance is about keeping you healthy to begin with.

A Pune-based startup called Loop Health was the first to introduce India to a variant of the same concept. 

It positions itself as a corporate broker, not an insurer. So it doesn’t underwrite risk, but instead sells third-party insurance products to HR heads and bundles its own health perks alongside. 

The assurance model has helped this seven-year-old startup grow rapidly. 

Loop is dreaming big. It’s done being the middleman. Now, it wants to go full stack. But between regulatory hurdles and skepticism from the insurance and broking circles, its success isn’t assured. 

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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 rise and fall of Pharmeasy is well documented. Once the poster child of the e-pharmacy boom, it reached a dizzying valuation of 5.6 bn USD at its very peak. But unfortunately, as we all know now, it didn’t last. 

Today the company is worth just 450 million USD – which, is a 90 per cent drop. From aggressive acquisitions to regulatory hurdles, and a failed IPO, Pharmeasy’s journey has been a cautionary tale of overreach.

But the brains behind the operation – Siddharth Shah – isn’t done yet. 

He’s back at it again with a new venture. Except this time, Shah has taken on the role of investor – while the founder spotlight is on his wife, Arpi Mehta. Their latest bet? MakeO – a startup that wants to bring invisible aligners, at-home cosmetic dentistry  and dermatology treatments to your doorstep. 

But despite its irresistible promise – convenience repackaged as medical-grade innovation – MakeO seems to be struggling to take off. 

Turns out, MakeO is drawing quite heavily from the Pharmeasy playbook. 

Will it end the same way?

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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.

Tata Electronics is assembling iPhones in Karnataka, aiming to become a key player in Apple’s global supply chain.

In this episode, we look at how the company is scaling by adding factories, hiring thousands of workers, and investing heavily in automation.

But it’s also facing high attrition, rising debt, and pressure to meet Apple’s strict standards.

Can Tata turn its manufacturing push into a long-term win?

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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.