Daily News - Friday, 2 May 2025
India’s media and entertainment industry can grow over $100 billion in next decade: Mukesh Ambani (The Indian Express)
India’s media and entertainment industry, currently valued at $28 billion, has the potential to grow to over $100 billion within the next decade, creating millions of jobs and boosting entrepreneurship, according to Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani at the WAVES 2025 summit. He emphasised the need for investment in advanced content clusters, training in animation and VFX, incentives for IP creation and AI innovation, and a supportive regulatory framework to realise this growth. Highlighting India’s unparalleled storytelling capabilities and the integration of AI and immersive technologies, Ambani expressed confidence that Indian creators could lead the global entertainment industry in the future.
Air India may face $600m loss from Pakistan airspace ban, mulls China route: Report (The Times of India)
Air India expects to incur additional costs of approximately $600 million (₹50 billion) annually due to Pakistan’s closure of its airspace, following a recent terror attack in Kashmir, and has formally requested government compensation through a subsidy model to offset the financial impact. The airline, which reported a $520 million net loss on $4.6 billion in revenue in FY 2023–24, is particularly affected due to its extensive long-haul routes to Europe and North America, now requiring longer detours that increase fuel burn and crew deployment. With 26.5% market share and 1,200 scheduled international flights in April (including IndiGo and Air India Express), Air India also sought diplomatic support for alternate overflight routes via China and regulatory approval to deploy additional pilots on extended U.S. and Canada routes.
Exports touch new high of $825 billion (Financial Chronicle)
India’s total exports of goods and services reached an all-time high of $824.9 billion in 2024–25, marking a 6.01% increase over $778.13 billion in 2023–24, driven largely by a 13.6% surge in services exports, which hit a record $387.5 billion. March 2025 alone saw a year-on-year rise of 18.6% in services exports to $35.6 billion, with key contributions from telecommunications, IT, transport, travel, and financial services sectors. While this reflects strong export resilience, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) warned of slowing order inflows from the US and Europe and urged the government to introduce an interest subvention scheme to support exporters amid global trade uncertainties.
Adani pauses talks with Israel's Tower for $10 billion chip foray: Sources (The Hindu)
Adani Group has paused its $10 billion semiconductor joint venture discussions with Israel’s Tower Semiconductor, citing strategic and commercial uncertainties, particularly around domestic demand in India’s nascent chip market, which currently accounts for just 6.5% of global semiconductor end-demand. The project, approved by Maharashtra in September to produce 80,000 wafers monthly and create 5,000 jobs, was also delayed due to Adani’s dissatisfaction with Tower’s limited financial commitment, despite their role in providing technological expertise. This development, following the earlier collapse of Vedanta-Foxconn’s $19.5 billion venture, marks another setback for India’s chipmaking ambitions under the “Make in India” initiative, although Tata’s $11 billion plant and Micron’s $2.7 billion packaging unit remain in progress.
Export promotion plan to have 12 sub-schemes (Financial Express)
The government has drafted the Export Promotion Mission (EPM), which includes 12 sub-schemes aimed at addressing exporters’ credit needs, offering marketing support, and easing regulatory challenges. The mission, led by two key initiatives, NIRYAT PROTSAHAN (Trade Finance Support) and NIRYAT DISHA (Market Access), proposes a dedicated credit scheme for new exporters and MSMEs called NIRVIK, aimed at providing rupee export credit at globally competitive interest rates. Additionally, another scheme will support financing for emerging export opportunities in new markets or products, reinforcing the government’s focus on inclusive and targeted export growth.
