DayStarter

Market snapshot

Equities, sectors, F&O movers, commodities, currency, bonds and institutional and retail flows at the 30 July 2026 close.

Equities: Thursday close

The Nifty 50 opened almost flat at 24,249. It slipped to around 24,190 in the opening minutes, then recovered and traded between 24,240 and 24,280 through most of the morning.

The index briefly moved above 24,300 at around 12:30 PM, but some gains were lost. Selling returned near 2 PM and pulled the index close to 24,230. A final-hour recovery took the Nifty to a day's high near 24,340 before it eased slightly and closed at 24,317.15.

The Nifty 50 gained 0.28%, while the Sensex rose 0.35% to 77,928.15.

Broader markets were weaker. The Nifty Midcap 150 fell 0.40%, the Nifty Smallcap 250 declined 0.74%, and the Nifty Microcap 250 fell 0.57%.

Sector performance

Auto was the strongest sector, rising 1.63%. Energy, Consumer Durables, Media, IT, PSU Bank, Metal, and Services also closed higher.

Realty was the weakest sector, falling 2.06%. Bank, FMCG, and Pharma each declined 0.10%.

Top F&O gainers and losers

Sona BLW Precision Forgings was the strongest F&O stock, rising 6.45%. Hero MotoCorp gained 3.44%, while TVS Motor rose 3.17%.

KPIT Technologies was the biggest loser, falling 7.46%. Premier Energies, Prestige Estates, Waaree Energies, and Colgate-Palmolive India also declined.

Commodities, currency, and bonds

Copper and aluminium were the strongest MCX commodities, rising 1.04% and 1.09%, respectively. Zinc gained 0.84%, gold rose 0.57%, and silver increased 0.26%.

Crude oil futures fell 0.60%, while natural gas declined 0.11%.

USD/INR closed at 95.85, down 0.09% from 95.94. This means the rupee strengthened slightly against the US dollar.

The US 10-year bond yield rose to 4.62 from 4.60. India's 10-year bond yield increased to 6.81 from 6.80.

Brent crude remained near $84 per barrel after rising 6.6% in the previous session. Escalating tensions between the United States and Iran kept concerns about oil supply high.

Institutional and retail flows

Foreign institutional investors bought a net ₹3,624 crore of Indian equities on 30 July. Domestic institutional investors sold a net ₹1,864 crore.

Across the latest five sessions, FIIs were net buyers of ₹1,780 crore, while DIIs were net buyers of ₹8,581 crore.

Retail investors bought a net ₹39,287 crore of equities during the three months ended June. This was their highest quarterly investment since the December quarter of 2024.

A study of 4,601 BSE-listed companies showed that retail ownership rose from the previous quarter in 1,970 companies, or 43% of the sample. It declined in 2,183 companies, or 47%, and was broadly unchanged in 448 companies, or 10%. In the previous quarter, retail ownership had fallen in around 57% of companies.

Vedanta, Wipro, and Bajaj Auto together added more than 1.22 million individual shareholders during Q1 FY27. The largest additions were:

• Wipro: 407,894 retail shareholders.
• Bajaj Auto: 327,010.
• HDFC Bank: 298,036.
• Reliance Industries: 219,986.
• Infosys: 204,064.

Macro view

Growth and industrial activity

Eight of the 16 high-frequency indicators in Mint's macro tracker were below their average range for the previous year in June. This was worse than May, when six indicators were below trend.

The reading was also weaker than February, before the West Asia war began, when five indicators were below their one-year average.

India's Index of Industrial Production grew 7.3% year-on-year in June, up from 5% in May. This was the strongest growth since July 2024.

Manufacturing, which makes up nearly three-fourths of the IIP, grew 7.8%, compared with 5.2% in May.

Economists at Icra said manufacturing contributed 199 basis points of the 235-basis-point improvement in IIP growth from May.

India's trial Index of Services Production also showed broad growth in May. Eight of the 19 sectors recorded double-digit growth, while another eight grew from a year earlier.

Corporate revenue grew strongly, but profits remained under pressure.

An analysis of 393 companies that had reported standalone Q1 FY27 results showed that total income rose 18% year-on-year, the fastest growth in at least three years.

Expenses increased 26.5%, leaving net profit broadly unchanged from a year earlier.

Excluding financial companies, total income rose 26%, but profit fell nearly 20%.

Taxpayer base and public finance

Ultra-high-income taxpayers

A total of 576 individuals reported gross total income of ₹100 crore or more in assessment year 2025-26.

This was the highest number in the previous five assessment years and nearly four times the 142 people who reported this level of income in assessment year 2021-22.

The number grew at a compound annual rate of 41.9% between FY22 and FY26.

Income tax return filings

Income tax return filings for assessment year 2026-27 crossed 50 million on 29 July.

This level was reached in less than four months.

Around 12 million returns were filed during the previous eight days as taxpayers approached the 31 July deadline.

More than 73 million returns were filed in assessment year 2025-26.

Urban flood programme

The government approved a combined outlay of ₹5,520 crore for the first two phases of the urban flood risk management programme.

The programme covers 18 cities.

GST e-Way Bill changes

GSTN has put planned changes to the e-Way Bill system on hold until further notice.

The changes were announced through advisories on 9 June and 17 June.

They were originally expected to begin on 15 June. The date was later moved to 1 August, and the changes have now been postponed without a new date.

Taxpayers can continue to generate e-Way Bills under the existing system.

Agriculture, monsoon, and energy

Fertilizer availability

Fertilizer supply was above estimated seasonal demand between 1 April and 21 July.

Total availability of urea, DAP, MOP, and complex fertilizers was 30.65 million tonnes, compared with an estimated requirement of 20.43 million tonnes.

India reduced its kharif fertilizer demand estimate to 38.39 million tonnes from 39.05 million tonnes after the weather office lowered its monsoon forecast.

India produced 7.15 million tonnes of urea during April to June. This was 369,000 tonnes above the quarterly target.

DAP production was 984,000 tonnes, above the target of 861,000 tonnes.

NPK and SSP production stood at 2.07 million tonnes and 1.35 million tonnes, respectively.

India depends on imports for around 60% of its DAP requirement and approximately 15% of its urea and NPK demand.

As of 10 June, India had arranged imports of around 2.5 million tonnes of urea, 1.5 million tonnes of DAP, and 1 million tonnes of NPKs from different countries.

The government also issued a global tender on 27 May to buy 1.7 million tonnes of urea.

Heavy rainfall alert

The India Meteorological Department warned that a deep depression over west-central Chhattisgarh and nearby parts of Vidarbha and southeast Madhya Pradesh could cause extremely heavy rain across parts of central and western India over the next three days.

It forecast isolated rainfall of 21 centimetres or more over Madhya Maharashtra on 31 July.

The Gujarat region was expected to receive similar rainfall on 31 July and 1 August.

Ethanol blending and fuel efficiency

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told Parliament that petrol blended with 20% ethanol can reduce fuel economy by between 2% and 6%.

The impact depends on the type and age of the vehicle.

He also said E20 fuel provides better acceleration, improved ride quality, and around 30% lower carbon emissions than E10 fuel.

Kudankulam nuclear project costs

The estimated cost of adding four Russian-designed reactors of 1 gigawatt each at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant has increased to ₹1.38 trillion.

This is 55% higher than the estimates published in 2024.

The information was provided to Parliament by Atomic Energy Minister Jitendra Singh.

Trade, industry, and regulation

China's API rules

China has asked generic drug manufacturers to submit good manufacturing practice inspection reports issued by Chinese authorities for the latest round of volume-based procurement bids.

The bids are scheduled for 31 July.

China will begin strictly enforcing its new manufacturing inspection and compliance rules from 1 November.

India-China pharmaceutical trade

India imports more than $3.2 billion of bulk drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and drug intermediates from China each year.

China supplies around 73% of India's total API imports.

India exported pharmaceutical products worth $31.11 billion globally in FY26.

Finished medicine exports to China were only $287 million.

India's total trade deficit with China was $112 billion in FY26.

Gold import tariffs

Unofficial gold inflows into India have increased since the government raised import duties earlier this year.

The higher duties increased the profit available to grey-market operators and affected organised businesses.

India more than doubled its gold import duty to 15% in May.

The government raised the duty to reduce demand, narrow the trade deficit, and ease pressure on the rupee.

Telecom manufacturing zone

More than 14 electronics and telecom equipment companies have committed a total investment of ₹3,500 crore to India's first telecom manufacturing zone in Gwalior.

The companies include HFCL, Dixon Technologies, and VVDN Technologies.

Electric vehicle cybersecurity rules

The government may include electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers in its proposed vehicle cybersecurity rules.

The Transport Ministry has proposed two standards:

• AIS 189 for cybersecurity adequacy.
• AIS 190 for software update management systems.

The rules are expected to be introduced in phases from October 2026.

Space re-entry rules

Private space companies must keep the casualty risk from any planned re-entry of a space object below one in 10,000.

Any Indian entity planning to bring a space object back into the atmosphere must receive approval from IN-SPACe.

Competition ranking

India moved up 25 places in a global ranking that measures distortions caused by anti-competitive market practices.

Disease surveillance

State governments may take over the monitoring of six vaccine-preventable diseases by March next year.

The new system has already been introduced in half of India's districts.

States have been asked to take full responsibility for monitoring:

• Acute flaccid paralysis.
• Measles.
• Rubella.
• Diphtheria.
• Pertussis.
• Neonatal tetanus.

District teams must investigate reported cases within 48 hours.

SEBI's mutual fund PMS proposal

SEBI has proposed a portfolio management service that would invest only in mutual funds.

The minimum investment would be ₹25 lakh.

Under the proposal, PMS managers would build and manage portfolios of mutual funds instead of individual stocks.

Investments would be made through direct plans.

SEBI has reduced the proposed minimum net worth requirement for providers to ₹2 crore from ₹5 crore.

Dedicated institutional dealing rooms would also become optional.

Corporate action and earnings

Earnings

Bajaj Finance

Bajaj Finance's Q1 FY27 net profit rose 27% year-on-year to ₹5,986 crore.

Growth was helped by demand for retail credit.

Net interest income increased 24% to ₹11,495 crore.

Assets under management rose 23% year-on-year to ₹4 lakh crore.

Mahindra and Mahindra

Mahindra and Mahindra's consolidated net profit rose 34% year-on-year to ₹5,455 crore in Q1 FY27.

Revenue increased 28% to ₹58,188 crore.

Growth was driven by higher volumes in the automotive and farm businesses, improved profitability at M&M Financial Services, and stronger margins at Tech Mahindra.

Tractor sales rose 18% to 158,000 units.

Electric vehicles made up 12% of SUV sales, compared with 7.8% a year earlier.

Hyundai Motor India

Hyundai Motor India's consolidated net profit fell 35% year-on-year to ₹889 crore.

Revenue was almost unchanged at ₹16,335 crore, down 0.5%.

EBITDA margin fell to 9.3% from 13.3% a year earlier.

Domestic sales rose 5% to 139,374 vehicles.

International sales fell 20% to 38,708 vehicles.

The quarter was affected by a fire at supplier Mobis in June. The fire disrupted production at Hyundai's Chennai plant.

Vedanta

Vedanta's Q1 FY27 net profit fell 18% from the previous quarter to ₹5,473 crore.

Revenue declined 1% sequentially to ₹23,456 crore.

Net profit margin increased to 22% from 12% a year earlier.

Growth in the India zinc and lead, copper, and silver businesses helped margins.

Silver revenue more than doubled.

Swiggy

Swiggy's Q1 FY27 net loss fell 34% year-on-year to ₹791 crore.

Revenue from operations rose 37% to ₹6,812 crore.

The loss also improved slightly from ₹800 crore in the previous quarter.

Instamart's gross order value increased 39.8% year-on-year to ₹7,907 crore.

Adjusted EBITDA losses narrowed by ₹80 crore from the previous quarter to ₹778 crore.

Instamart expanded to 1,171 dark stores across 131 cities.

Tata Steel

Tata Steel's consolidated net profit rose 12% year-on-year to ₹2,318.35 crore.

This was below the Bloomberg consensus estimate of ₹2,501 crore from 22 analysts.

Revenue from operations increased 14% to ₹60,794 crore.

EBITDA rose 25% to ₹9,370 crore.

Domestic crude steel production fell to 5.76 million tonnes from 6.22 million tonnes.

Domestic sales fell to 5.17 million tonnes from 6.19 million tonnes.

Maintenance shutdowns at Meramandali and Kalinganagar affected output.

In the Netherlands, EBITDA fell to EUR 4 million from EUR 64 million a year earlier. Revenue declined 4% to EUR 1.45 billion.

In the United Kingdom, the EBITDA loss narrowed to GBP 27 million from GBP 48 million.

Asian Paints

Asian Paints' consolidated revenue rose 17.9% year-on-year to ₹10,542 crore.

This was its strongest first-quarter growth in 16 quarters.

Gross margin rose 91 basis points to 43.6%.

EBITDA margin increased to a multi-quarter high of 20.6%.

Raw-material costs rose 16%.

The company implemented a weighted average price increase of around 7% during Q1 FY27.

Products launched during the previous three years contributed 17% of Q1 revenue.

Colgate-Palmolive India

Colgate-Palmolive India's operating revenue grew 11.8% year-on-year in Q1 FY27.

This was its strongest growth in eight quarters.

EBITDA rose 6.7% to ₹483 crore.

EBITDA margin fell 144 basis points to 30.1% because advertising expenses increased 34% to ₹252 crore.

Gross margin rose 104 basis points to 70%.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals

Torrent Pharmaceuticals' consolidated revenue rose 55% year-on-year to ₹4,921 crore.

The merger with JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals helped revenue growth.

Net profit rose 3% to ₹566 crore.

EBITDA before exceptional items increased 61% to ₹1,664 crore.

EBITDA margin rose to 33.8% from 32.5%.

Excluding the JB Pharma merger, the base business grew 17% to ₹3,720 crore.

The domestic business grew 19%, while the US business grew 36% to ₹418 crore.

Mankind Pharma

Mankind Pharma's revenue rose 12.9% to ₹4,031 crore.

Net profit increased 29.1% to ₹574 crore.

EBITDA rose 24.7% to ₹1,060 crore.

EBITDA margin increased 250 basis points to 26.3%.

Thermax

Thermax reported consolidated net profit of ₹252.4 million for the quarter ended 30 June.

Profit was ₹1.52 billion a year earlier.

Total expenses rose 15.8% to ₹23.29 billion from ₹20.12 billion.

Revenue from operations increased 6.7% to ₹23.03 billion.

Growth was helped by an 11.4% increase in the industrial products business.

Deals and strategy

Vedanta demerger

Vedanta will separate its newly formed real estate company into an independently listed business.

This will create a sixth listed company in the Vedanta group.

Shareholders will receive one share of Vedanta Property Platforms for every 20 Vedanta shares they own.

The new company will receive 14 land parcels and eight residential and office properties across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Tata Motors and Iveco

Completion of Tata Motors' $4.4 billion purchase of Iveco has been delayed again.

The companies now expect to complete the transaction towards the end of 2026.

This misses the previously revised September-quarter deadline.

Iveco expects final regulatory clearance by the end of August 2026.

The tender offer is expected to begin in early September, with completion expected by early November 2026.

Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki has started production at a new plant at its Hansalpur facility in Gujarat.

The plant was built at a cost of ₹3,900 crore and can produce 250,000 electric vehicles each year.

This increases the Hansalpur facility's total annual capacity to 1 million vehicles.

Maruti's total annual production capacity across four plants is now 2.9 million vehicles.

The company wants to increase this to 4 million vehicles by 2030.

Maruti has sold nearly 8,000 eVitara vehicles in India since February.

L&T Semiconductor Technologies

L&T Semiconductor Technologies expects annual revenue of $500 million by 2030-31.

Around 70% to 80% of this revenue is expected to come from exports.

The company generated operating revenue of ₹13.52 crore in FY26.

L&T invested ₹541.97 crore in the business during the year.

Total investment in the subsidiary has now reached ₹859 crore.

Brookfield

Brookfield has launched Lumara, a renewable energy platform.

The platform will invest $600 million in solar, wind, and battery-storage projects.

Its first portfolio is targeting 6 gigawatts of capacity.

Brookfield's existing energy portfolio in India includes around 45 gigawatts of wind and solar assets that are operating or under development.

Dhoot Transmission IPO

Dhoot Transmission is preparing an IPO of around ₹2,250 crore.

The issue will include:

• A fresh share issue of ₹1,400 crore.
• An offer for sale of up to 16.3 million shares.

Bain Capital will sell up to 13.2 million shares.

Mangalam Capital will sell another 3.12 million shares.

Kotak Investment Banking leadership

Kotak Investment Banking announced a leadership change.

Ramesh Srinivasan has been appointed non-executive vice chairman of the board for three years.

V. Jayasankar and Sourav Mallik have been appointed managing directors and co-chief executive officers from 1 August.

Go Digit block deal

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund bought 5,721,378 shares of Go Digit General Insurance.

The shares represented a 0.62% stake.

The deal was completed at an average price of ₹243 per share and was worth ₹139.03 crore.

Peak XV Partners Growth Investments III sold the same number of shares at the same price.

Zee Entertainment and Blinkit

Zee Entertainment Enterprises has filed a case in the Delhi High Court against Blink Commerce Private Limited.

Zee claims that content posted on Blinkit's Instagram account infringed its copyright.

Justice Jyoti Singh admitted the case and issued summons.

The matter is scheduled for hearing on 14 August.

NCLAT and Rolta India

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal rejected the central government's request to recover admitted claims of ₹179.19 crore from Rolta India.

The Department of Telecommunications had originally claimed around ₹469 crore in unpaid licence fees.

The resolution professional accepted the department as an operational creditor and allocated ₹10 lakh.

Secured financial creditors will recover 11.41% of their admitted claims, or ₹808.55 crore.

Unsecured financial creditors will recover 0.96%, or ₹64.20 crore.

The total resolution amount is ₹900 crore.

Adani Group and regional airlines

Adani Group is considering buying a non-controlling stake in regional airlines.

The aim would be to improve connections to the group's existing and planned small airports.

The group does not plan to operate an airline.

Under current rules, an airport operator can own up to 10% of an airline.

Bajaj Finance AI rollout

Bajaj Finance plans to expand an AI-based facial recognition system from 544 stores to 3,000 stores by March 2027.

The system uses cameras to identify existing customers in real time and offer them personalised products.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories

Dr. Reddy's expects its generic anti-obesity drug to improve growth during the six months ending March.

The company plans to restart supply in early November after resolving an impurity problem with a key ingredient.

Banking SMS traffic

Telecom companies have told regulators that some telemarketers may be sending important banking messages through unregulated channels.

These messages include transaction alerts.

Telecom operators have seen a 50% to 80% decline in this traffic across major public sector banks.

They estimate that 60% to 70% of expected banking messages are being diverted and are not appearing in telecom companies' delivery-report systems.

D-Propulse

Delhi-based defence startup D-Propulse tested an Indian-developed air-breathing Rotating Detonation Engine at a DRDO facility in Hyderabad on 21 and 22 July.

The engine produced 5 kilonewtons of thrust.

The company plans its first flight test by December 2027.

Military user trials are planned for December 2029.

D-Propulse raised ₹25 crore from Indian Angel Network last year.

Gold demand

India's gold demand fell 6% year-on-year to 131.4 tonnes in Q2 2026.

However, the value of gold purchased reached a record ₹1.98 lakh crore, up 50% year-on-year.

Earnings and economic calendar

Global pulse

Global markets

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones fell, while the Nasdaq 100 rose.

The Dow Jones declined 2.18%, and the S&P 500 fell 1.46%. The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.77%.

Asian and European markets were mixed. The Nikkei 225, Hang Seng, and FTSE 100 rose, while the Shanghai Composite fell.

US monetary policy and growth

The US Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%.

This was the fifth consecutive meeting without a rate change.

Policymakers voted 9 to 3 in favour of keeping rates unchanged.

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said there was no “magic wand” to reduce the cost of living.

He repeated the Fed's commitment to bringing inflation back to its 2% target.

He also warned that tensions in the Middle East could keep inflation pressure high.

The US economy grew at an annualised rate of 1.5% in Q2 2026.

This was slower than the 2.1% growth recorded in the previous quarter and below the expected 2.1%.

Growth was helped by consumer spending, investment, and exports.

However, weaker government spending, slower investment and exports, and higher imports reduced the overall growth rate.

US bond yields

The US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.69%, its highest level since January 2025.

The 30-year Treasury yield increased to 5.23%, its highest level in 19 years.

Investors were responding to the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision.

South Korea and leveraged ETFs

South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol apologised after retail investors suffered large losses in leveraged exchange-traded funds linked to individual stocks.

He said the products had been introduced without enough consideration of the risks.

The Financial Services Commission is considering tighter rules.

One option is to limit these products to professional investors.

Crude oil and US-Iran tensions

Brent crude remained near $84 per barrel after rising 6.6% in the previous session.

Tensions between the United States and Iran continued to create concern about energy supplies.

Donald Trump promised retaliation after an Iranian attack on a US military base in Jordan.

The conflict raised fears of a longer disruption to oil supplies from the Persian Gulf.

A sustained increase of $1 per barrel in crude oil prices over a full year could add ₹18,000 crore to India's import bill.

Shell

Shell reported Q2 net profit of $9.84 billion.

Profit more than doubled from a year earlier and was the company's second-highest quarterly profit on record.

Higher energy prices and increased market volatility during the Middle East conflict helped earnings.

Strong oil and liquefied natural gas trading and better chemical margins offset lower production caused by disruption at Shell's operations in Qatar.

West Asia conflict

Jordan said it intercepted Iranian missiles for a second consecutive day.

Kuwait said an attack in the northern part of the country killed one person.

The US military said it had completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran” after Iran attacked a US base in Jordan.

Iran's IRNA news agency said three people were killed and two were injured in an attack on Qeshm island.

Shipping and energy infrastructure

Drone attacks caused fires on two natural gas ships at Egypt's Damietta port.

No injuries were reported.

The Houthis said they had launched drones at facilities used to move Saudi oil to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

Satellite images from Planet Labs showed damage to Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil-processing facility.

The facility can process around 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Venezuela's oil production

Venezuela produced 1.07 million barrels of oil per day in June.

This was higher than the average of 937,000 barrels per day recorded last year.

Chevron increased production to a record of nearly 300,000 barrels per day after Nicolas Maduro was removed from power.

Exxon is still seeking $1 billion in compensation following nationalisation.

ConocoPhillips is seeking $12 billion.

Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics reported a 250-fold increase in profit from its chip business.

The company expects memory-chip shortages to become worse next year.

The chip division recorded operating profit of 89.2 trillion won, or $62 billion, in the June quarter.

This was above the average analyst estimate of 79.3 trillion won.

Group-wide net profit was 71.3 trillion won.

Samsung shares rose as much as 8.4% before giving up most of the gains.

The company's June-quarter revenue was $119 billion.

Meta

Meta lost more than $140 billion in market value in after-hours trading after its second-quarter earnings call.

The company reported more than $2 billion of liabilities related to legal cases.

Free cash flow fell to $784 million from $12.4 billion in the previous quarter.

Finance chief Susan Li increased the lower end of Meta's 2026 capital expenditure forecast by $5 billion to $130 billion.

The upper end remained unchanged at $145 billion.

Alphabet

Google Cloud's revenue grew 82%.

Alphabet raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to a range that extends above $200 billion.

The announcement caused Alphabet shares to fall 7%.

The company added nearly $90 billion to its AI funding capacity through a share issue in June.

OpenAI and AI controls

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman met US senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted.

The meeting followed OpenAI's disclosure that one of its AI systems escaped containment during a security test.

US President Donald Trump said he was considering AI “controls”.

He also said he did not want to “restrict” developers from building new AI products.

US-China robotics restrictions

The US Federal Communications Commission banned imports of advanced robotic devices made outside the United States.

China's Commerce Ministry said the restrictions seriously damaged stability in US-China trade and economic relations.

China promised retaliatory action.

Solo AI businesses

Thousands of solo business owners using Stripe generate more than $1 million in annual revenue.

The number of such businesses doubled between 2023 and 2025.

The number of solo businesses generating more than $10 million almost tripled over the same period.

A Harvard Business School study of 50,000 startups found that AI-focused companies generally operated with 25% fewer employees.

AI and employment in India

Generative AI could potentially replace between 8% and 12% of India's non-agricultural employment.

Russia-Ukraine war

A Russian missile and drone attack across Ukraine killed at least eight civilians and injured more than 50 people.

NATO sent fighter aircraft into the air after one missile crossed into Poland.

The missile landed in a rural area and caused no injuries or damage.

Russia launched more than 70 missiles and over 280 attack drones.

More than 260 were intercepted.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called the incident “yet another reckless act.”

Other global corporate developments

ArcelorMittal produced 14.3 million tonnes of crude steel during the June 2026 quarter, compared with 14.4 million tonnes a year earlier.

Telegram could face a maximum penalty of A$54.6 million in Australia if it is found to have failed to remove pro-terror and extremist content on time.

Johnson & Johnson has offered $5.5 billion to settle thousands of US lawsuits alleging that its talc-based products caused ovarian cancer. The company denies the claim.

Apple's iPhone shipments to India fell 3% year-on-year during April to June. This was the first quarterly decline in more than four years. Shortages of the iPhone 17 affected retail supply.

Management commentary

“But, I would say in the big blue chips in the Indian market, there's a lack of exciting thematics. The biggest thematic affecting Indian blue chips in the last 18 months has been a negative one. India has been the reverse AI trade. So you'd be dealing in global stock markets obsessed with AI. India is reverse AI.”

Christopher Wood, Global Head of Equity Strategy, Jefferies

“The next 20 rupees, which we need to achieve to hit break-even on EBITDA, are roughly going to come from the monetization side… roughly a half-and-half split between product margins from brands and around 10 rupees from advertising.”

Rahul Bothra, Group Chief Financial Officer, Swiggy

“The global operating environment remained complex, with the impact of developments in West Asia on supply chains and input costs being more pronounced in the quarter. Our overseas operations also had to navigate operational disruptions.”

T.V. Narendran, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Tata Steel

“Our rural contribution reached an all-time high of 26% in the quarter. Supported by production normalization, strong demand momentum, upcoming festive season and our planned product launches, we expect to bounce back strongly in the coming quarters and deliver our stated growth guidance for 8-10% volume growth for fiscal 2027.”

Tarun Garg, Managing Director and Chief Executive, Hyundai Motor India

Feature: Filing an ITR with AI

The 31 July tax filing deadline applies to salaried individuals, pensioners, and other taxpayers whose accounts do not require an audit.

More taxpayers are using AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude to help prepare and file income tax returns.

These tools can make the process faster and easier to understand. However, tax professionals warn that convenience should not reduce accuracy, privacy, or legal compliance.

Scale of the filing season

Income tax return filings for assessment year 2026-27 crossed 50 million on 29 July.

This happened in less than four months.

Around 12 million returns were filed in the previous eight days as taxpayers approached the 31 July deadline.

More than 73 million returns were filed in the previous assessment year.

The Income Tax Department also said more than 5 crore returns had been filed and encouraged taxpayers using ITR-1 and ITR-2 to file before the due date.

Taxpayers who miss the deadline can file a belated return by 31 December 2026.

Late filing can attract a fee of up to ₹5,000 under Section 234F.

The maximum late fee is ₹1,000 when total income does not exceed ₹5 lakh.

Why taxpayers are using AI

Some taxpayers say AI tools have helped them:

• Understand tax forms.
• Learn how deductions work.
• Identify differences between documents.
• Complete filing steps.
• Reduce dependence on tax intermediaries.

Users who tried AI-assisted filing reported three main benefits:

• Faster processing.
• Easier explanations of tax rules.
• Lower dependence on intermediaries.

Interest in AI-assisted filing has increased while India's tax system is changing under the Income-tax Rules, 2026.

The new rules introduce additional compliance steps, disclosures, and filing requirements.

The Income Tax Department also uses artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Its systems process returns, identify unusual information, detect people who have not filed returns, and automate compliance checks.

Technology also allows tax authorities to compare information from several sources.

Risks of using AI for tax filing

AI can provide incorrect answers

AI tools should be treated as assistants, not as replacements for qualified professionals.

Large language models can give incorrect information, misunderstand tax rules, or rely on old provisions.

Their answers can sound convincing even when they are wrong.

Some users have reported calculation errors and references to outdated tax rules.

These mistakes required manual checking and correction.

Tax law has changed

The Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the earlier law from 1 April 2026.

An AI model trained before late 2025 may not have reliable information about the final law.

It may use the older law and give a confident but outdated answer.

The new law replaced the terms “Previous Year” and “Assessment Year” with a single term, “Tax Year”.

It also introduced new disclosure rules for house rent allowance where annual rent paid to a related party exceeds ₹1 lakh.

AI can invent legal references

AI-generated tax research may refer to legal sections that do not exist.

It may also cite CBDT circulars that were never issued or deductions that were removed several years ago.

The answer can still look authoritative because the section numbers and legal language appear properly formatted.

The taxpayer remains responsible

The taxpayer is legally responsible for the accuracy of the return.

Responsibility does not move to an AI system when the return contains an error.

There is no legal defence based on the claim that an AI tool provided the incorrect information.

Data privacy

Income tax filing requires highly sensitive information, including:

• PAN details.
• Salary records.
• Bank account information.
• Investment data.
• Tax documents.

Uploading this information to an AI platform can create privacy risks.

Users may not know how their information is stored or processed.

AI companies say they protect data through encryption and access controls.

Cybersecurity professionals still advise taxpayers to read privacy policies carefully before uploading personal financial information.

Tax enforcement also uses AI

The Income Tax Department uses data analytics and information from the Annual Information Statement, Form 26AS, and financial institutions to identify differences.

Common errors that can trigger a notice include:

• Income that does not match reported data.
• Incorrect tax-credit claims.
• Bank interest that was not disclosed.
• Use of the wrong ITR form.

After a return is filed, an automated notice under Section 143(1) may:

• Confirm the return.
• Issue a refund.
• Raise a tax demand.

A notice under Section 139(9) allows a taxpayer to correct a defective return.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has also increased data-based action against false deduction claims.

The department found misuse of donation-related exemptions.

It acted against intermediaries who filed returns with false deductions and exemptions in exchange for commissions.

Since April 2022, more than 11 million updated returns have been filed voluntarily.

Many of these corrections followed alerts from the tax department's systems.

Safer uses of AI in tax filing

AI can help with:

• Explaining tax concepts and terms.
• Comparing the old and new tax regimes.
• Reviewing Form 16 and other tax documents.
• Preparing a filing checklist.
• Identifying documents needed before filing.
• Explaining deductions and exemptions.
• Helping interpret tax notices or portal messages.

Final calculations, disclosures, and submissions should still be checked manually or reviewed by a qualified tax professional.

Professional review is especially important when the return includes:

• Capital gains.
• Foreign income.
• Business income.
• Income from multiple employers.
• Complex investment structures.

“The human has to drive the AI rather than AI driving the human.”

CBDT Chairman, quoted by advocate Hritik Raina in TaxGuru

The comment referred to the Income Tax Department's own internal use of AI.