🚚 Amazon joins Mumbai’s 10-minute hustle

Good morning and happy Friyay. Hope y’all have a lovely weekend when it arrives 💗 

Ruchirr Sharma & Shatakshi Sharmaa  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• 🪷 India - US: From Chill to Billions

• 🚚 Amazon joins Mumbai’s 10-minute hustle

• Bite-sized summaries

  • 🇺🇸 IMF flags U.S. strains

  • 🇪🇺 EU Trade Pact boost for autos

• 🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

MARKETS

🇮🇳 India

• Indian equities registered mild gains. The advance marked a fourth straight gain for the Sensex and a seventh for the Nifty, despite a record-low rupee and IT/auto sector weakness. Banking, energy, oil & gas, and public sector banks led gains, while the broader market saw subdued participation due to global market uncertainty and upcoming inflation data.

🌍️ International

• US stocks surged to fresh records. An in-line CPI inflation reading and a sharp rise in jobless claims boosted expectations of a Fed rate cut in September, sparking broad-based gains across equities.

INTERPLANETARY LIFE

🪷 India - US: From Chill to Billions

Remember a few months ago when India - US ties looked frostier than a Delhi winter morning?

• Trade talks had collapsed, Washington slapped a punishing 50% tariff on Indian exports, and Trump wasn’t shy about criticizing New Delhi’s Russian oil buys.

• The “strategic partnership” was starting to feel more like a strained WhatsApp friendship.

Fast forward to this week: a $4 billion defense deal is suddenly back on the table.

A US delegation (plus Boeing execs) is heading to India to discuss selling six P-8I naval surveillance aircraft to the Indian Navy. For context, India already has 12 of these submarine-hunting planes, and the new batch would significantly boost its maritime muscle in the Indo-Pacific—where China’s naval shadow looms large.

Why does this matter? 

• Because the deal isn’t just about planes. It’s about politics.

• The fact that this negotiation, first floated back in 2019, is alive again signals a real thaw. Modi and Trump have recently been trading warm words - “natural partners,” “very good friend” - and trade talks that were stalled are now creeping back on track.

Big picture: Washington gets a stronger partner in the Indo-Pacific, New Delhi gets advanced US tech to secure critical sea lanes, and both sides get to remind Beijing (and Moscow) that their handshake still has weight.

Sure, disagreements on agriculture, digital trade, and India’s balancing act with Russia/China still linger. But this $4B aircraft deal is more than hardware—it’s a symbol that India and the US may just be back in business.

Read more: Economic Times

AMAZON

🚚 Amazon joins Mumbai’s 10-minute hustle

Quick commerce in India is hotter than a Diwali sale, and Amazon just decided it’s not sitting this one out.

After test runs in Bengaluru and Delhi, the e-commerce giant has expanded its 10-minute delivery service, Amazon Now, to Mumbai—just in time for its Great Indian Festival sale on September 23.

The numbers look promising:

• Amazon says orders in Bengaluru and Delhi have been growing 25% month-on-month, powered by over 100 “dark stores” (mini warehouses). By year-end, it plans to add hundreds more.

• For shoppers, that means essentials in minutes, groceries and 40,000 items within hours, and millions more the same or next day.

Why now? 

• Because India’s quick commerce space has turned into a street fight.

• Blinkit (Zomato-owned), Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket, Flipkart Minutes, and Reliance’s JioMart are all racing to own the “I-need-it-right-now” customer.

• Amazon, which was relatively late to the party, is betting that its logistics muscle and festive-season momentum can help it catch up fast.

The bigger picture: Quick commerce isn’t just about convenience - it’s about winning daily habits. Groceries, veggies, personal care, snacks - these are items people buy multiple times a week. Whoever cracks that cycle earns loyalty, data, and eventually, market dominance.

Read more: Economic Times

GENERAL OVERVIEW

🗞️ Bite-sized summaries

🇺🇸 IMF flags U.S. strains - The IMF has warned that the U.S. economy is showing early signs of stress, with domestic demand moderating and job growth slowing. While inflation is easing toward the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, risks remain from the Trump administration’s tariffs, which could push prices higher. The IMF also noted that recent downward revisions to U.S. employment data were larger than usual, signaling potential weakness in the labor market. IMF staff will review these revisions with U.S. authorities in November, as concerns grow that America’s post-pandemic resilience may be waning.

🇪🇺 EU Trade Pact boost for autos - India’s proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU could unlock major opportunities for the domestic auto industry, said Commerce Ministry official Rajesh Agrawal. The pact, now in its 13th negotiation round, would allow Indian automakers greater access to European markets and partnerships with global giants, while gradually opening India’s market over 5–15 years to safeguard local players. Tariff reductions similar to those in the recent UK pact are expected, with built-in protections for sensitive sectors. Agrawal stressed that FTAs will strengthen supply chain resilience, reduce reliance on China, and push India’s auto industry toward global competitiveness.

HEADLINES

🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

What’s happening in India (and around the world 🌍️)

• Reliance Consumer to invest Rs 1,500 cr to set up manufacturing facility in Nagpur.

• Adani stops accepting sanctioned vessels at its ports.

• India is one of the top relationships US has in world today: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

• Dream11, three other startups off unicorn list after online gaming law.