☀️ Tata’s solar power play

Good morning. Good day - let’s go after it 🙏 

Ruchirr Sharma & Shatakshi Sharmaa  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• ☀️ Tata’s Solar Power Play

• 🧑‍🌾 Rebooting India’s Farm Future

• Bite-sized summaries

  • 🚬 Delhi Chokes Again

  • 🛢️ India Cuts Russian Oil Buys

• 🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

GREEN TRANSITION

☀️ Tata’s Solar Power Play

Tata Power just plugged the last missing piece of India’s solar manufacturing puzzle. The company plans to build the country’s largest solar ingot and wafer plant, with a whopping 10 GW capacity — enough to light up millions of homes.

To unpack that: 

• Ingots and wafers are the base materials for solar cells - the heart of any solar panel.

• Until now, India mostly made solar modules (the panels themselves), but relied heavily on imports from China for wafers and ingots.

• Tata Power’s move changes that, creating a fully “Made-in-India” solar supply chain for the first time.

The timing couldn’t be better. With the U.S. hiking tariffs on Indian solar exports, local manufacturers are pivoting inward. The Indian government, meanwhile, is pushing for domestic production to cut import dependence and is dangling financial incentives to lure big players.

For context: Adani Group currently runs a 2 GW wafer-ingot plant — Tata’s new facility would be five times that size. It’s not just about green energy anymore; it’s about energy independence and industrial self-reliance.

And Tata Power’s ambitions don’t stop at solar — it’s also eyeing nuclear power, as India targets a 10x jump in nuclear capacity by 2047.

In short: Tata Power isn’t just chasing the sun. It’s helping India own it.

Read more: Economic Times

AGRITECH

🧑‍🌾 Rebooting India’s Farm Future

For years, India’s agri-tech story has been one of promise without reach. Drones, AI-driven advisories, precision irrigation - all sound impressive, but here’s the catch: 86% of India’s farmers still haven’t felt their impact.

A new ASSOCHAM report says the problem isn’t innovation; it’s isolation.

Technologies are scattered across thousands of startups, government programs, and research centers, but they rarely talk to each other.

The result? A fractured ecosystem where brilliant ideas die before reaching the soil.

The report calls for a unified agri-tech ecosystem - a system where startups, research bodies, and states collaborate through “agri-tech sandboxes.” Think of these as real-world testing labs that let innovations prove their worth on the ground before scaling nationwide.

It also proposes creating an Agricultural Data Commons, a shared data platform that breaks down silos between ICAR research, market data, and private agri-tech databases. The model? Telangana’s Agricultural Data Exchange, which already lets stakeholders share farm data securely.

The shift it’s calling for is massive: from product-centric innovation to context-fit technology, solutions designed around farmers’ needs, affordability, and environment.

That means smarter financing (like crop-cycle-based loans), community-driven ownership, and digital upskilling for farmers.

In short, India’s next Green Revolution won’t be fought with tractors or fertilizers, but with data, collaboration, and design thinking. The future of farming depends on whether innovation can finally meet inclusion.

Read more: Economic Times

GENERAL OVERVIEW

🗞️ Bite-sized summaries

🚬 Delhi Chokes Again - Delhi recorded its first severe air quality day of 2025, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching 428, prompting the government to enforce Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). Authorities banned non-essential construction, stone crushing, and mining, while schools up to Class 5 moved online. The Commission for Air Quality Management said calm winds and a stable atmosphere trapped pollutants near the ground. Experts warned that if levels rise further, Delhi could enter Stage IV, bringing stricter curbs. With vehicle emissions, stubble burning, and industrial smoke worsening the situation, the city faces another winter of toxic air.

🛢️ India Cuts Russian Oil Buys - India’s major refiners have halted Russian crude purchases for December, marking a major shift driven by US sanctions and rising tariffs. Five refiners, including Reliance and BPCL, skipped orders after President Trump doubled tariffs on Indian imports and sanctioned Russia’s top oil firms, Rosneft and Lukoil. Only Indian Oil and Nayara Energy placed limited orders. The move reflects caution as India nears a potential trade deal with Washington and explores alternatives in the US and Middle East. Russia, which supplied 36% of India’s oil this year, may now lose ground as refiners secure supplies from Saudi Aramco and ADNOC instead.

HEADLINES

🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

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

• JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. reported a year-on-year profit jump in Q2, driven by strong domestic demand.

• India’s high domestic sugar price is expected to limit its sugar exports, despite allowance to export up to 1.5 million metric tons in 2025/26.

• LG Electronics India Limited’s IPO became India’s most valuable consumer-durables listing, surpassing its parent and setting a new benchmark.

• Global share markets are being driven by reopening optimism and expectations of U.S. rate cuts; safe-haven assets like gold are picking up too.

• Businesses worldwide are committing to “return on action” at COP30, showing jobs, growth and security can come from climate action — signalling a business-environment shift.

• The White House expects the U.S. economy to return to growth of 3%-4% by early 2026 after losses from the recent government shutdown.

• Morgan Stanley warns that the current trade “truce” between the U.S. and China may be temporary, and investors should plan for renewed tensions, tech decoupling and supply-chain fragmentation.