Almost, ALMOST into 2026. And I have a podcast that will launch on January 1st, 2026. Stay tuned!

India’s tech story is moving fast this week, from homegrown chips and AI models to big bets in mobility, fintech and gaming. Here’s a clean, easy-to-skim roundup of what matters most for all your lovely people out there so you can continue too tay informed about Tech in India.

Big Moves by Big Tech

Flipkart’s “reverse flip” home to India

Flipkart has received approval to shift its country of incorporation from Singapore back to India. This clears a big hurdle for its India IPO and signals a deeper long-term commitment to the local market. Although, I wonder if Flipkart would have done this if the IPO was not on the horizon. Flipkart, which is backed by Walmart, has enjoyed the growing Indian e-commerce market for years now while making us all think it is an Indian company. And now they want to quietly do Desh Wapsi? Let’s remember this when they launch their IPO.

Freshworks buys FireHydrant

Freshworks has agreed to acquire US-based FireHydrant, an AI-native incident management and reliability platform. FireHydrant’s tools will plug into Freshworks’ IT service and operations products, with the deal expected to close in early fiscal 2026. If you haven’t heard of Freshworks check them out it’s a cloud-based SaaS company that was founded in 2010 by two ex-Zoho employees. Are they a listed company? Yes, but they are listed on the NASDAQ and not in India. *eye roll*

And yeah, they are not headquartered in India but are headquartered in the US. I guess it’s because they primarily target the US market.

Apple eyes India for chip work

Apple is reportedly planning to move part of its iPhone chip assembly and advanced packaging work to India. This extends India’s role beyond phone assembly and fits both Apple’s China-plus-one strategy and India’s semiconductor ambitions. Apple’s silicon – especially since the M1 chip launched in the early COVID days – is actually some of the most advanced in the world. It will be super cool if Apple silicon is made in India and Trump with his stupid tariffs can go f—

Google Pay launches its first credit card

Google Pay has launched its first-ever credit card globally, starting in India with Axis Bank and RuPay. Users can manage the card inside the Google Pay app, earn rewards and tap domestic RuPay rails for wide acceptance.

I think this is cool for those who want to carry around a physical credit card. Although the usual warnings about using any new financial services come with it – check on the fees, make sure it is fully paid, etc.

Remember that Apple launched the Apple Credit Card in 2019 in the US in partnership with Goldman Sachs. As far as I know, the Apple Credit Card is nothing but a status symbol. Maybe this will also be just a status symbol.

Google’s India AI funding push

Google has announced 8 million dollars to support India’s AI ecosystem through Centres of Excellence and startup grants. The money will back research, talent building and early-stage companies working on India-focused AI solutions.

Seriously, why do they want to push so much money in India? Just in the last few weeks they announced a Google AI Plan, a $10bn investment in Vizag, and more (see TWITI #50 and others from 2025). They want more of our data, I’m telling you!

India’s AI & Semiconductor Leap

India launches its own 64-bit chip: DHRUV64

India has unveiled DHRUV64, its first indigenous 64-bit, dual-core, 1 GHz microprocessor based on RISC-V. Built by C-DAC, it targets uses like 5G gear, automotive systems, industrial automation and IoT and is a key step toward chip self-reliance. What does all this mean? I’m not sure about the technical bits, but any new locally-designed and made semiconductor is a milestone in India’s journey towards global tech dominance.

G42’s Hinglish-ready Nanda 87B model

Abu Dhabi-based G42 has released Nanda 87B, a Hindi–English (Hinglish) language AI model with 87 billion parameters. Built on Llama 3.1 and trained on tens of billions of Hindi tokens, it ships as an open-weight model for developers and enterprises.

Abu Dhabi based. Not India-based. Another one.

TCS’s AI revenue and expansion plans

TCS has reported around 1.5 billion dollars in AI-linked revenue, counting projects where AI is a meaningful part of larger deals. It also plans an “AI City” campus in Lucknow and is ramping up AI-focused hiring to serve global and Indian clients.

Why did TCS lay of 12,000+ people this year then?

By the way did you know that TCS actually started in Lucknow way back in 1987?

TCS sets up a unit in Bhutan

TCS has created a new subsidiary in Bhutan as it grows its South Asia delivery network. The unit will support global projects and tap local talent, adding another near-shore hub to its footprint.

Again, why did TCS lay of 12,000+ people this year then?

Cognizant opens Cyber Defense Centre in Bengaluru

Cognizant has launched a Next-Gen Cyber Defense Center in Bengaluru, its largest such facility worldwide. The centre offers 24/7 managed security, AI-driven threat detection and a threat research lab for faster incident response.

Mobility, Transport & Connectivity

Bharat Taxi to go live in Delhi on January 1

Government-backed Bharat Taxi, billed as India’s first cooperative taxi service, will launch for riders in Delhi on January 1, 2026. Run by a cooperative and following a zero-commission model, it already has tens of thousands of drivers and will offer cars, autos and bikes.

This may break one of the great duopoly of Industry India – the Ola/Uber duopoly. Fingers crossed.

Jindal Group’s Trevel takes on Ola and Uber

The DS Jindal Group has launched Trevel, a premium chauffeur-driven electric cab service starting in Gurugram. It uses a company-owned EV fleet with salaried drivers and is focusing on pre-booked city rides and airport trips before adding rentals and outstation.

Indian Railways’ free Wi‑Fi and more CCTVs

Indian Railways now offers free Wi‑Fi at 6,117 stations across the country via RailTel’s RailWire network. CCTV cameras have also been installed at over 1,700 stations and nearly 12,000 coaches to improve safety and monitoring.

For those worried about more surveillance because of CCTV at railway stations – it is a public space, more surveillance is good.

Airtel Africa partners with Starlink

Airtel Africa has tied up with Starlink to extend connectivity across 14 African countries. Starlink will provide satellite backhaul so Airtel can improve mobile and enterprise services in remote and underserved regions.

Still no starlink launch date in India.

Policy, Regulation & Governance

OTT content stays outside CBFC

The Centre has clarified that OTT (Over The Top) content in India will remain outside the Central Board of Film Certification’s control. Streaming platforms will instead stay under the IT Rules’ three-tier system of self-regulation, self-regulatory bodies and government oversight.

Still, good thing AltBalaji got banned (see TWITI #30 of 2025).

CNAP rolls out on telco calls (but not WhatsApp)

Major Indian telcos have started rolling out CNAP, or Calling Name Presentation, which shows the caller’s name on regular mobile calls. The feature works on telecom networks and does not apply to encrypted internet-based calls such as WhatsApp.

I wrote about this here.

ED searches Dream11 in Jai Corp probe

The Enforcement Directorate has searched Dream11’s premises as part of a money laundering probe linked to Jai Corp. Investigators are examining financial flows involving gaming-related entities and their links to the wider case.

Karnataka HC seeks WinZO financial details

The Karnataka High Court has directed gaming platform WinZO to submit detailed financial and revenue information. The order aims to bring more clarity to money flows and tax treatment in the real-money gaming sector.

CCI clears Coinbase investment in CoinDCX

The Competition Commission of India has approved Coinbase’s proposed investment in Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX. The clearance lets the deal go ahead and gives CoinDCX more global backing amid still cautious crypto regulation.

Fintech, Payments & Startups

Paytm gets payment aggregator licences

Paytm has received RBI approval for payment aggregator licences covering offline and cross-border merchant payments. It can continue onboarding merchants for in-store and international transactions even as its payments bank faces tighter scrutiny.

In case you’re wondering, A payment aggregator (PA) is a third-party service that lets businesses accept various digital payments (cards, UPI, wallets, etc.) through a single platform, acting as an intermediary between merchants, customers, and banks. Instead of each business getting its own merchant account with every bank, the PA uses one master account, making it faster and easier for businesses, especially small ones, to start taking payments quickly, offering a unified, streamlined payment acceptance solution. If you want to know more read this article.

Gnani.ai’s Indic speech-to-text model

Bangalore-based Gnani.ai has launched a new Indic speech-to-text model under the IndiaAI Mission. It supports multiple Indian languages and accents and targets call centres, voice bots and multilingual customer support.

Gnani.ai has launched Vachana STT, a speech-to-text model built for Indian languages, under the IndiaAI Mission. The startup said the model has been trained on more than 1 Mn hours of real-world voice data and is part of its upcoming voice technology stack, VoiceOS.

Credit to Inc42 for breaking this news.

Ather Energy steps into insurance distribution

Ather Energy has entered auto insurance distribution for its electric scooters through partner insurers. It can now bundle insurance with vehicle sales and tighten control over the overall ownership experience.

For now, it makes some pretty slick looking two-wheelers.

Digantara raises 50 million dollars for space data

Space-tech startup Digantara has raised 50 million dollars to expand its space situational awareness services globally. The company tracks satellites and debris to help operators avoid collisions and will use the funds to scale data infrastructure and overseas operations.

Normally I don’t include news about startups raising money because I don’t really think they are news-worthy enough for everyone. But this I wanted to include because it’s a space-tech startup. Also, it has a very cool logo.

PhysicsWallah ups its stake in Xylem

Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah has invested about INR 122 crore to increase its stake in test-prep company Xylem, which also has its own learning app. The deal strengthens its offline coaching network as it blends digital classes with physical centres.

This company really seems to be taking leaps!

Flipkart takes a stake in Minivet AI

Flipkart has acquired a stake in Minivet AI to deepen its use of artificial intelligence in ecommerce. The investment should help improve search, recommendations and backend automation on its platform.

No, Minivet has nothing to do with vets. It is a Generative AI startup develops tools that help e-commerce platforms turn static product listings into visual and video based content.

I wonder if the CCI should step in and stop Flipkart from acquiring any stake in such a startup.

If you enjoyed this roundup, I will keep bringing you the most important India-first tech stories in simple, sharp language every week. Share this with someone who tracks India’s tech ecosystem, and reply with the one story you want a deeper breakdown on next.

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