By Erick So, er, our Prime Minister advised some things, such as don’t use cooking oil or take foreign tips for sometime. And he said buy local. Which is what people like me have been saying for a while now. For tech, this was harder to justify before because we just didn’t have the hardware or software to match the standards of global tech giants like Apple and Google. Until now!….. almost.
This week there was more partnerships and investments announced for India. This post lists the ones that matter for the tech landscape in India. But first, we need to start with the undercovering of what could be one of the largest gambling-fraud operations in India.
ED’s Gameskraft Probe Reveals Terrible Stuff
ED’s anti-money laundering probe into Gameskraft founders continue, this week they froze assets worth ₹526 crores. The agency also seized some bullion and gold (which our PM said not to buy for atleast one year) and some incriminating documents and records. This is less than a week after their 3 founders were arrested.
Turns out there’s much more. The ED said that GamesKraft operated multiple online real-money rummy platforms under brands such as RummyCulture, RummyPrime, Playship and RummyTime, along with a B2B operation called RummyCorner. The company had a user base of some 3 crore users in India, allegedly (if true that’s crazy). A substantial number of users originated from states where even before the nation-wide ban in 2025, real money games were severely restricted or complete banned – states such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The company tampered with geolocation systems to give users in these states access to their gambling platform.
In other very serious allegations, the company charged 10 to 15% commission on user-placed bets while not being transparent about it to users. And worse, the company used bots to compete against unspsecting users without their knowledge. Users were initially enticed with smaller rewards and allowed to withdraw their earnings to build trust. Then once players increased their betting sizes, the bots got into action and made users lose a lot of money. The ED probe revealed that users lost more than ₹1,000 crores in total to bots.
The probe arose from multiple FIRs lodged in several states under cheating provisions of the Indian Penal Code. As part of the probe, the agency said that user complaints received by the company revealed severe financial distress suffered by several users. Further investigation is underway.
Remind everyone to never, ever, gamble online. Not through RummyCircle, Dream11, Polymarket, or any platform that asks you to put down real money to place bets. If you see such a website report them to the National Indian Gaming Commission at once.
Uber to Setup Data Centre in India with Adani
Uber is establishing its first data centre in India in collaboration with Adani. In a post, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said India is becoming a major innovation hub for Uber, and the new facility will be used to test and roll out its technology.
He added that the centre is expected to go live later this year and will support Uber’s broader global tech goals from India. “Ready later this year, this investment will help us build at scale, from India, for the world,” he said.
Jio IPO Continues IPO-ing
Akash Ambani, who has been on Jio’s board since forever, has been named MD of Jio Platforms for a period of five years starting now. But that’s not surprising news.
But what is slightly surprising is that the Jio IPO is now going to be a fully “fresh issue” rather than what was deemed to be an “offer for sale”. According to ET, this was due to disagreements in pricing from investors. Which investors? Not clear. It could be Google, Meta, Vistas, and other big names.
This feels like another power move for the Ambanis. The ET report states that Jio Platforms has shifted its planned Mumbai IPO to a pure fundraising exercise, abandoning earlier plans that would have allowed major foreign investors to sell some of their shares (as I reported in TWITI #17 of 2026). This is so that the price of Jio shares would be determined solely by the market post-IPO.
Reliance now plans to raise fresh funds totalling 2.5% of the company’s size. “Investors were not keen to sell and wanted to stay invested for the long term,” one of the sources said.
So the IPO is still happening, Akash Ambani is officially at the helm, major investors seemingly told to stay in line and they don’t want to offload their stake. In other words, billionaires keep their billions.
Speaking of IPO, Flipkart has been asked by “chief parent company” Walmart to defer their IPO till 2027, and focus on achieving breakeven EBIDTA for the current fiscal year. So that’s one less “massive IPO” to complete with Jio’s IPO in scale this year.
Some Quick Commerce Enabler Company Makes News
Shadowfax, which describes itself as a technology-driven third-party logistics (3PL) company focused on enabling digital commerce in India, plans to serve metro-city dark stores within a 7 km radius, aiming for delivery times of around 30 minutes. It also plans to add 85 dark stores.
Yes, it’s a quick commerce company. More specifically, it’s an enabler – it’s a last mile delivery provider. Its clients are Flipkart, Zepto, Swiggy, and the usual suspects. And this has been this week’s quick commerce related news.
Apple Antitrust Case: Delhi HC tells CCI to Pause Final Order till July 15
The Delhi High Court on Friday told the Competition Commission of India (CCI) not to issue a final order in its ongoing antitrust case against Apple, which concerns allegations of dominance abuse in the App Store market.
A bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said the regulator can continue its investigation, but must hold off on any final decision until the next hearing on July 15. The court said a final order now could complicate matters because Apple’s constitutional challenge to key parts of the Competition Act is still pending.
This is…. disappointing. Apple has been dragging this by refusing to provide its global financials, then accusing the CCI of “overstepping its jurisdiction”. Disappointing to see the Delhi HC actually allow Apple to drag this for another two months. Anyway.
Gig Worker Union Calls for 5 Hour Nation Wide Strike
The Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) has called on drivers and delivery workers linked to platforms like Uber, Ola, Rapido, Swiggy, Zomato, and Blinkit to halt their services between 12 pm and 5 pm on May 16.
According to the union, rising petrol and diesel prices have significantly increased operational expenses for gig workers, even though incentives and per-kilometer payments have stayed mostly the same. The workers’ main demands include updated pricing models, fuel-based financial assistance, and better pay for drivers and delivery staff.
I hope some arrogant CEO doesn’t tweet tomorrow saying – without evidence – that their order volume was the highest during those 5 hours.
Headlines
Here’s a quick runthrough of the other news-worthy tech news for India:
- Spotify has removed its Premium Lite plan in India. Priced at ₹139 per month, Premium Lite gave subscribers ad-free listening and the ability to choose what plays next. It had been introduced in November 2025 across five markets, including India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the UAE. At the same time, Spotify has lowered the Premium Standard plan from ₹199 to ₹139 per month, while students can now get it for ₹69 instead of ₹99. That puts both plans back at their August 2025 prices, after they were raised more than five years later.
- Maharashtra’s Transport Minister has once again called for Ola, Uber, and Rapido bike taxi services to be shut down. In a letter dated May 12 to the Additional Director General of Police, Maharashtra Cyber, Pratap Sarnaik alleged that these apps have been running passenger transport services in the state without the required permission, government approval, or compliance with transport department rules.
- Zoho Corporation has announced a ₹70 crore investment in the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). The company said the funding will help advance ONDC’s long-term goal of creating open, interoperable digital commerce infrastructure for enterprises, consumers, and service providers across India.
- Semiconductor Startup HrdWyr Raises $13 Mn To Build AI-Native Chips. The funding will supposedly accelerate the development of the company’s AI-native system-on-chip (AISoC) products and expand customer engagements across key global markets.
- Tencent has exited its entire 1.05% stake in PB Fintech, the parent company of PolicyBazaar, via a block deal valued at ₹805.4 crore. The sale underscores shifting public market liquidity and the profit-taking trend among early investors in Indian new-age companies.
- Ola Electric plans to invest ₹2,000 crore into its EV and battery cell manufacturing arms in the next 12 months.
Five Finds Of The Week
This week’s theme is travel (LOL). Because PM Modi said postpone international travel, but he didn’t say postpone local travel.
Here are five things I don’t travel without:
- Power bank
- Wall charger with two inputs
- Extra USB-C cable
- Kindle paperwhite
- Water bottle (not tech, I know but please carry one).
Btw, if you travel-vlog with your iPhone phone, you may consider this water bottle with a magsafe tripod-thingie. And send me your videos, I promise I will like and subscribe.
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