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Articles by Abhik Sen
As the FIFA World Cup draws to a close, Adidas India has its sights set on the goal: Engaging with the domestic fan base
The tickets have been sold out. The finalists are in place. The stadium is waiting. Millions across the world are waiting with bated breath for the final proceedings to commence. As the FIFA World Cup 2026 draws to a close, global sportswear majors would be looking back at a tournament that they dominated. Consider this: The World Cup featured 48 teams this year, of which 37 had their kits being provided by either Adidas, Nike, or PUMA. These three companies dominated in the Round of 16 as well.
Sports fans fuel billion-dollar business beyond superstars
Scene I: It is late afternoon on a balmy Tuesday in early June at a popular shopping mall in tony South Delhi. Not the busiest of times. People are sauntering in — most are office-goers who have slipped out a tad early. A young couple enters the Adidas store gingerly to click photos with the giant cut-outs of football stars. Soon, they make their way to the corner where FIFA World Cup jerseys are stacked.
Why Virat Kohli is India’s most valuable celebrity brand, ahead of SRK and Priyanka Chopra
Cricket icon Virat Kohli is India’s most valuable celebrity with a brand value of ₹3,542 crore. Credits: Team Virat Kohli AGILITAS SPORTS, co-founded by Virat Kohli, recently unveiled the One8 Seam XVIII line of shoes, said to be inspired by cricket’s red ball. The maximum retail price for each pair is ₹10,000; after discount the price is ₹9,230. Why is the discounted price number special?
India needs to plug the skilling gap and build institutions of excellence on its path to Viksit Bharat. Here’s why
Ashish Dhawan (left), founding chairperson, board of trustees, Ashoka University, and Pramath Raj Sinha, chairperson, board of trustees, Ashoka University. Credits: Sanjay Rawat FOR A COUNTRY firmly on the path to Viksit Bharat by 2047, India has a skilling problem. According to the India Skills Report 2026, by talent assessment and remote proctoring company Wheebox, employability has steadily increased since 2021, from 45.9% to 56.35%. Yet, nearly 44% of the workforce remains unemployable.
Reed Hastings and operating on the edge of chaos
Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and chairman, will step down from the streaming giant’s board of directors when his term ends in June. He plans to focus on philanthropy and other pursuits, said the letter to shareholders that Netflix posted while announcing its first quarter results for 2026. Around five years ago, Hastings, in an exclusive interview to Fortune India, had held forth on a host of topics over a video call from a ski lodge in the Utah mountains, while a storm raged outside.
MNC 500: How the sum of multiples is propelling the BBK group’s India story
BBK Electronics is ranked 6th on the Fortune India MNC 500 list Credits: Anirban Ghosh TEENAGERS ARJUN BANNERJEE and his younger sister Aditi (both names changed) are as different as chalk and cheese. With differing tastes and needs, their choices of smartphones also vary distinctly.
Academic institutions of excellence are paramount for India’s growth story, say Pramath Raj Sinha and Ashish Dhawan of Ashoka University
India is firmly on the path to Viksit Bharat by 2047. With of one of the world’s youngest working populations, education and skilling are of utmost importance, especially higher education.
Poetry in motion: Personalised supercars that are a class apart
Rolls-Royce is known for customising its cars — but this one, from its Coachbuilt division, takes it to a whole new level. The primary palette of the car — a coupé that transforms to an open-top roadster — is dark pomegranate and shimmery black, inspired by the Black Baccara rose found in France. The car cocoons its occupants within parquetry depicting an abstract expression of falling rose petals, formed using 1,603 pieces of black wood veneer triangles.
Flashback 2025: The year in pictures
U.S. President Donald Trump, with his policy of reciprocal tariffs, has had a few big wins, such as trade deals with the EU and Japan. But it has also had tough negotiations with countries like India, which is in the process of stitching up a trade deal. The U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on Indian exports, along with a penal 25% tariff for buying Russian oil.
Passions: Timepieces that are pieces of art or horological marvels
(L to R): Patek Philippe, Breguet Marine Hora Mundi 5555, Richard Mille RM 88. Inspired by a painting on silk by Japanese artist Itô Jakuchô (1716-1800), Patek Philippe made just 10 pieces of this perfectly proportioned timepiece as part of their Rare Handcrafts collection. Merging Japanese art with Swiss precision, it features a Grand Feu cloisonné enamel dial showing a yellow-crested cockatoo perched on a pine branch.
The cream of India Inc. to gather in Mumbai today to celebrate India’s Best CEOs 2025
Fortune India to host India’s Best CEOs 2025 event in Mumbai today Credits: Fortune India The crème-de-la-crème of Corporate India will gather in Mumbai’s Trident hotel in Nariman Point this evening for the India’s Best CEOs 2025 awards to honour the country’s iconic business leaders—industry captains who have navigated a turbulent, challenging, and uncertain market environment to ensure their companies emerge winners in the marketplace.
The Sound of Music: The Pick of Audio Equipment for a Bespoke Experience
D’Agostino Relentless Monoblock Amplifiers and Pre-amplifier THE amp is at the heart of any audio system. And if you want the purest form of audio to be amplified, who better to do it than Dan D’Agostino, former chief engineer of American hi-end audio firm Krell Industries? For a bespoke system, pair the Relentless Preamplifier with the pictured Relentless Epic 1600 monoblock amplifier — one Epic 1600 to power each speaker in the setup — and your amps are sorted.
How agritech is revolutionising supply chains and retail in agriculture
SANJEEV BIKHCHANDANI has inspired a generation of founders. One of them is IIT Delhi alumnus Shashank Kumar. Around 2010, Kumar, who was in consulting then but mulling his own venture, attended an event where the Info Edge co-founder was a speaker. Kumar recalls that someone asked how one would know that one had the right idea for a startup.
How agritech is revolutionising supply chains and retail in agriculture
SANJEEV BIKHCHANDANI has inspired a generation of founders. One of them is IIT Delhi alumnus Shashank Kumar. Around 2010, Kumar, who was in consulting then but mulling his own venture, attended an event where the Info Edge co-founder was a speaker. Kumar recalls that someone asked how one would know that one had the right idea for a startup.
Abhik Sen
A journalist with nearly 20 years of experience in media and an MA in English Literature, Abhik has varied interests in technology, business, science, law, food, and travel. He started his journey as a journalist with The Telegraph, Calcutta, and has subsequently worked with Hindustan Times, Business Standard, the India Today Group, and also Fortune India during an earlier stint.
Middle class will get substantial benefits with slab changes: CBDT Chairperson
Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) Chairperson Ravi Agrawal has said that the tax benefit is not confined to income up to ₹12 lakh only and will extend to taxpayers in the other slabs too, benefitting the entire middle class substantially. “Tax benefit is not confined only to income of ₹12 lakh. The middle class is not only limited till the income of ₹12 lakh. Benefits have been extended across slabs. Till annual income of ₹24 lakh, the tax slab is less than 30%.
How chatbots, like on Whatsapp and JioMart, are the new rage in e-commerce
4 hours ago The reports stated that Ola will invest $920 million through its subsidiaries Ola Electric Technologies and Ola Cell Technologies, drawn to the growing demand for EVs in India Tamil Nadu state government, in an official statement, said that electric vehicle manufacturer Ola Electric would invest …
Chemically induced crosslinked enhanced emission of carbon polymer dots discerning healthy and cancer cells through pH-dependent tunable photoluminescence
Chemically induced crosslinked enhanced emission of carbon polymer dots discerning healthy and cancer cells through pH-dependent tunable photoluminescence† Suman Nayak,a Kanika Guleria,‡a Abhik Sen,‡b Subhrajeet Banerjee,a Ranga Subramanian a and Prolay Das *a Abstract Chemically induced crosslinked enhanced emission (CEE) of urea and citric acid-derived carbon polymer dot (CPD) nanoparticles is established here with a rare zero linker approach, i.e. without the use of any separate crosslinkers.
Chemically induced crosslinked enhanced emission of carbon polymer dots discerning healthy and cancer cells through pH-dependent tunable photoluminescence
Chemically induced crosslinked enhanced emission of carbon polymer dots discerning healthy and cancer cells through pH-dependent tunable photoluminescence Suman Nayak, Kanika Guleria, Abhik Sen, Subhrajeet Banerjee, Ranga Subramanian and Prolay Das Abstract Chemically induced Crosslinked Enhanced Emission (CEE) of urea and citric acid-derived Carbon Polymer Dots (CPD) nanoparticles are established here with a rare zero linker approach, i.e. without the use of any separate crosslinkers.
Sonata Software's strategy for success
When P. Srikar Reddy took over as CEO of Sonata Software in 2012, the Bengaluru-based IT firm needed direction. Set up in the 1980s, the company listed on the bourses in 1999, and “stayed horizontal”, as Reddy puts it, for about 12 years, at which point its market value was around $20 million. Today, a decade later, Sonata’s stock has soared by a multiple of 40-45, while the firm has gone from a loss-making entity to posting multiple years of profit.
Smart gadgets for an isolated home
Covid-19 has confined us indoors, with the home becoming the world for many of us. Working from home has become the de facto standard for most; keeping in touch with friends and family virtually is the norm these days; and watching a movie now means curling up in front of the television with some popcorn.
How BharatPe, the fintech startup, earned rich profits through QR codes.
Ashneer Grover (left) and Shashvat Nakrani, co-founders of fintech firm BharatPe. Image: By Special Arrangement Enterprise BharatPe has the shopkeeper at the centre of its fintech universe. This has paid rich dividends to the company. All thanks to QR codes. By Abhik Sen, Jun 10, 2021 Shopkeepers in India are a harried lot. Events like the Covid-19 pandemic usually hit mom-and-pop or kirana stores the hardest; margins are shrinking every other day.
How Facebook is betting big on content creators and small businesses in India, via Whatsapp and Instagram.
Ajit Mohan started following Lily Collins after watching her on Netflix’s Emily in Paris. He found on Instagram that the actor had recently invested in Beekeeper’s Naturals, a Canadian natural health product company that makes bee by-products like raw honey and bee pollen. The brand has quite a star following, from Drew Barrymore to Kourtney Kardashian. After discovering the brand on Collins’ post, Mohan, 46, is all set to order its products.
How Invest India, led by Deepak Bagla, has become the government's own startup, a vision led by Narendra Modi.
Deepak Bagla, who heads Invest India, is betting on ‘cooperative competitive federalism’. Image: By Special Arrangement Enterprise The young and lean team at Invest India, the national investment promotion and facilitation agency, is functioning like a startup to bring investments to the country.
We embody the idea of Make in India: IBM India MD
Although discussions on Aatmanirbhar Bharat may have gained prominence since the pandemic, IBM India has been living with the concept of Make in India for a long time, says the computer giant’s MD Sandip Patel. Last year, IBM decided to spin off its managed infrastructure services unit into an independent, standalone business, referred to as NewCo. The remainder would be a hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (A.I.).
Powered by text, Route Mobile soars
Rajdipkumar Gupta (left), MD and group CEO, and Sandipkumar Gupta, chairman, Route Mobile. Image: Courtesy Padmini B Enterprise Route Mobile, a cloud communications platform for enterprises, has had a dream run on the bourses since its listing last year. At the core of this success is the humble text message. By Abhik Sen, Mar 16, 2021 September 21, 2020 turned out to be a red-letter day for brothers Rajdipkumar and Sandipkumar Gupta.
Giving old televisions a new lease of life
Technology The Tata Sky Binge+ offers the convenience of single set-top box to watch all your content on—which is compatible with even CRT TVs. By Abhik Sen, Feb 28, 2021 Image: Tata Sky When I was in school, there used to be a popular song by Bruce Springsteen, “57 channels (And Nothin’ On)”.
Netflix and its battle for India
Keep it simple. As simple as pasta and tomatoes. That, in a nutshell, is the philosophy followed by Reed Hastings, the billionaire founder and co-CEO of Netflix. Here’s the other, complementary part of his philosophy, for life and work: Do a few things but do them extremely well. Hastings knows a thing or two about doing something extremely well. And with maximum impact.
Cybersecurity is the risk of this decade: IBM CEO
Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman and CEO, has called out cybersecurity as the "risk of this decade". And while this comes as no surprise, nations need to think about whether they will put in the same kind of effort on cybersecurity as they do on physical security and monetary security, he said. "When land was the thing, countries fought wars with each other. When money in bags became the issue, you had bank robbers, embezzlement, fraud, and so on.
Watch: Keshav Murugesh on the future of work
Multimedia In an interaction with Fortune India, Keshav Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS, and former chairman, Nasscom talks about the future of work and adding more diversity to the workforce, among other things. By Sourav Majumdar AND Abhik Sen, Feb 18, 2021 Covid-19 has transformed the digital journey—from being important, to one that is urgent.
‘The most remarkable change has been Reliance Jio’
What do you think of competition? Will there be consolidation in the OTT space? If you look at many markets on the Internet, it’s pretty fragmented with lots of different players. Think how difficult it is to create a television station in any country. It’s much easier to create a video website. So, I think there’ll be a lot of choices. We hope to be the best in premium television, and that we win a lot of hours of viewing and please people, but there will always be a lot of competition.
Paytm’s big play
“I cannot tell you the excitement, the anger, and the energy that was bubbling inside us… It was more like ‘if not now, when? If not us, who? Let us do [it].’” Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s enthusiasm was infectious even over a Zoom call. The 42-yearold founder of home-grown fintech major Paytm, last valued at $16 billion, was visibly stoked about the Paytm Mini App Store for Android phones. Reason?
How safe is the Covid-19 vaccine?
The vaccine for Covid-19 is here and the roll-out in India is imminent. In such a scenario, a looming question playing in the minds of everyone is whether the vaccine is safe. Do we go in for it once it becomes available? These are questions many would have to deal with sooner than later. Every step of research, every hiccup, and every milestone has been discussed and debated from newsrooms to drawing rooms, and on social media.
India readies for Covid-19 vaccine roll-out
A vaccine for Covid-19 is knocking on India’s doors. On Wednesday, December 30, the U.K. gave the go ahead to the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine. It is believed, India will approve the vaccine soon, after the U.K. regulator, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), gave the nod for emergency use authorisation. In India, the vaccine is called Covishield and it is being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India.
Adani seeks resolution of HDIL via asset demerger
All three prospective bidders of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) have stayed away from submitting any resolution plan as the deadline expired on January 7. Instead, one of them, Adani Properties Private Ltd (APPL), has filed an interlocutory application in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), seeking partial resolution of HDIL by way of demerger of the identified assets, liabilities, right, title, and interest of the scam-hit real estate company.
Economic rebound could follow after India’s steepest GDP fall
Image: Illustration by Anirban Ghosh Macro As per National Statistical Office data, India's GDP may contract by 7.7% this fiscal year, worst since 1951-1952. The World Bank paints an even bleaker picture. But hope for recovery still abounds. By Prerna Lidhoo , Jan 10, 2021 This is the worst performing year for India’s economy since India began publishing its gross domestic product (GDP) data. 1951-1952 was the fiscal year when India first began to publish its annual GDP data.
Petrolheads ahoy! Here’s to a new set of wheels
Whoever said money doesn't buy happiness mustn’t have sat inside a luxury sedan. These cars are stunning, outlandish, and are the stuff of dreams. Not just hallmarks of comfort, these cars encapsulate that feeling of having arrived. That after all the hard work, success is no longer a distant ship on the horizon, but is something tangible. All five luxury cars listed here are defined by cutting edge engineering, design, and performance.
Milagrow and the rise of the robots
When one thinks of a robot, chances are the image that comes to mind is that of a humanoid assistant. For more than 50 years, science fiction writers, notably Isaac Asimov, have shaped the idea of robots for many of us. And films and television have aided it, adding to the mystery surrounding the world of robots. Reality, however, is quite different.
High tide: boAt nets $100 million in investment
Consumer electronics startup boAt has raised $100 million from Warburg Pincus, a U.S.-based private equity giant, reportedly at a valuation of about $300 million. The headphones maker, known for its budget-friendly earphones and speakers is seen as one of the most successful electronics hardware startups from India post the deal. The company—which started in 2016—will utilise the money to boost its research and development capabilities and product portfolio, besides other areas.
The boom that didn't go bust
For investors, 2020 was touted to be a bumper year for initial public offers (IPOs) in India, as the government was keen to dilute its stake in insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), among other public sector entities. Back-of-the-envelope calculations pointed at a multi-billion-dollar valuation for LIC, and its dilution tranches were expected to crowd out other issuers, sucking away money supply. But March saw the onslaught of Covid-19, which soon ballooned into a pandemic.
Rise of financial fraud in a Covid-19 world
The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed a lot of people into the digital world. Thanks to the threat of the virus a lot of people have had to adapt to using various digital tools to lead their lives—from working, shopping, studying, to getting entertained, paying bills, and carrying out banking transactions. With the surge in people using online banking, banks have also had to scale up. According to experts, Covid-19 has acted as a catalyst for digital banking services.
India must protect app makers: Paytm founder
India needs foreign shareholding and foreign capital, but it also needs to protect the interests of Indian developers and save them from being heavily reliant on just one tech firm, says Paytm founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Sharma says this in the context of Alibaba-backed Paytm’s spat with Google after the financial services app was pulled off the tech giant’s Play Store on Android for a few hours last September for allegedly violating its policies.
The movers and shakers of 2020
The January issue of Fortune India is usually about the Move of the Year—a corporate or policy development in the year gone by which has the potential to be a game changer and impact companies or the business environment. The past year has been one of unprecedented disruption, where the Coronavirus pandemic caused havoc across the world, causing even the mightiest economies to shudder and look for ways to get back on their feet. India, of course, was no exception.
The fuel for business resilience
On a sunny October afternoon last year, Ajit Mohan, vice president and managing director, Facebook India, in a conversation with Fortune India, had talked about social videos and social commerce, mentioning the social media giant’s minority stake in Meesho, a social commerce platform. That was a time when the popularity of social video app TikTok was spreading like wildfire across India, and some people had doubts about the success of social commerce in India just yet.
Luxury residences see brisk business during pandemic
For some luxury businesses, the pandemic has been nothing short of a blessing. Count super luxury apartment developers amongst the lucky few. Four Seasons Private Residences by Provenance Land in Mumbai is designed by international architecture firm Gensler and design pros George Yabu, Glenn Pushelberg, and Wannaporn Phornprapha and touts interiors inspired by jewels and precious stones for which India is famous across the world.
Delhi’s Machan: Where the taste of history lingers
It was on a hot summer afternoon in 1980 that 26-year-old Ajit Singh first met his future wife Ankita at the Taj Mahal hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, Machan. A few months later, in October of that year, they were married. “Machan will always hold a very unique place in our hearts. Over the years we have visited the restaurant several times, especially for birthdays and anniversaries,” says Singh. In October this year, the Singhs completed 40 years of being together.
How tyre import curbs hit India’s luxury car market
If you are the owner of a premium car and are now scouting for replacement tyres, you may be in for deep disappointment. Six months after India’s government brought in tough measures to restrict import of tyres into the country, the aftermarket for superior quality tyres used in luxury cars is reeling under an acute shortage. The dealers who used to import ultra-high performance tyres and served the replacement segment till recently are out of business now.
More focussed on cloud than ever before: IBM
Technology In an exclusive interview with Fortune India, Gaurav Sharma of computer giant IBM, opens up about the company's growth strategies, and its focus on cloud and A.I. By Abhik Sen, Dec 8, 2020 Image: Alamy The International Business Machine Corp. (IBM) is betting big on the hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence. From its acquisition of software company Red Hat in 2019, to the recent acquisition of Instana, IBM seems to be putting the pieces in place for this strategy.
‘We want to become the Netflix of cybersecurity’
Technology In an exclusive chat, Lucideus co-founder and CEO Saket Modi says that with their SAFE Me app, they want to put people at the front and centre of the cyber defence matrix. By Abhik Sen, Dec 7, 2020 Image: Courtesy of Lucideus If you’ve asked any CEO which was the most important asset of their organisation, the answer most of the time is people.
The force is with Arundhati
The average age at the State Bank of India was around 47; here it’s 30,” says Arundhati Bhattacharya. “It probably went up with me joining.” It was light banter from the 64-year-old and, on the face of it, there’s nothing remarkable about her new role. After all, executives routinely switch jobs, and the average age of employees vary based on size, industry, history, etc.
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