The Core

NOTE: This transcript contains the host's monologue and includes interview transcripts by a machine. Human eyes have gone through the script but there might still be errors in some of the text, so please refer to the audio in case you need to clarify any part. If you want to get in touch regarding any feedback, you can drop us a message on feedback@thecore.in. In conversation with Nilesh Shah, Managing Director of Kotak Asset Management Company. Thank you so much for joining me.

India is a country of walkers. In many major cities, over 30% of people travel by foot. In Mumbai, that number is above 50%. And yet, our footpaths are unusable. But now the Supreme Court has intervened. In June, they said that the right to walk is a fundamental right. But walking advocates say that a court ruling won't fix the problem. After all, the people making the decision rarely walk themselves. So what's it gonna take for India's footpaths to become usable?

Crude oil and Brent-linked gas prices climbed through the first quarter of FY27, on the back of disruptions running through West Asia this year. Three sectors in India were affected by that shock the most this quarter — oil marketing, logistics and fertiliser. Each one runs on a different mechanism for handling a crude spike; that mechanism decided how the quarter's numbers came out, not the quality of any individual company's management.

On Episode 968 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Arvind Chari, Chief Investment Strategist at Q India UK (affiliate of Quantum Advisors India) as well as Piyush Pandey, Senior Vice President, Institutional Equity Research (Lead Analyst)-IT, Telecom, Internet and Power at Centrum India.

On Episode 967 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Vivek Rathi, National Director of Research at Knight Frank India. We also caught up with Dr. Hal Brands, Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS on the sidelines of the Elara India Dialogue 2026.

Summary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed India's private investment remains sluggish despite rising corporate profits. The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister recommends doubling down on production-linked incentives and public investment. Weak private corporate investment growth is attributed to factors like declining marginal profitability and uncertainty in the global economy.

In this episode of How India’s Economy Works, Puja Mehra speaks with Ananth Narayan, Economist and Former Whole Time Member, SEBI about the growing interconnections between India’s interest-rate, equity and currency markets—and the unintended consequences of intervening in each of them separately.

On Episode 966 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Madhavi Arora, Chief Economist at Emkay Global as well as Gautam Shahi, Senior Director at Crisil Ratings.

On 31 August, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation reported that India's economy grew 7.8% in the first April-June quarter of FY27 against 6.9% in the same quarter a year earlier. The Reserve Bank of India had projected 7.0% and a Reuters poll of economists 7.1%. By evening, the prime minister had a line about doomsayers being doomed. Growth figures come in two versions. The first counts everything the economy produced at the prices of the day.

In The Signal Brief's Tuesday special, where we feature insider interviews featuring leaders shaping modern consumption. Today's guest is Vinay Kumar Swamy. He’s the country head at Pearson India. Pearson is a lifelong learning company. It offers digital content, assessments, qualifications, and data-driven learning solutions. Pearson published a recent report which showed that AI can already perform 37% of entry level tasks in India–a lot higher than the UK and other Western countries.