From Bitcoin's resurgence to KFC's dream run, here are our top stories of the week

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1) Leading to prosperity

From managing the finances of India's largest bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), to now tackling major global challenges such as climate change and inequality as the first woman managing director and chief financial officer of the World Bank, Anshula Kant is one of the most respected bankers. Kant's team seeks to undertake scalable and replicable projects to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. In the latest episode of Pathbreakers, find out how she has successfully led teams through several crises over nearly four decades, what the World Bank is doing to evolve its financing model, and why she believes a "slow touchdown to a soft landing" is possible over the next 12 months for the global economy.
 
2) Hope in resurgence

Cryptocurrencies are considered more volatile than stocks because of varying regulations and lack of them in some areas. Some consider them an attempt to democratise finance, while others believe it is merely a bubble. After seeing a high in 2020, these currencies struggled to find a footing and were at the centre of some big scandals. But 2024 seems to have brought new tidings. Bitcoin's price has been increasing since January, thanks to the US SEC's approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Investors are hoping that this validation will boost the industry and its acceptance. Is that also true for India, where regulators are still sceptical? Let's find out.
 
3) Taking the leap

India's semiconductor demand was estimated at $26 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $272 billion by 2032. The country's electronics ministry envisions an overall product manufacturing output of $300 billion by 2026 versus $75 billion in 2022. The efforts to set up local manufacturing units to satisfy the local demand and the global China plus one strategy are now getting a big boost from government and private players. Tata Sons has begun the construction of two chip factories in Dholera, Gujarat and Jogiroad, Assam. One will be a wafer fabrication plant, and the other will be an OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing) facility. Here's a look at how these investments will leave an impact and the challenges they face.

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1) Fried and tested

KFC arrived in India in 1995. However, until 2014, it failed to make its presence felt in the QSR arena, dominated by McDonald's and Domino's. Sapphire Foods and Ravi Jaipuria-owned Devyani International became two important franchise partners that drove the growth of Colonel Sanders. Fast forward to March 2024, and KFC rules the roost. Its CAGR beat Burger King, Pizza Hut, McDonald's and Domino's, and in terms of expanding, with 831 stores, it pipped McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza Hut. So, what's helping KFC in its chicken run?
 
2) The tough regulator

Bajaj Finance, IIFL Finance, JM Financial, Paytm Payments Bank, credit card issuers Visa and Mastercard, and largest private sector lender HDFC Bank have something in common. They all received a rap on the knuckles from the Reserve Bank of India in the past 12 to 36 months. At a broad level, the RBI has been concerned about nipping bad practices in the bud–be it poor governance or risk management concerns, evergreening of loans, non-compliance and supervisory concerns, and even gaps in the functioning of technology platforms. To protect the commoner, will SME lending and microfinance lending be the next areas RBI will look into?

3) Leadership in challenging times

Gurcharan Das believes that reliving your life is better than living it. In his memoir 'Another Sort of Freedom,' he reflects on 80 years of his life. In the latest episode of From the Bookshelves of Forbes India, the author talks about how he fled his home during the Partition, stumbled through various academic disciplines—from engineering and literature to philosophy and Sanskrit, how he survived doing business during the License Raj and scaled the corporate ladder, only to let go of it when he reached the top, all because he wanted to find his life's purpose.

4) In the line of defence

In the late 80s, Sharad Shah's Paras Engineering Limited visiting card read: Import substitution is our speciality. When his son Munjal joined the business a decade later, a new addition read: Stop here only when failed elsewhere. These were not just their taglines; they were building the final frontier to become the one-stop shop for everything critical in India's defence sector. Today, Paras Defence and Space Technologies specialises in technologies needed for rockets and missiles, space research, naval systems, electronic warfare, drones, and quantum communication, among others. Here's a chronicle of their journey from foundation to IPO.