A Nation in the Making

Nehru visits China for the first time

As the New York Times points out, Nehru's meeting with chairman Mao Zedong is the first visit by a non-communist head of state since the People's Republic of China. Nehru holds talks with China's first premier Zhou Enlai; he calls it "the most important foreign mission of his life" but, eight years later, the two countries will be at war.

India implements the Mahalanobis Plan

Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, who founded the Indian Statistical Institute back in 1931, is chief advisor to the Planning Commission. The second Five Year Plan, which is the Mahalanobis Plan, prioritises building a domestic consumption goods sector via capacity creation in capital goods. Meanwhile, the State Bank of India is created, replacing the Imperial Bank of India, British India's central bank.

LIC established

Life Insurance Corporation of India is established under the LIC Act, 1956, which nationalised the insurance sector in India. The central government merged 245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident societies to form the behemoth and contributed a capital of ₹5 crore on incorporation of the company. One of the reasons for the nationalisation of the insurance business was to give control of 17 crucial sectors of the economy, including life insurance, to the state.

Mundhra scandal, India's first financial scam

Feroze Gandhi, son-in-law of Jawaharlal Nehru, initiates a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Mundhra scandal in December 1957. Gandhi had found evidence that under governmental pressure, LIC had bought shares worth ₹1.24 crore, a large investment by the newly-formed public sector entity, in six companies owned by a Kolkata-based businessman Haridas Mundhra, without required consultation with its investment committee. Nehru set up a judicial inquiry and it led to the resignation of the then finance minister TT Krishnamachari in February 1958.

Ambassador rolls out

Hindustan Motors introduces the first Ambassador. In 1957, the BM Birla-owned company had entered into an agreement with British Motor Corporation to manufacture the 1956 Morris Oxford series III in India. The car-the first in India to have a diesel engine-was manufactured at the company's Uttarpara plant in West Bengal. It remained in production for 56 years, going up in price from ₹14,000 in 1958 to a little over ₹5 lakh in 2014.

Doordarshan launched

With a small 5KW transmitter and an improvised studio, the government of India launches Doordarshan, India's public service broadcaster, in Delhi. It all began with the help of Unesco and 180 Philips TV sets, while All India Radio provided the engineering and programme professionals. The coverage area was 40 km around the national capital and community television sets were set up in Delhi's rural areas and schools around Delhi. The shows, aired twice a week for an hour each, covered community health, citizens' responsibilities and rights, and traffic and road safety.

RBI Issues Gulf Rupee

President Rajendra Prasad gives his assent for the Reserve Bank of India (Amendment) Act 1959, allowing RBI to issue the Gulf Rupee-special notes with the same value as the Indian rupee but intended for circulation only in the Gulf region. Until 1959, the Indian rupee was legal currency in the Gulf, and smugglers had a field day purchasing gold from the Gulf leading to a crisis in 1957-58 with, according to a New York Times report, India having to pay the “equivalent of $92.4 million in sterling for rupees presented through traders and banks in the Persian Gulf in 1957 alone”.

Rourkela Steel Plant inaugurated

The first ever integrated steel plant under the public sector, the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) becomes operational after President Rajendra Prasad inaugurates RSP's first blast furnace named Parvati. The plant was set up in collaboration with several German firms and had an installed capacity of 1 million tonnes in the 1960s. RSP subsequently became a unit of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL).

Reaching for the stars

India takes steps to explore space and joins ranks with countries like Russia and the US. Vikram Sarabhai of Physical Research Laboratory leads the newly-formed Indian National Committee for Space Research to formulate and plan India's space programme in the coming decades.

MFs open for business

The Unit Trust of India is set up by the Reserve Bank of India through an Act of Parliament, opening up the mutual fund industry to commence operations in India. The UTI falls under the regulatory and administrative control of the central bank for the next 15 years.

Government forms IDBI Bank

The Industrial Development Bank of India is set up as a development financial institution to finance industrial projects across sectors and states for inclusive growth and evolution of a vibrant capital market.

Seeds of a revolution

MS Swaminathan rescues his countrymen from the clutches of a mass famine by developing high-yielding varieties of wheat seeds. This marks the beginning of the Green Revolution in India which helps the nation strengthen its objective of food security to feed a growing population.

Food Corporation of India set up

The Food Corporation of India is formed under the Food Corporations Act 1964 to support poor farmers, effectively distribute food grains in all parts of the country, maintain adequate buffer stocks for National Food Security, and to regulate market prices of food grains to ensure no one sleeps hungry.

India devalues the rupee

Till now, India has been holding the rupee quite constant at 4.76 to the US dollar. But on June 6, the government decides to devalue the rupee to ₹7.5-down by 57 percent-due to severe inflation and increased deficit spending from the recent wars with China and Pakistan and drought situations in 1965-66. It makes the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi publicly unpopular, but, from a macroeconomic perspective, there is little debate on this decision.

TCS is founded

Tata Consultancy Services is created and is launched as a division of Tata Sons on April 1, 1968. It is a management and technology consultancy firm that will create demand for downstream computer services. Technocrat FC Kohli is brought in from the Tata Electric Companies as a general manager to run this startup. Over the next 10 years, TCS goes on to partner with US business equipment maker Burroughs to export India's IT services. Today, TCS is India's largest IT services firm by revenue, with a consolidated revenue of ₹52,758 crore for the FY23 June-ended quarter.

Nationalisation of banks

On July 19, 1969, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announces nationalisation of 14 large commercial banks, which then controlled 85 percent of bank deposits. This move, which includes banks such as Bank of Baroda and Bank of India-and which is followed by another round of nationalisation in 1980-is an effort to take banking services to rural India. Till now most of India's private and foreign banks are largely concentrated in providing services in the main cities. The move for financial inclusion, through various banking and technological solution continues.

Rajdhani Express flagged off

Train services in the 1960s have been largely functional, with no frills. So there is excitement and caution when, in 1969, Indian Railways flags off the Rajdhani Express from New Delhi to Howrah-completing the distance in 17 hours at a top speed of 120km/hr. The aim is to introduce the country's fastest train to the public by connecting the capital, New Delhi, with other major cities. This premium service continues to get the highest priority on our rail network and is still one of the country's fastest trains.

Operation Flood

A landmark project of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) headed by social entrepreneur Verghese Kurien, the Operation Flood (White Revolution), is announced. It will go on to make India the world's largest milk exporter by 1998, from being a milk-deficient country. Through this move, India creates a national milk grid, improves organisation of the private sector in the main cities, boosts procurement, production of milk from dairy animals and veterinary health care services and expands production centres -all in phases till 1996.

General Insurance Corporation of India is set up

The General Insurance Corporation of India is set up under the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972. The Act nationalises all private companies undertaking general insurance business in India. The businesses of the companies nationalised under the Act are restructured in four subsidiary companies of the GIC: National Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance.

Foreign Exchange is regulated

The Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act minimises dealings in foreign exchange and securities. The Act regulates transactions impacting foreign exchange, import and export of currency and certain payments. Other objectives include conserving foreign exchange and utilising it efficiently for economic development.

Aryabhata launches into Earth's orbit

India's first unmanned Earth satellite, named after astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata, is launched from the Soviet Union in a Russian-made rocket. Weighing about 360 kg, it is equipped to explore the Earth's ionosphere, perform investigations in X-Ray astronomy, and measure neutrons and gamma rays from the sun.

Indira Gandhi declares Emergency

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi persuades President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed to declare a national emergency-citing threats to internal security due to “internal disturbances”, and in the wake of skyrocketing international oil prices and rising domestic consumer goods inflation. All powers are vested in the hands of the Union government. This results in the suspension of fundamental rights, media censorship, stifling of dissent and crackdown on civil liberties. Gandhi announces her Twenty-Point Program, aimed at reducing inflation and energising the economy.

Mandal Commission is set up

The Mandal Commission, officially known as the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBC), is set up under then Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Parliamentarian BP Mandal is appointed as its chairman. Mandal Commission's chief mandate is to identify the socially or educationally backward classes of India and to consider reservations as a means to address caste inequality and discrimination.

Launch of the first indigenous credit card

The Central Bank of India launches 'CentralCard', introducing credit cards in the Indian economy. The card is given only to those who deposit money in the Central Bank. Before this indigenous card was introduced, Indians would use a 'Diners Club Credit Card' which made its entry in India in the early 60s. In the same year, Andhra Bank also launches a credit card, which, along with the CentralCard, is of the Visa brand.

Facilitating finance through NABARD

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is established. It is built by transferring the agricultural credit functions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and refinance functions of then Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation. Set up with an initial capital of ₹100 crore, NABARD is now fully-owned by the Government of India, and provides credit and other facilities for the development of agriculture, small-scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts, and other allied economic activities in rural areas.

Bombay comes to a standstill

Under leader Datta Samant, popularly known as Doctorsaheb, nearly 250,000 textile mill workers in Bombay go on an indefinite strike until they receive their hike and bonus. Regarded as one of the longest industrial strikes in history, it lasts over a year and has, technically, never been withdrawn. Over the years, with no real solutions in sight, all the textile mills have moved away, leaving many jobless, and bringing an end to the city's famous textile mill industry.

The first 'people's car': Maruti 800

In December 1983, Maruti rolls out the first 'people's car'. The Maruti 800, a 796 cc hatchback, is launched at a price of ₹47,500 so as to pave the way to becoming India's best-selling car in the coming years. Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, inaugurates the Maruti factory and hands over the keys of the first Maruti 800 to Harpal Singh, the first Indian to own the car. The 800 was an outcome of a joint venture agreement between Maruti Udyog and Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp.

India's first cricket World Cup

The Indian cricket team makes history as it wins its maiden World Cup title after defeating West Indies by 43 runs at Lord's, England, on June 25, 1983. The team clinches the title under Kapil Dev's captaincy. It also marks the first time an Asian nation makes an appearance in a World Cup final. Post the 1983 win, India won the one-day international World Cup only once-in 2011 in Mumbai, defeating Sri Lanka in the finals.

Cloud of smoke at Bhopal

A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, kills more than 2,000 people outright and injures anywhere from 15,000 to 22,000 others (some 6,000 of whom later die from their injuries) in one of the worst industrial disasters in history. Even today, despite continued protests and attempts at litigation, neither the Dow Chemical Company, which acquired the Union Carbide Corporation in 2001, nor the Indian government, has properly cleaned up the site.

India's first metro rail starts in Kolkata

On October 24, 1984, India's first metro rail begins operations on a 3.4 kilometre stretch between Esplanade and Bhowanipur in Kolkata. Planned as early as in the 1920s, work on the metro only began in 1972. Today, in 2022, the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation is attempting another feat, the first ever underwater metro. The East-West corridor of Kolkata Metro will be 16.6 kilometres long and span 500 metres under the Hooghly river, which will be 33 metres below the riverbed.

First ATM installed

Financial inclusion takes a leap as HSBC introduces the country's first automated teller machine (ATM) in Bombay. By the end of 2021, the number stands around 2.13 lakh, with 47 percent of those in semi-urban and rural areas.

Nasscom kicks off India's software push

Nasscom, a not-for-profit industry association, starts serving as a mediator between India's software industry and the government. Harish Mehta, a founding member in whose office the trade body started, served as the first elected chairman. In 1991, under president Dewang Mehta (in pic), Nasscom would successfully lobby with the government for a tax waiver on software services being exported by Indian companies, creating a turning point for the software industry to explode thereafter.

Markets regulator Sebi is set up

The government constitutes the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to control capital markets in India and “to protect the rights of the investors in securities”. The board receives statutory powers through an Act in 1992, in a year the ₹5,000 crore Harshad Mehta scam hits the stock markets.

Union Carbide pays up

The Supreme Court (SC) orders Union Carbide to pay $470 million in damages for the toxic gas leak at its plant in Bhopal in 1984 that had till then killed over 3,500 people and affected over 200,000. The SC also dismisses criminal charges and civil suits against the company and its then chairman Warren Anderson.

India opens up its economy

Manmohan Singh, finance minister in the PV Narasimha Rao-led government, opens up the Indian economy and rolls out a slew of reforms in his Budget that helps India stave off the impending balance of payment crisis. Singh ends his speech with a quote from Victor Hugo that says: “No power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come.”

Ratan Tata helms the Tata Group

JRD Tata's nephew Ratan Tata is appointed as the chairman of the Tata Group, and is entrusted with the task of leading the conglomerate into the post-economic liberalisation era. It is a surprise choice that sparks resentment in the upper echelons of the Group, also leading to the ouster of Russi Mody from the top job at Tata Steel in 1993.

Harshad Mehta scam unravels

Harshad Mehta emerges as the Big Bull on Dalal Street, only to be outed as the scamster behind India's biggest stock market hustle estimated at the time to be as much as ₹4,000 crore. It spawns a best-selling book and the formation of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which is facing its own governance issues today.

Subhash Chandra launches Zee TV

Inspired by CNN's coverage of the Gulf War, Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra launches India's first privately-owned satellite televison channel, Zee TV.

Coke comes back

The Coca-Cola Company starts production in India, re-entering the market after calling it quits 16 years earlier due to a law requiring it to transfer 60 percent of its equity to an Indian company. It returned in October 1993. Black Diamond Beverages, owned by the Goenka Group, begins to make Coca-Cola at a plant in Kolkata the following year.

First cellphone call

On July 31, Jyoti Basu, then chief minister of West Bengal, makes India's first cellphone call to Sukh Ram, the communications minister in the PV Narasimha Rao government. Today, India is the world's biggest mobile phone market by users, behind only China. Beyond calls, people catch up and quarrel with friends on social media, and make billions of payments using their phones.

Sanjeev Bikhchandani launches Naukri.com

In 1996, Sanjeev Bikhchandani comes across the concept of the 'world wide web' or the internet at an IT Expo in Delhi. Immediately, he decides to set up a job aggregation website. A year later, Bikhchandani rents a server in the US for $25 per month and launches Naukri.com. Today, Naukri is India's largest employment website, and Bikhchandani wears many hats, including those of an investor, mentor and philanthropist.

Birth Of the Film 'Industry'

Eighty-five years after India's first film, Raja Harishchandra, released in 1913, the National Democratic Alliance government grants the Indian film industry 'industry' status. The 'legitimacy' paves the way for corporatisation of the industry, which previously relied on money-borrowed at exorbitant interest rates-from moneylenders, businessmen, as well as the underworld to finance films.

Golden Quadrilateral project is launched

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee lays the foundation stone for the Golden Quadrilateral project-a network of four- and six-lane highways connecting India's top four metropolitan cities, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata-on January 6. The 5,864-km project officially began in 2001 and was completed by 2012 at about half (₹308.5 billion) the estimated cost (₹600 billion). The Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the first controlled-access toll road to be built in India, is a part of the Golden Quadrilateral project.

Kaun Banega Crorepati gets Bachchan to the small screen

Kaun Banega Crorepati-the Indian adaptation of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?-premieres on Star Plus on July 3. Hosted by megastar Amitabh Bachchan, the game show redefines prime-time television-viewing in India, as common citizens stand a chance to become millionaires in minutes. It also proves to be a lifeline for the superstar-who transitioned from 70 mm to the small screen-who admits that he was compelled to host the show as he wasn't getting any film offers then. Kaun Banega Crorepati completed 1,000 episodes last year.

Ketan Parekh stock market scam

Nearly two decades after Harshad Mehta rocked the Indian stock market with the 1992 securities scam, his protégé Ketan Parekh is involved in a fraud that eventually leads to his conviction in 2008. The 'Bombay Bull', as he is known, deceives investors, banks and the market by manipulating facts, and bribing company directors to enable him to do insider trading. A CA by profession, he takes advantage of the loopholes in the stock market and siphons off public funds to the tune of ₹1,200 crore. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office estimates the extent of the fraud could touch ₹40,000 crore.

The BPO industry takes off

Close on the heels of the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry takes off in India. With big multinationals and esteemed names such as GE and HSBC setting up back offices in the country, it is proving to be a lucrative employment option for the youth. Today, the BPO sector in India is a $47.5 billion industry, and it is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 10 percent. The ITES-BPO industry in India currently employs nearly four million people and is likely to create almost six million jobs by 2025.

Finding hope in disinvestments

For the first time since the government's 1991 announcement of plans to disinvest stake in public sector companies, almost a fourth of the annual disinvestment target of ₹12,000 crore is realised in the first quarter of the fiscal. In 1999-2000 and 2000-01, the government had targeted ₹10,000 crore of disinvestments but got only ₹1,584 crore and ₹1,868 crore, respectively.

Ratan Tata (right), chairman of the Tata Group, Pramod Mahajan, Minister of Communications and Technology (centre), and SK Gupta, MD of VSNL, hold up a cheque of ₹14.4 billion, as the Tata Group buys 25 percent stake in the state-owned telecom operator.

India's first low-cost airline

GR Gopinath, a retired Indian Army captain, launched Deccan Aviation-India's first private helicopter charter service-in 1997. Gopinath wants to make air travel accessible to every Indian, which is when he decides to launch India's first low-cost carrier. In August 2003, Air Deccan-a subsidiary of Deccan Aviation-launches operations with its first flight from Bangalore to Hubli. Tickets cost about 30 percent less than those of other airlines.

India's first investment network

As early-stage businesses emerge in India, there is a dire need to create the country's largest horizontal platform for seed and early-stage investments. Padmaja Ruparel, Saurabh Srivastava and Raman Roy launch Indian Angel Network (IAN) to transform India's entrepreneurial landscape. The network aims to plug the gap in funding, by connecting entrepreneurs with angel investors and providing strategic mentorship.

Launch of Flipkart

Two Indian software engineers, Sachin Bansal (left) and Binny Bansal, witness the changing dynamics of technology and realise the power of ecommerce. The Bansals quit their jobs at American retail giant Amazon to launch Flipkart, a similar ecommerce firm of their own for selling books. There are only 50 million internet users in India in 2007, but the duo foresee that more Indians will shop online. The company expands its rapid service, and delivery becomes the company's hallmark. Eventually, Flipkart explodes into a full-blown ecommerce giant, changing the ways Indians shop.

Tata acquires Corus

Tata Steel takes over Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus Group, Europe's second-largest and the world's eighth-largest steel producer, in an all-cash deal of $12.15 billion (₹55,000 crore). It is the largest acquisition by an Indian company and the industry's second largest, after Mittal Steel's $38.3 billion acquisition of Arcelor. With this deal, Tata Steel becomes the world's sixth largest steel producer, from the 56th largest, and settles at the 10th position as of 2021.

Launch of Tata Nano and acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover

Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, launches India's most affordable car, Nano. The rear-engine, pod-shaped vehicle will be sold at a base price of ₹1 lakh. Slightly more than 10 feet long and about 5 feet wide, the “people's car” can seat up to five adults. The first Nano hit the road in July 2009. However, it was discontinued in 2018 due to low sales.

In 2008, Tata Motors makes headlines again for entering the luxury car and SUV business, with a signed agreement to buy British brands Jaguar and Land Rover from the Ford Motor Company for $2.3 billion.

Satyam scam

In January, Byrraju Ramalinga Raju (left in pic), co-founder of India's fourth largest IT company, Satyam, resigns as chairman and writes to Sebi and stock exchanges, admitting to inflating the cash and bank balances of his company. He accepts committing a fraud of ₹7,000 crore. Everyone involved in the scam is subsequently sentenced to prison and charged large sums as penalty.

In 2015, Tech Mahindra purchases Satyam and renames it Mahindra Satyam. In 2015, Raju and all others found guilty are granted bail by a special court in Hyderabad.

First set of Aadhaar cards issued

On September 29, 10 people in Tembhli, Maharashtra, become the first recipients of the Aadhaar card-a scheme aimed at helping those who are unable to establish their rights to government benefits. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is credited with building the giant foundational identity system, while serving as chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India.

Allegations of 2G Spectrum Scam

After the Comptroller and Auditor General reveals that the exchequer has lost ₹1.76 lakh crore due to unfair distribution of 2G licenses, the CBI files chargesheets, naming Telecom Minister A Raja (in pic) and MP Kanhimozi Karunanidhi. Trial begins in November.

In 2017, a special court acquits all 17 accused for cheating, abuse of public office and other charges. In March 2018, the Enforcement Directorate challenges the verdict in the Delhi High Court, and in January 2021, the CBI begins arguments. With no verdict yet in sight, the CBI moves the HC for daily hearing in order to expedite the case.

India gets its first unicorn, InMobi

Founders of mkhoj-including CEO Naveen Tewari -a Mumbai-based SMS monetisation company founded in 2007, pivot to focusing on advertising on mobile phones in 2008 and establish InMobi, in Bengaluru. In 2011, it becomes a unicorn, India's first private company and the only tech and homegrown startup to achieve this status.

India launches Mangalyaan, the Mars orbiter mission

India's maiden interplanetary mission is launched on November 5. Named Mangalyaan, Isro's space probe takes off from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Mangalyaan becomes the only satellite that can image the full disc of Mars in one view frame, while also imaging the far side of Deimos, the smaller of Mars' two moons. This makes India the first Asian country to successfully launch a Mars orbiter mission, and also the first to enter the Martian orbit in its first attempt, usually considered the most complex space mission.

PM launches Make in India campaign

The Bharatiya Janta Party-led National Democratic Alliance comes to power and Narendra Modi is sworn in as prime minister on May 26. In his first Independence Day address, he launches the Make in India campaign, with an aim to revive the manufacturing sector. The plan involves inviting 3,000 global companies to set up manufacturing units in India to supply to the rest of the world.

PM launches Digital India mission

On July 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches the Digital India campaign to transform the country into a digital economy. At this point, only 19 percent of the population is connected to the internet, and 15 percent has access to mobiles. The programme is designed to ensure that government services are available to citizens electronically and comprises projects worth over ₹1 lakh crore. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is tasked with implementing the programme that includes projects such as Digital Locker, e-education, and e-health.

Demonetisation

On November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces that ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes have been demonetised, thus declaring 86 percent of the country's bank notes invalid. The aim is to crack down on corruption. The jury is still out on whether the aim was achieved, but those who benefited from the move are digital payment companies like Paytm. The government also launches the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), providing a major boost to online payments.

GST is passed

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented, 11 years after it was first proposed. Hailed as a revolutionary move by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the GST replaces a complex web of state and federal levies with a single, value-added tax. Although it is the biggest tax reform in India since Independence, the GST would remain a work-in-progress for the next couple of years. Following grievances, the government moves hundred of items to lower tax brackets and reduces filing requirements for small businesses.

Nirav Modi scam

Punjab National Bank (PNB) files a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation accusing Nirav Modi, a billionaire jeweller, of obtaining unauthorised and fake letters of undertaking from a Mumbai branch, and using them to secure $44 million in credit from foreign branches of other Indian banks. Later, PNB releases another stock market notification saying the fraudulent transactions are worth $1.77 billion. Modi flees to the UK, is eventually arrested upon a request from New Delhi to extradite him, and remains in a London prison.

Ranbaxy/Religare scandal

Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing arrests Malvinder Mohan Singh (left in pic) and his younger brother Shivinder Mohan Singh (right), former promoters of pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories, hospital chain Fortis Healthcare, and financial services firm Religare, for causing wrongful loss worth ₹2,397 crore to Religare Finvest Ltd. It is a sad turn of events in the high-octane drama of the Singh brothers. The blue-eyed boys of the Indian pharma turn out to be jugaad masters who put a soaring business in the dark pages of history.

Jet Airways collapse

Jet Airways has finally been grounded. This is a big blow to the Indian aviation industry that is looking for ways to win over the tricky consumer that wants better services at cheaper prices, a struggle Jet Airways tried to triumph for 26 years and finally broke under the mountain of debt. Founder and chairman Naresh Goyal's passion project once ruled the skies of the world's fastest-growing air travel market. Now, it owes more than $1.2 billion to banks, staff, and suppliers.

The year of unicorns

India has the third-largest ecosystem for startups, as the number of investors and incubators rise nine-fold and seven-fold, as per Invest India. By December 31, 2021, India has 79 unicorns, of which 42 are born in 2021. In sectors like fintech, edtech, proptech or crypto-such as CoinDCX, founded by Sumit Gupta (right in pic) and Neeraj Khandelwal-they have a combined value of $82.1 billion.

The year of internet IPOs

There's euphoria on Dalal Street as investors start pumping in money. Taking advantage, many companies from emerging sectors such as fintech and consumer tech launch their IPOs. Four digital IPOs-Zomato, Paytm, Nykaa and Policybazaar-make a killing and collectively pick up ₹39,000 crore. While Nykaa's Falguni Nayar becomes the richest self-made woman in India after the IPO, fintech poster boy Vijay Shekhar Sharma's Paytm serves a negative return of 38.24 percent and has not recovered yet.

1 million made-in-India iPhones

For the first time since starting manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017, Apple ships out a million units, through its contractors, including Foxconn and Wistron, in Q1 of FY22. The share of made-in-India iPhones within Apple's portfolio increases 50 percent year-on-year. The performance grows in Q2 as the Cupertino company ships 1.2 million iPhones in India in Q2, logging 94 percent growth.

Losing legends

Rahul Bajaj (in pic), the man who afforded mobility to the Indian middle class with scooters like Chetak and Priya, passes away on February 12. Another Indian business legend, Pallonji Mistry of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which built Mumbai landmarks such as the Reserve Bank of India and The Taj Mahal Palace hotel, dies on June 28.