MAM
Media stocks hold the mic as markets crash in Trump tariff meltdown
MUMBAI: Even as the Bombay stock exchange tanked five plus per cent in the morning on Trump tariff meltdown Monday, Indian media and entertainment stocks shed just one to three per cent of their values at the time of trading at 3:30 pm. Sun TV was trading at Rs 638 a gain 0.83 per cent over its previous weekend closing of Rs 632.75. TV Today network was up 1.65 per cent toto trade at Rs 160.40. On the flip side, a few media players were caught in the downward spiral. Entertainment Network India – the operator of Radio Mirchi – cut 2.06 per cent to stand at Rs 132.80. GTPL Hathway declined 3.69 per cent to Rs 105.75 even as Hathway dropped 3.16 per cent to Rs 12.58. Dish TV fell by 2.61 per cent to Rs 5.60.
The advertising sector, however, bore the brunt of the market tremors. Advertising agency RK Swamy lopped off 10 per cent to trade at Rs 199.15 from its previous days closing of 223.50. Bright Outdoor clipped 4.36 per cent at Rs 449.50 as against Signpost which went negative to the tune of 7.36 per cent to trade at Rs 235.40. Innokaiz India dropped to Rs 13.56 with a 4.98 per cent fall. Maxposure saw a 5.76 per cent decline settling at Rs 57.30. Meanwhile, DAPS Advertising India saw a dip of 2.86 per cent to Rs 17.00. (At around 4 pm, may vary according to the market)
Despite the broader bloodbath on Dalal Street, the relatively cushioned fall of media and entertainment stocks could indicate investor confidence in the sector’s long-term fundamentals, or perhaps just temporary insulation from global trade frictions. Either way, for now, the M&E sector is holding its script, even as the markets slip into drama mode.
Brands
Tessolve lands a semiconductor veteran to drive its next big push
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, who started his career at ISRO and has spent 35 years building chips and companies, joins the Bengaluru-based firm as president and chief operating officer
BENGALURU: Tessolve has never been shy about its ambitions. The Bengaluru-based engineering services firm already counts 18 of the world’s top 20 semiconductor companies among its clients, employs more than 3,500 engineers across 12 countries, and last year pocketed a $150m investment from TPG. Now it has hired the executive it believes can turn those assets into something bigger. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, a 35-year semiconductor veteran who once built satellite payloads for ISRO and has since scaled engineering organisations across three continents, joins as president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.
THE MAN AND THE MANDATE
The appointment is, by any measure, a serious hire. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu comes to Tessolve after senior leadership stints at HCL Technologies, Altran and Wipro, where he managed large profit-and-loss portfolios and oversaw cross-regional teams. Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in bringing more than 1,000 new products to market across the high-tech, energy and manufacturing verticals. Before the private sector claimed him, he began his working life as a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation, contributing to research and development in charge-coupled device technology and satellite payloads, a foundation that shaped everything that followed.
In his new role, he will lead Tessolve’s global growth strategy: expanding its engineering capabilities, deepening customer relationships and accelerating innovation across semiconductor and high-performance computing domains. The brief is broad, but the context is specific. Tessolve operates in the $550 billion global semiconductor market, and its recent moves, the acquisition of Germany’s Dream Chip Technologies and the TPG funding round, have sharpened both its reach and its expectations.
Srini Chinamilli, co-founder and chief executive of Tessolve, is characteristically direct about why Ravi Kumar Chirugudu was the choice:
“As we scale our global semiconductor and system engineering capabilities, Ravi’s appointment marks an important step forward. As global semiconductor demand continues to accelerate across industries, it is creating significant opportunities across the semiconductor lifecycle, from design, packaging, validation and systems integration. Ravi’s deep knowledge and leadership in this ecosystem brings the right mix of industry expertise, customer connect and execution capability, which will play a key role in strengthening our position as a trusted global engineering partner and reinforcing our market leadership.”
THE NEW ARRIVAL SPEAKS
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, for his part, frames the move in terms of timing and culture, two factors that veteran executives tend to weigh as heavily as title or compensation:
“I am happy to join Tessolve at a time when the industry is rapidly evolving towards more complex, AI-driven systems. What stands out to me is its strong people-first culture and its commitment to bringing value to its customers. The strength of its global team, combined with its deep expertise in semiconductor innovation and next-generation product engineering, creates a solid foundation to build differentiated, scalable solutions. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive strategic growth and strengthen its role in shaping the global semiconductor ecosystem.”
The reference to AI-driven systems is not incidental. The semiconductor industry is in the midst of a structural reshaping, driven by the insatiable compute demands of artificial intelligence. For engineering services firms like Tessolve, which offers end-to-end capabilities from silicon design to packaged parts and invests in high-performance computing, high-speed interfaces, photonics and 5G, the moment is both an opportunity and a test. The company says it is well positioned to capture the next wave of industry growth. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu is now the person who has to prove it.
He came in from outer space, literally, and spent three decades learning how the semiconductor industry works from the inside out. Now Tessolve is betting that accumulated knowledge can help it cross the next frontier. In the $550 billion global chip market, the gap between ambition and execution is measured in engineering hours and leadership quality. Tessolve has just gone shopping for both.
