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Paradox Studios launches ‘Battledust: The Championship’
MUMBAI: One step for Paradox, a giant step for Indian owned IP in gaming and animation.
A glitzy do, filmstars and a fair sprinkling of the media marked the release of BattleDust: The Championship, India’s first 3D game for the PC, released by the Reliance owned Paradox Studios yesterday.
The complete cast of Battledust : The Championship
Click here for an exclusive slide show of the Battledust launch party featured on Indiantelevision.com’s Animation Express The game priced at Rs 399 is published by Cyber Multimedia, a subsidary of CMIL(Cyber Media India Ltd).
Battledust : The Championship is Paradox’s first effort at developing a game for the PC platform. The Studio has been involved in the development of games since its inception in 2001. Till date it has developed over a 100 JAVA and WAP games with new titles being added every quarter.
Some names that come to mind when talking about wireless content are Indiagames and Dhruva Interactive, both of which have been in this sector for a long time now. Indiagames has been succesfully securing licenses for the mobile platform to International brands (Hollywood) like Buffy, TDAT and Spiderman.
The launch of ‘Battledust’ is significant as barring a few Tenali Ramas and Chota Birbals in the animation sector, and the Buffy and TDAT mobile games in the gaming sector, the creation and develoment of intellectual property in the Indian animation and gaming sectors has been slow and far apart.
Marketing initiatives involving cross media promotion being the order of the day, Paradox has produced a FMV (Full Motion Video) entitled ‘Fight’ with Indian Rock band Pentagram providing the background score. The fully 3D animated FMV is currently airing on MTV.
The video features hand key-framed high resolution models – with a polygon count of up to 20,000 – animatedly enacting the story, amidst high-quality special effects.
Paradox CEO Anurag Khurana with Bobby Deol answering a barrage of queries from the media.
Proudly announcing the launch of Battledust, Paradox CEO Anurag Khurana said that, ” With the launch of this game our endeavour is not only to offer the country’s gaming aficionado a product which truly meets international standards but also contributes in promoting the gaming culture in India.”
Cyber Multimedia CMD and Publisher Pradeep Gupta says,” Most of Indian expenditure in developing content for the PC has been in the field of education. As disposable incomes rise the market for games all across Asia is going to grow considerably.We expect to sell around 10,000 copies of Battledust in a year’s time.”
The launch witnessed a fair share of glamour with the entire cast of an upcoming Vikram Bhatt movie,Jurm launching the game. Also present were officials from Indian and international cellular operators, which partner with Paradox in many, a wireless content deal.
Paradox CEO Anurag Khurana with Milestone Interactive business development head Sachin Naik
Sachin Naik, Business development manager for Milestone Interactive which is also a player in the game development space was present at the occasion.
Commenting on the camaraderie shared by the Indian gaming community, Naik said that, “We (Indian game development companies) are quite cool with each other. Though we are all in the same business, the market potential is so huge that there is space for another 40 companies.”
Battledust’ features 7 warriors, and 8 selectable levels. It boasts of high level AI (artificial intelligence) wherein if a player gets lazy and begins to rely on a certain set of moves, the oppponent gets smart to it and begins dodging them easily.
Indian character Major Veer
The game requires players to go through gruelling combats with opponents at each level. The final opponent is in true Indian fashion termed as Lord Moksha.
Indianness is also evident in the names of some characters such as Major Veer. Another interesting add-on bundled with the game is a 44 page full colour comic that explains in depth the story and the background of the characters and the motives for their fighting.
The development cycle of the game lasted for around 2 years with the pre production work taking close to 4,800 man hours. 52,687 lines of coding, 600 code files, 10,000 frames of animation are some of the game facts mentioned in the launch press release.
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Induction cooktop demand spikes 30× amid LPG supply concerns
Supply worries linked to West Asia tensions push households and restaurants to turn to electric cooking alternatives
MUMBAI: As geopolitical tensions in West Asia ripple through global energy supply chains, the familiar blue flame in Indian kitchens is facing an unexpected challenger: electricity.
What began as concerns over the availability of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has quickly evolved into a technology-driven shift in cooking habits. Households across India are increasingly turning to induction cooktops and other electric appliances, initially as a backup but now, for many, a necessity.
A sudden surge in demand
Recent data from quick-commerce and grocery platform BigBasket highlights the scale of the shift. According to Seshu Kumar Tirumala, the company’s chief buying and merchandising officer, demand for induction cooktops has risen dramatically.
“Induction cooktops have seen a significant surge in demand, recording a fivefold jump on 10 March and a thirtyfold spike on 11 March,” Tirumala said.
The increase stands out sharply when compared with broader kitchen appliance trends. Most appliance categories are growing within 10 per cent of their typical demand levels, while induction cooktops have witnessed explosive growth as households rush to secure an alternative cooking option.
Major e-commerce platforms including Amazon and Flipkart have reported rising searches and orders for induction stoves. Quick-commerce apps such as Blinkit and Zepto have also witnessed stock shortages in major metropolitan areas including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
What was once considered a convenient appliance for hostels, small kitchens or occasional use has suddenly become an essential addition in many homes.
A crisis thousands of miles away
The trigger for this shift lies far beyond India’s kitchens.
Escalating conflict in the Middle East has disrupted shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy corridors. Nearly 85 to 90 per cent of India’s LPG imports pass through this narrow waterway, making the country particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions.
The ripple effects have been swift.
India currently meets roughly 60 per cent of its LPG demand through imports, and tightening global supply has already begun to affect domestic availability and prices.
Earlier this month, the price of domestic LPG cylinders increased by Rs 60, while commercial cylinders rose by more than Rs 114.
To discourage panic buying and hoarding, the government has also extended the mandatory waiting period between domestic refill bookings from 21 days to 25 days.
Restaurants feel the pressure
The strain is not limited to households. Restaurants, hotels and roadside eateries are also grappling with supply constraints as commercial LPG availability tightens under restrictions imposed through the Essential Commodities Act.
In cities such as Bengaluru and Chennai, restaurant associations report that commercial LPG availability has dropped by as much as 75 per cent, forcing many establishments to rethink their kitchen operations.
Some restaurants have reduced menu offerings, while others are rapidly installing high-efficiency induction systems, creating hybrid kitchens where electricity now shares the workload with gas.
For smaller eateries and roadside dhabas, the shift is less about sustainability and more about survival.
A potential structural shift
The government has maintained that there is no nationwide LPG crisis and has directed refineries to increase production to stabilise supply.
Nevertheless, the developments of March 2026 may already be triggering a longer-term behavioural shift.
For decades, LPG has been the backbone of cooking in Indian households. However, recent disruptions have highlighted the risks of relying on a single fuel source.
Increasingly, households appear to be hedging against uncertainty by adopting electric cooking options to guard against price volatility and delivery delays.
If the current trend continues, the induction cooktop, once viewed as a niche appliance, could emerge as a quiet symbol of India’s evolving kitchen economy.
