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Top brands spotlight India’s geoeconomic momentum at India Economic Conclave ’25
NEW DELHI: India’s corporate and policy elite gathered in New Delhi this week as Times Network staged the 11th India Economic Conclave, positioning geoeconomics as the defining force shaping the country’s growth ambitions in 2025.
The conclave, themed Navigating geoeconomics, served as a high-powered forum to examine India’s economic resilience, strategic autonomy and global standing amid a rapidly fragmenting world order. Discussions ranged across trade and capital flows, infrastructure and manufacturing, digital services, artificial intelligence, climate transition, mobility and defence preparedness.
Maruti Suzuki used the platform to articulate its deliberate stance on electric mobility. Senior executive officer, marketing and sales Partho Banerjee said the carmaker was focused on solving core ownership challenges rather than chasing early adopters in a segment that still accounts for just 4 per cent of monthly passenger vehicle sales. Despite the presence of nearly 18 electric models, Maruti is preparing the ground before rolling out its e-Vitara electric SUV in India.
To address range anxiety, the company has installed 2,000 dedicated EV charging points across more than 1,100 cities and partnered with 13 charge-point operators. It plans to scale this ecosystem to 1 lakh chargers nationwide by 2030 through dealer and operator networks.
Insurance reforms featured prominently. Axis Max Life Insurance managing director and CEO Sumit Madan, described GST 2.0 and the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 as structural resets for the sector. He said allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment would deepen competition, while the removal of GST on life insurance had already revived demand.
Payments and financial sovereignty formed another key theme. Pay10 Global and Eastern Fortune Investments chairman Prabhpreet Singh Gill said RBI’s 2025 cross-border licensing framework would enable Indian firms, particularly MSMEs, to expand internationally as countries tighten control over domestic payment systems. He argued that interoperable digital payments could reduce dependence on global networks and strengthen bilateral trade corridors.
Energy transition completed the picture. Luminous Power Technologies CMD Preeti Bajaj, positioned solar as India’s most scalable and affordable power source, calling for diversified battery technologies aligned with local conditions rather than a single global template.
IEC 2025 closed with a clear message: as global economic power splinters, India Inc is recalibrating strategy: less ideological, more transactional, and firmly anchored in national advantage.
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Network18 Q4 revenue grows 9.7 per cent, EBITDA at Rs 30 crore
PAT improves to Rs 306.6 crore, margins steady amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: Not all news is breaking, some of it is quietly improving. Network18 Media & Investments Limited appears to be doing just that, tightening losses and stabilising margins even as costs continue to weigh on the business. For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,955.1 crore, up from Rs 1,896.2 crore in FY25, signalling modest top-line growth in a challenging media environment. Total income stood at Rs 1,978.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,913 crore a year earlier.
Profit after tax came in at Rs 306.6 crore for the year, a sharp turnaround from Rs 3,225.4 crore in FY25, largely reflecting the absence of large exceptional items that had inflated the previous year’s numbers. On a more comparable basis, the company’s operating performance showed signs of gradual stabilisation.
However, the quarterly picture remained under pressure. For the March quarter, Network18 reported a loss of Rs 53.1 crore, narrower than the Rs 98.1 crore loss in the same period last year, but still indicative of ongoing cost challenges.
Expenses continued to track high. Total expenses for FY26 stood at Rs 2,235.7 crore, up from Rs 2,197.8 crore in FY25. Key cost heads included operational expenses of Rs 765.9 crore, employee benefits of Rs 475.9 crore, and marketing, distribution and promotional spends of Rs 427.1 crore, underlining the continued investment required to sustain reach and engagement.
At an operating level, margins remained under strain. Operating margin stood at 2.33 per cent for FY26, marginally higher than 1.77 per cent in FY25, while net profit margin remained negative at -13.02 per cent, though improved from -14.89 per cent.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 8,957.6 crore as of 31 March 2026, from Rs 8,317.5 crore a year earlier. Equity strengthened to Rs 4,958.7 crore, while borrowings increased to Rs 3,112.8 crore, reflecting a higher reliance on debt to support operations.
Cash flows told a mixed story. While financing activities generated Rs 83.9 crore, operating cash flow remained negative at Rs -24 crore, highlighting ongoing pressure on core cash generation. Cash and cash equivalents, however, improved to Rs 33.9 crore from Rs 1.8 crore.
The numbers point to a company in transition growing revenues, trimming losses, but still grappling with structural cost pressures. In a sector where scale often comes at a price, Network18 seems to be inching towards balance, one quarter at a time.
