Anup Mehta

On February 18, during India's AI Impact Summit, a company called Sarvam shipped a 105-billion-parameter model trained from scratch in India on government-subsidized GPUs, designed for 22 Indian languages. It outperforms DeepSeek-R1 on certain benchmarks at one-sixth the size. The same summit produced $200 billion in investment pledges from Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Reliance. The headlines were about the money. The real story was Sarvam. This post examines in detail why it took this long, what changed, and whether Sarvam is the first crack in an old equilibrium or a lonely exception. "Indians Rule Big Tech. Why Can’t India Build?": Link in comments.

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Engineers India Q3 FY26 Results: PAT Surges 219%, Stock Jumps 12% https://lnkd.in/gdv23K6d 📊 Key Financial Highlights (Consolidated) Metric Q3 FY26 Q3 FY25 Change Net Profit (PAT) ₹347.2 Cr ₹108.7 Cr ▲ +219% Revenue from Ops ₹1,210 Cr ₹764.5 Cr ▲ +58.3% EBITDA ₹352.2 Cr ₹97.9 Cr ▲ +260% EBITDA Margin 29.1% 12.8% ▲ +1630 bps EPS ₹6.18 — — Stock Price (NSE) ₹231.00 — ▲ +12.37% (1D 📈 Standalone Performance (Company Reported) Metric Q3 FY26 Q3 FY25 Change Revenue ₹1,194 Cr ₹750 Cr ▲ +59% PBT ₹395 Cr ₹118 Cr ▲ +235% PAT ₹302 Cr ₹88.1 Cr ▲ +242 🏭 Segment-Wise Performance Segment Revenue (Q3 FY26) YoY Change Contribution Consultancy ₹490.1 Cr ▲ +16.4% ~38% Turnkey Projects ₹720.1 Cr ▲ +109.7% ~58% 📦 Order Book – All-Time High Metric Value Order Book (Dec 2025) ₹12,538 Cr Current Order Book ~₹15,670 Cr (All-time high) Order Book Composition 60% Consultancy / 40% Turnkey Revenue Visibility Strong for upcoming quarters 🌍 Major Wins – Dangote Refinery Project Detail Information Client Dangote Group (Nigeria) Value $350–360 Million (~₹3,150 Cr) Nature Mega refinery expansion project Significance Largest overseas order ever 🌐 International Business Momentum · Overseas markets now constitute 65% of fresh order inflows (as of Jan 2026) · Domestic orders: 35% · Active in Middle East, Africa, South America --- 📉 Stock Performance Metric Value Current Price (NSE) ₹231.00 1D Change ▲ +12.37% 2-Day Gain ▲ +22% 52-Week High ₹255.45 52-Week Low ₹142.20 Market Cap ~₹11,344 Cr Volume Surge 13.9% equity traded in 2 days --- 🏦 Brokerage Views & Target Prices Brokerage Rating Target Price Key View Prabhudas Lilladher BUY ₹261 Consultancy core growth engine; strong prospects in domestic & international ICICI Securities — ₹215 achieved Expect 20% CAGR in consultancy revenue (FY26–29E); order book 4x TTM Historical Avg PE — 25x Currently trading at 34x FY27E core EPS --- 📌 Key Takeaways ✅ Stellar earnings growth – PAT up 219% YoY (consolidated), 242% (standalone) ✅ Margin explosion – EBITDA margin expanded 1630 bps to 29.1% ✅ Order book at all-time high – ₹15,670 Cr, providing strong revenue visibility ✅ Dangote win – $360M order from Nigeria, largest overseas contract ✅ International momentum – 65% of fresh orders from overseas ✅ Stock rally – up 22% in 2 days, 12% today, hitting 7-month high ✅ Brokerage bullish – Prabhudas Lilladher sets ₹261 target --- 📲 Follow Aditya Financial Insights Across Platforms 💼 LinkedIn Group: Aditya's Financial Insights Group 📱 WhatsApp Channel: Join Market Updates 📲 Telegram: @TelegramAdityaFinancialInsights 🤖 AI Analysis: aratt.ai/profile/aditya 📊 Trading Platform: Lemann Platform 🐦 Twitter/X: @adityafinsights 📸 Instagram: @adityafinancialinsights 🌐 Website: https://lnkd.in/gbHXFfW6 --- 🤝 Crypto Partners 🌐 Ubex: Sign Up (umxahxky) 💰 Bybit: Join with Benefits --- #EngineersIndia #EIL #Q3Results #PSU #Dangote #OrderBook #EngineeringStock #StockMarket #AdityaInsights

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Winning High-Stakes RFPs-Part 1B/10 Solution Engineering Series for NBFCs, Healthcare & Supply Chain: Execution Playbook 🔁 10-Stage Solutioning Lifecycle 🔹 1. Discovery & Qualification → Use cases, process gaps, compliance needs → Score with BANT/CHAMP, peer tech benchmarks 🔹 2. Stakeholder Mapping → Identify decision-makers, influencers, blockers → Craft win themes for CIO, CISO, COO, CFO, Procurement 🔹 3. Solution Hypothesis → Draft modular blueprint: core, service, support stacks → Align to outcomes: SLA, compliance, cost, risk, TAT 🔹 4. Architecture & Engineering Design → Build scalable, secure, domain-ready solution → Include GenAI, APIs, analytics, RPA, microservices 🔹 5. Governance & SLAs → RACI, escalation matrix, CAB workflows → Define SLA/OLA tiers, monitoring stack (ELK, Prometheus) 🔹 6. Security & Compliance → RBI, HIPAA, ISO, SOC2, GAMP mapped upfront → Embed controls: logs, vaults, RBAC, encryption 🔹 7. Delivery & Support Model → L1–L4 model, DR/BCP, shift-left/right support ops → Uptime SLAs, prod vs non-prod flows 🔹 8. Team Structure & Delivery Pods → Architect, SME, Infra, Security, Pricing, Proposal roles → Assign onsite/offshore strategy, redundancy plan 🔹 9. Estimation & TCO/ROI → Infra, licenses, AMC, effort costing → Present ROI, breakeven, value realization 🔹 10. Final Packaging & Pitch → Build exec summary, demo storyboard, solution deck → Include SoW, pricing sheet, compliance tracker 🧠 Industry-Focused Layering 🟦 NBFCs • LOS/LMS, co-lending APIs, CRILC, CKYC • AI underwriting, RBI real-time logs, XAI scoring 🟩 Healthcare • EMR/EHR AI, FHIR/HL7, GenAI for records • HIPAA controls, anonymization, access auditing 🟨 Supply Chain • IoT edge, WMS/TMS, smart fulfillment • ISO 28000, logistics encryption, last-mile AI 👥 Stakeholder Win Themes • CIO → Cloud-native, scalable, composable architecture • CISO → Zero-trust, pre-certified compliance stack • COO → SLA-first ops, uptime, TAT metrics • Biz Head → Revenue unlock, faster GTM, automation • Procurement → ROI clarity, clean pricing, timeline confidence 🏗️ Winning Team Setup • 🧠 Architect → Solution blueprint + integration • 👔 SME → Industry KPIs, domain logic • 🛠️ Infra/DevOps → CI/CD, observability, DR/BCP • 🔐 Security → Compliance-by-design • 📊 Estimation → Cost models + buffers • 📄 Proposal → SoW, version control, submission hygiene • 🧪 Demo Lead → Storyboard, proof points 🧰 Reusable Asset Kit • 🔍 Discovery Qs + Use Case Tree • 🧱 Architecture Templates (Visio/Figma) • 🗺️ Persona Maps + Win Cards • 📉 Compliance Matrix (RBI, HIPAA, ISO) • 📊 ROI/TCO Calculator • 📑 RACI, CAB Flow, BCP Plan • 📦 Submission Tracker • 🎬 Demo Script & Storyboard 📈 Key Solution Metrics • 🏆 Win Rate • 🕒 Time-to-Solution • ♻️ Reuse % of assets • 🔒 Compliance Readiness Score • 🧪 POC-to-Win Ratio • 📦 Team Utilization #SolutionEngineering #Presales #RFP #NBFC #Healthcare #Architecture #Compliance #CoreEngineering

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SANATAN LABS - The Architect’s Compass: 10 Directives for the Great Transition (PASSIONIT PRUTL KALKI AIDHARMA framework) To navigate the "Audit of Fire" during this profound transition toward Satya Yuga, Krishna (Strategic Intelligence), Kalki (Systemic Reset), and Shakti (Raw Life Force) offer these ten essential directives for humanity: 1. Master the Asymmetry of Calm In a world of screaming headlines, silence is your greatest weapon. Respond from a place of internal stillness rather than reacting to external noise. When the system is chaotic, your stability becomes the new "Safe Haven." 2. Audit Your Identity (The Laawaris Test) Ask yourself: "If my titles, assets, and digital footprint vanished, who remains?" Detach your worth from possessions. True sovereignty is found when you are no longer "claimed" by the ego-driven systems of the world. 3. Embrace the "Mirror of Kalki" Do not fear the "Bloody Moon" or the exposure of decay. View every systemic collapse—financial, social, or institutional—as a necessary diagnostic. Use this "Mirror" to identify your own attachments and incinerate them before they become liabilities. 4. Move from "Me" to "Mission" Unity is not sameness; it is alignment. Replace "Me vs. You" with "Us vs. The Problem." When diverse strengths are aligned under a shared purpose (Aidharma), the friction of competition dissolves into the flow of progress. 5. Trust the "Internal Gold" While external currencies and metals face regulation or restriction, your integrity remains non-tradeable and unconfiscatable. Invest in your skillsets, your character, and your resilience. These are the only assets that survive the "Audit of Fire." 6. Respect the "Flow of Lakshmi" Prosperity is a river, not a reservoir. Hoarding in fear leads to stagnation and decay. Circulate value through mentorship, ethical trade, and "Groom and Grow" practices. Wealth that serves the collective remains protected by the Sun and Moon. 7. Humanize the Machine (13th Node Reset) Use AI and technology as a "Numeric Auditor" to expose corruption, but never let the cold logic of the machine replace the warmth of human intuition. Ensure technology serves the 14th Node: Absolute Truth. 8. Practice Guerrilla Respect Disarm your "enemies" by preserving their dignity even when you disagree with their actions. Respect targets the ego of the opponent, weakening their appetite for control and opening a path for diplomacy. 9. Build Internal Havens As geography stops being a protection, focus on "Internal Research and Innovation." Cultivate a mind that can remain creative and functional even when trade arteries are choked. 10. Surrender to Karmic Gravity Accept that "God Proposes, Man Disposes." You cannot control the celestial reset, but you can control your alignment with it. Follow the path of Dharma, and the gravity of the new era will pull you toward peace rather than destruction.

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Agilitas x Virat Kohli partnership is one of the masterstroke deals I have seen in recent times. Virat invests 40 CR in Agilitas for a 1.94% stake, putting Agilitas’s valuation around 2000 CR. 📈 In turn, Agilitas acquires one8world, making Virat a co-founder and shareholder. They now get two very important growth levers: ⬇️ 1. A powerful manufacturing (via Mochiko Shoes - a 600 CR+ footwear brand that Agilitas acquired in 2008 ), 2. India’s biggest athlete — exclusively aligned. Easily becomes a 4000 CR revenue brand in the next 5 years. Footwear + retail scale requires capital — but this partnership compresses customer acquisition, product cycles, and brand-building like few others. Even Virat said in his podcast with Abhishek Ganguly, the co-founder of Agilitas that, “I didn’t want a brand deal… I wanted to build something that outlives me.” And Abhishek said something even beautiful - “An ambition to build from India but be globally relevant.” This isn’t marketing. This is legacy building with shared skin in the game. And that is how startups work - shared ambition with one goal (to make the company big) and food (read stake) in the table for everyone! A company that can be built in the long term with culture, capital, and conviction aligned. This might be the first time in India, where an athlete joins hands with a sport company to re-imagine and build the sport ecosystem of India - truly revolutionalising the game with a clear vision. 🙌

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A founder who has spent 32 Years building IP-Owned Tech in India's Defense Sector. Ashok Atluri, Founder of Zen Technologies Limited shares a growth story bootstrapped from Hyderabad: -Revenue: ₹60 Cr (FY21) → ₹930 Cr(FY24) -Market cap: 40 Cr (2012-13) → 13000 Cr today -Growth: 400X in 12 years Takeaways from our conversation: 1. India historically imported 65–70% of its defense equipment. Today, defense exports have grown more than 30× over the past decade, with the private sector contributing around 60% of exports. Domestic defense production has increased to ₹1.27 lakh crore, a 174% rise since FY 2014–15. 2. For over two decades, Zen built advanced simulators but struggled to sell them in India because single-vendor bids weren’t accepted. The IDDM policy in 2015 gave preference to IP-owning Indian companies and allocated 75% of the capital acquisition budget to local sourcing. And decades of R&D became a real market worth ₹200 billion. 3. Defense tech startups in India have raised $184 million in VC funding since 2020. Zen’s journey shows that IP-owned Tech built with self-funded R&D can build the most defensible advantage, similar to how Apple captures value through IP rather than manufacturing. 4. Zen’s anti-drone systems were proven in field operations, leading to export inquiries from over 20 countries. This mirrors the broader trend of India’s defense exports growing from ₹1,940 crore (FY14) to ₹21,083 crore (FY24). Field-tested solutions build trust far faster than lab demos or pilot projects. 5. Government fundings are rewarding innovation over manufacturing. Programs like iDEX provide up to ₹10 crore for proven concepts, while DRDO offers ₹50 crore per system under the Technology Development Fund. This shift allows companies to reinvest profits into next-generation R&D. 6. Ashok believes that not all technologies should be patented. Highly secretive or complex innovations can be reverse-engineered if patented. Instead, patent what is obvious to outsiders to protect your competitive edge. 7. Build with a focused approach on Pareto technologies with maximum impact. Instead of chasing every opportunity, Zen concentrated on the 20% of technologies delivering 80% of results, anti-drone systems and simulators. Prioritizing high-leverage areas compounds impact effectively. 8. Time market entry around overlooked gaps: In 2018, drones were a hot topic, but there was little attention on anti-drone systems. Zen entered this gap and was ready when the need became urgent, from regional conflicts to domestic security. Opportunities often lie where others are silent. 9. Create policies around your innovation: Self-funded R&D firms face unique risks that conventional procurement rules often overlook. Zen advocated for new categories rather than adapting breakthrough technologies to unsuitable frameworks, ensuring their innovations could be evaluated on merit. Full Episode https://lnkd.in/gnAFEj3f

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Google is building its largest data center outside the United States — right here in Vizag, India. A $15-billion AI hub that promises to transform India’s digital future. But behind the shiny promise lies a serious question: What is the cost of this AI dream in terms of real-world resources? The intersection of AI and climate is a complex topic, no doubt. We have tried to unpack some parts of it in a video that looks at the environmental impact of this data center on the Vizag landscape and it's people. https://lnkd.in/g8aTXfJg

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Rethinking Deep Tech Policy: Bridging the Gap Between Scale, IP, & Strategic Market Access India’s push for scale manufacturing in deep tech domains often overlooks three foundational pillars critical to long-term competitiveness: developmental know-how, IP ownership, and strategic market access frameworks. 1. Zero-Duty Structures Dilutes Market Access The prevailing tariff structure, which applies nil duty on certain finished products and their components/raw materials, erodes the competitive advantage of domestic design-led manufacturing. While this structure is meant to overcome lack of capacity, & support manufacturing at scale, it inadvertently disincentivizes value addition within India—especially in sectors like semiconductors, photonics, or advanced materials. This undermines the incentive for global and domestic players to invest in upstream R&D and design capabilities within India. 2. The Blind Spot in End-of-Life (EOL) Technologies and Reference Design Transfers In deep tech sectors with short product lifecycles, India has a unique window of opportunity to extend the usability of EOL products through: Global reference design transfers & localised redesign and manufacturing application-tailored integration Unfortunately, this opportunity is largely underutilized. EOL products that still hold utility in Indian applications—defense, industrial automation, or even telecom, can become incubators for local R&D and incremental innovation if backed by the right IP-sharing mechanisms and incentives. 3. Lack of Tariff-Based Protection for Government Infrastructure Projects Strategic national infrastructure—such as defense systems, power grids, healthcare networks—should not be exposed to global cost arbitrage pressures at the expense of domestic capability-building. Yet, current procurement and tariff policies: Provide no strategic runway for domestic companies to scale through demand aggregation. 4. Global Supply Chain Realities in Deep Tech: The Case of Photonics Sectors like photonics and semiconductor packaging are highly consolidated globally, with a handful of players controlling the bulk of IP, design frameworks, and manufacturing scale. Attempting to displace or attract them purely through contract manufacturing incentives is strategically weak. 5. Contract Manufacturing Without Design Autonomy Is a Dead-End If India continues to support a contract manufacturing model reliant on foreign IP and raw material imports, it risks becoming: A low-margin, low-control node in the global supply chain with little ability to capture value, or influence future technology directions. This path may create temporary employment but will not unlock India’s latent domestic market potential, nor will it establish India as a global technology originator. #DeepTech #Manufacturing #Photonics #MakeInIndia #Policy #IP #DesignLedManufacturing #Semiconductors #Electronics #Innovation

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FUNDED: PowerUp Money raises $12M Series A led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from existing investors Accel, Blume Ventures, Kae Capital, 8i Ventures, and DeVC.

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🚨 RBI’s New Co-Lending Directions, 2025 – Effective Jan 1, 2026 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued new Co-Lending Arrangements Directions, 2025, which will come into effect on January 1, 2026. These guidelines will likely broaden the scope of co-lending 1️⃣ Mandatory Skin in the Game – Each Regulated Entity (RE) must retain minimum 10% of every loan (no shadow partnerships) 2️⃣ Blended Interest Rate – Final rate to borrower = weighted average of each lender’s rate. All fees to be factored into APR & Key Facts Statement 3️⃣ 15-Day Transfer Rule – Partner RE must book its share within 15 days of disbursement. Else, loan stays with originator 4️⃣ Default Loss Guarantee Cap – Max 5% of outstanding loans allowed 5️⃣ Borrower-Level Asset Classification – If one lender marks SMA/NPA, the other must follow 6️⃣ Escrow Account Mandate – All transactions to flow through an escrow, ensuring clear fund appropriation 7️⃣ Full Disclosure – Public list of co-lending partners + detailed reporting in financials Bottom line: Clearer rules, stronger consumer protection, tighter operational discipline >> co-lending just got a lot more transparent. #RBI #CoLending #NBFC #Fintech #Credit https://lnkd.in/gKxrz_hC

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India’s deeptech ecosystem is coming of age. The breadth and depth of sectors with a true “critical mass” of startup activity is expanding, driving greater capital flows into deeptech over the last few years. TDK Ventures and Kae Capital have partnered to put together a report highlighting the most attractive opportunities within India’s deeptech landscape. The analysis considers: a) Technology readiness b) Market demand and maturity c) Startup activity across sectors and sub-sectors We also gathered direct input from 100+ deeptech founders and builders to ground this report in real ecosystem insights. Special thanks to the authors: Abhishek Srivastava, Nisha K Pai, Gautam Marwah Vasan Churchill & Aakriti Singh. Have a read and tell us what you think. Your feedback and inputs will make us do better. Link here: https://lnkd.in/g5NqrpRz

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Ankur Capital India Deep Science Tech Report 2025 explains the convergence of forces in Indian deep sceince ecosystem to deliver exponential outcomes Three key shifts defining this moment: The Maturity Milestone: For the first time, domestic patents constituted over 50% of patent filings in FY24, signaling a massive surge in homegrown IP. The Reverse Brain Drain: We are witnessing a powerful influx of global talent. In fact, 30% of the founders in our portfolio have returned from global experiences to build their startups here. The "Lean Launch" Advantage: India offers premium science at emerging market economics. Our analysis found that Indian companies spend up to 8x less to build pilot plants compared to global peers, allowing them to validate faster and burn less capital. Deep science demands a different playbook than typical tech startups. With Revenue and enterprise value rarely moving together early on, success requires a "commercial architect" - to de-risk supply chains and forge partnerships before the revenue arrives. Read the full report to understand how India is building the future - Full report: https://lnkd.in/gmtTZ49g Kudos to the team who led the work on this edition - Vishal Katariya Suraj Nair Ritu Verma Yagna Sreeramaneni

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The question I have been asked most over the last decade: "𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱-𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢?" My answer: 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗔𝗜, 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. While the world races to build bigger models, India's true opportunity lies in applying AI to solve real-world problems at population scale. Our existing DPI gives us a unique advantage that few nations possess. Combined with our talent pool and mission-mode focus on sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and financial inclusion, we are not just participating in the AI revolution, we are defining a new category. At Avataar, we live this thesis every day: bridging the AI-ROI gap with domain/task specialized models that deliver measurable business outcomes, not just impressive demos. The shift from generalist models to purpose-driven AI systems isn't coming - it's here. And India is leading it! Thank you BW Businessworld for the platform to share this vision. #AI #IndiaAI #DeepTech #EnterpriseAI #AgenticAI #AvataarAI

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