Chris Kay

Trouble in India’s ‘City of Dawn’. Founded as a utopian experiment in the 1960s, Auroville is now engulfed in a bitter political struggle over its future. My latest for the @ftweekend.com magazine | as.ft.com/r/92b7590e-5...

Is corporate India’s exuberance merited? column here from @christopherkay.ft.com The gap between corporate India’s public optimism and household and investor anxiety has become increasingly apparent as.ft.com/r/c12db9f5-b...

The food safety sheriff on a hygiene crusade in Mumbai ft.trib.al/C4OYdjd | opinion

“Those businesses who are following the norms, they have nothing to fear from us.” My piece on Tukaram Mundhe, the bureaucrat on a hygiene crusade whose stardom also reflects the low expectations Indians have of their civil servants | as.ft.com/r/2f8ac210-9... via @financialtimes.com

India gets hooked on ‘snackable’ micro-dramas. “Micro-dramas are the future of our industry . . . big production houses are jumping into it. Every studio is booked” | as.ft.com/r/718f64d3-f... via @financialtimes.com

Billionaire Tata scion faces battle of his life to avert a listing ft.trib.al/5vQhuV7

The AI threat to India’s IT jobs machine ft.trib.al/OKH8JNx

There’s always a local angle

This column by @christopherkay.ft.com highlights an important issue - as AI becomes more important and powerful, how do countries avoid becoming dependent on US centric models? is open-source AI enough? www.ft.com/content/3729...

What Ambani’s deep-tech ambitions reveal about India’s AI limits ft.trib.al/m3twLa3 | opinion

What Ambani’s deep-tech ambitions reveal about India’s AI limits - www.ft.com/content/3729... via @financialtimes.com

India plays ‘whack-a-mole’ with finfluencers. “They thought they could sell dreams that many people have made profits,” Sebi chair tells @financialtimes.com. “These dreams were completely hyped and were even outright lies in some cases.” www.ft.com/content/79ef...

Ambani’s Jio set to file for IPO as hopes grow for end to India’s listings drought ft.trib.al/MKlOviH

Cricket fans - a column here from @christopherkay.ft.com on how India’s cricket cash machine - the IPL - faces a slower commercial run rate www.ft.com/content/eefd...

The Indian Premier League transformed cricket’s flagging economics and entrenched India’s global political dominance of the game. But the IPL's commercial pitch is set to become tougher with limited to no competition for the next media rights cycle. www.ft.com/content/eefd...

Modi calls on Indians to tighten their belts amid Gulf crisis, as well as avoid travelling abroad for holidays and weddings. “Now that the elections are over, Modi can be more realistic about the economic issues” www.ft.com/content/39a9...

always loved this photo of Churchgate station in Mumbai in 1995 (i lived around the corner at the time) by the great Raghu Rai who has just died. NYTimes obit here www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/w...

No dosa today: India’s cooking gas crisis ft.trib.al/w0n2sFd | opinion

The outspoken founder of Biocon on the pros and cons of weight-loss drugs, misogynistic trolling — and how to get India’s tech capital moving again: ft.trib.al/PBmbRX1

Biotech billionaire Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: ‘I’ve always been very unconventional’ The Biocon founder on building an Indian pharma powerhouse, weight-loss drugs — and how to get Bangalore moving again. Do read my first Lunch with the FT. www.ft.com/content/08e9...

The question over Trump’s ‘historic’ refinery deal: $300bn or $40mn? ft.trib.al/2jya0Ao

The downfall of Byju's, once India's most valuable start-up worth $22bn, turned into a global courtroom drama. The @financialtimes.com's Mumbai bureau chief @christopherkay.ft.com takes us inside the saga on this episode of Behind the Money. 🎧: podfollow.com/behind-the-m...

always here for takes on the state of Bollywood - read here from Krishn Kausik and @christopherkay.ft.com www.ft.com/content/f1d6...

India’s central bank battles to protect rupee from Iran war fallout ft.trib.al/xiB0xNE

In May, India's law ministry refused to serve the SEC's legal summons to Adani, citing “the absence of an ink signature on the SEC’s cover letter and a seal”, which the US regulator argued was not required. www.ft.com/content/64f0...

“Private Indian energy giants could make a killing from refining more Venezuelan heavy crude, and India could achieve its goal of better diversifying its sources of foreign oil — and especially if it continues to scale back Russian oil imports.” ft.com/content/5d0f...

www.ft.com/content/8070... India’s turbulent year in aviation: “In the US and China, there are several peer-sized airlines that can step in to ease shocks. India doesn’t have that.” @christopherkay.ft.com

RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra tells the @financialtimes.com that he expects India's interest rates to remain low for a “long period”. He also admitted that the blistering 8.2% GDP figure “was surprising” and the central bank had to “improve” its forecasting ft.com/content/55cd...

Earlier this year, IndiGo's CEO told the @financialtimes.com that the airline's rise was “one of the most incredible aviation stories in the world”. But that triumphant narrative has been devastated after a major air travel meltdown - www.ft.com/content/e3f7...

India’s airports in chaos as largest airline IndiGo cancels over 1,000 flights on Friday following days of turmoil. The airline's CEO says cancelling more than half the its flights would help it to “start afresh” - www.ft.com/content/6451... via @financialtimes.com

The costs of India’s hunger for cheap steel-The scale of that growth, however, comes with significant costs. Despite its essential role in engineering and construction, steel is one of the world’s dirtiest materials… www.ft.com/content/c9f4... @christopherkay.ft.com @financialtimes.com

Today's FT Big Read: India's steel production has boomed in the past decade. But that growth comes with significant costs. “We are creating a big carbon monster that we will not be able to tackle in the future,” says @globalenergymon.bsky.social's Henna Khadeeja - on.ft.com/4oVZzWI

Only 4.4% of India's workforce aged 15 to 29 is formally skilled, according to the government, which has acknowledged that just over half of the country's graduates have the “skills needed by a modern economy” - on.ft.com/3LMDICt via @financialtimes.com

Inside the war over Bangalore Palace. Since India's independence, the Mysore maharajas have waged a slow battle for control over their historic real estate, flitting between political parties and attempting to protect their legacy. My latest for the @ftweekend.com magazine - on.ft.com/3JXqphR

PM Narendra Modi heralded India’s growing “concert economy” after Coldplay gigs. But India still struggles with a scarcity of venues and opaque red tape. “We always had a gun to our head in terms of who’s the next guy going to be coming to ask for a piece of the action” | www.ft.com/content/fea1...

India’s grid deadlock threatens green power rollout - on.ft.com/4p0PYNW via @financialtimes.com

India is estimated to spend less than 0.7% of GDP on R&D, less than half what it needs to spend.

‘Shoestring’ R&D budgets force India to rely on Chinese tech, steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal tells the @financialtimes.com - on.ft.com/4nbBwBm

Tata “fighting multiple fires” after cyber attacks and boardroom splits. “A lot of the day-to-day issues are coming from the operational level . . . but there’s also stuff coming from the top with the disagreement between Noel Tata and some of the other trustees” | on.ft.com/4ofUA2p

Electric scooter makers find opportunity on India’s clogged streets - on.ft.com/3KCRXct via @financialtimes.com

Trump’s H-1B visa turmoil threatens Indians’ American dream. “This is going to crash the number of foreign students applying to the US,” says a recruiter at a US tech company. "They’re going to be saddled with astronomical student loans and no way to work in the US.” www.ft.com/content/0f84...

‘Massive’ oil reserves? Trump baffles Pakistanis, who have mocked his claims and shared images of oil-filled cauldrons used to cook fatty samosas, suggesting the US president may have confused lipids for fossil fuels - on.ft.com/4pfUBVB

Today's FT Big Read: The unsustainable boom in India’s Silicon Valley. Bangalore has become one of the starkest illustrations of India’s struggles to build the infrastructure needed to keep its economy growing at a brisk rate - on.ft.com/3HTISej

China and India seek to repair strained ties ahead of Modi-Xi meeting on.ft.com/45qPFFr

Trump tariffs threaten Modi’s ‘Make in India’ manufacturing drive. “It’s been insane,” says an executive at a garment exporting firm, which has been fielding calls from US clients. “At 50 per cent tariff there is no business to be done.” www.ft.com/content/7b22...

Indian whisky has come a long way but now faces disruption after the UK-India trade deal - great column by @christopherkay.ft.com www.ft.com/content/e0a0...

India’s award-winning whisky industry is bracing for disruption. The UK–India trade deal slashing import tariffs on Scotch, “will pose some challenges for us,” says the head of Amrut Distilleries. www.ft.com/content/e0a0...

India’s IT services giants race to reinvent themselves for the AI age - on.ft.com/45lnms1

My essay for @ftweekend.com on the grand refurb of the Indian capital's government quarter - and the extent to which Delhi does and doesn't serve India's people. Happy Saturday from the megacity! on.ft.com/3HscD5D