Karnataka has unveiled a 10-year roadmap to scale its installed power capacity from over 39 GW currently to 66 GW by 2030, with the future expansion set to remain overwhelmingly focused on clean energy, Additional Chief Secretary, Energy Department, Government of Karnataka, Shri Gaurav Gupta, said at the Bharat Electricity Indian Utility Week 2026 summit. 

Shri Gaurav Gupta, ACS (Energy) along with Smt. Divya Prabhu GRJ, MD, KREDL inaugurates the Karnataka Pavilion at Bharat Electricity Summit 2026

Addressing the Focus State Session for Karnataka during Bharat Electricity and Indian Utility Week 2026 at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi, Shri Gupta said the State was preparing its power sector to meet rapidly rising electricity demand while strengthening grid infrastructure, energy storage and renewable energy capacity – an effort that will contribute directly to India’s national clean energy targets.

Shri Gaurav Gupta, ACS (Energy) along with Smt. Divya Prabhu GRJ, MD, KREDL and other dignitaries at the Bharat Electricity Summit 2026, New Delhi

Karnataka currently has more than 39 GW of installed power capacity, with two-thirds of its power mix coming from clean hydro and renewable sources. The State has been able to meet a significant share of its daily electricity demand through green power.

“Over the next decade, Karnataka will continue to expand its power capacity while ensuring that this growth remains overwhelmingly green,” Gaurav Gupta said.

The State’s electricity demand is expected to double over the coming decade, driven by rapid industrial expansion, widespread electric vehicle adoption and the development of large data centres in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru. To manage this growth, Karnataka has emerged as an early State to implement a CEA and KERC-approved Resource Adequacy Plan.

Gaurav Gupta said the State’s clean-energy transition would be backed by investments in grid resilience and energy storage. Karnataka is advancing the 2,000 MW Sharavathy Pumped Storage Project and deploying large-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems at critical KPTCL substations to provide greater flexibility to the power grid.

The State is also expanding the Pavagada Solar Park, scaling up wind capacity and promoting the solarisation of agricultural feeders through PM-KUSUM Component-C and the Chief Minister Saura Krishi Yojana (CM-SKY).

On transmission infrastructure, Gaurav Gupta said KPTCL was operating with ultra-low transmission losses of under 3 per cent and was undertaking the construction of thousands of kilometres of new transmission lines and super-grid substations.

Gaurav Gupta highlighted Karnataka’s long-standing leadership in India’s energy sector, noting that the State established Asia’s first major hydroelectric power station at Shivanasamudram in 1902, while Bengaluru became the first city in South Asia to be electrified in 1905.

Karnataka is ensuring there is no curtailment of transmission and no delay in payments to power generators, providing greater certainty to investors, Gaurav Gupta said. 

He said the State is encouraging greater private participation in energy storage and transmission and expects to attract Rs. 2–3 crore in private investment in the power sector over the next four to five years.

Gaurav Gupta said Karnataka was also responding to feedback from investors, including on land-related regulations and project procedures. As part of this exercise, the State is simplifying rules and processes and moving them online to provide investors with a clear and seamless pathway for setting up projects.

“This kind of transparent and streamlined system will make it easier for more investors to participate in Karnataka’s power sector,” he added.

As India moves towards the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047, Karnataka is positioning itself to lead in the next phase of the country’s clean-energy transition, with opportunities for global partnerships in battery storage, green hydrogen and smart-grid automation, Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd Managing Director Divya Prabhu said. 

Digitalisation will be key to the future growth of renewable energy, Divya Prabhu said.

She said the electricity system and power generation are moving towards a more predictable and efficient architecture, supported by better forecasting and prediction systems. These advances are being made possible through digitally intelligent power systems.

She highlighted the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the energy sector, including optimising power procurement, using digital twins to simulate and assess power networks, and enabling predictive maintenance and management of assets.

Divya Prabhu also said the digitalisation of renewable energy projects is a major milestone for Karnataka. The State has mapped renewable energy projects and developed a single-window digital platform that provides investors with comprehensive information on projects, making it easier for them to explore and invest in the sector.

“Karnataka is working towards creating a digitally enabled renewable energy ecosystem that is more transparent, predictable and investor-friendly,” she said.

Bharat Electricity Indian Utility Week 2026 is Organised by The Energy & Climate Initiatives Society (ENCIS), the three-day event convenes more than 15,000 professionals, over 250 exhibitors, and 150 global thought leaders from 40 countries. Major sponsors and participating organisations include Adani, NTPC, Coal India, NLC, Tata Power, ReNew, EDF, Schneider Electric, Toshiba JSW, Kirloskar Brothers, and others. Delegations from the US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Australia, UAE, Singapore and more have gathered in New Delhi to advance India’s clean energy and technology ambitions.

Guided by the theme ‘Shaping Energy Sovereignty • Building Climate Resilience • Powering Viksit Bharat,’ Bharat Electricity, POWERGEN India & Indian Utility Week 2026 is more than a showcase, it is a catalyst for next-generation energy solutions, manufacturing, and global collaboration.

Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced the winners of the Red Hat APAC Innovation Awards 2026 for India. This year, Red Hat recognises Adani Airport Holdings Limited, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Department of Information Technology & Communication (DoIT&C), Government of Rajasthan, and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Ministry Of Railways for their leadership through open source, demonstrating how open source technologies help organisations navigate complexity, modernise operations, and deliver sustainable growth.

Red Hat Summit Connect

As organisations across Asia Pacific embrace AI, hybrid cloud, automation, and cloud-native technologies, managing complexity has become just as important as driving innovation. With AI strategies increasingly spanning different models, accelerators, and cloud environments, enterprises are looking to open source because openness brings choice, and choice brings greater flexibility. That flexibility enables them to adopt the technologies best suited to their business needs while building the agility needed to respond to change.

Reflecting this year’s theme, “Unlock what’s next,” the Red Hat APAC Innovation Awards 2026 celebrate organisations that are leading the way with open source. This year’s awards recognise 32 winners across the region whose innovative use of Red Hat solutions is helping solve complex business challenges and deliver meaningful outcomes for customers, employees, and communities.

The winners were recognised for demonstrating how open source can help organisations turn complexity into opportunity. By modernising technology foundations, streamlining operations, and accelerating innovation, each organisation has delivered measurable outcomes that strengthen business resilience and create lasting value. Their achievements reflect Red Hat’s continued collaboration with enterprises across 13 APAC countries to solve real-world challenges through open source. 

The awards comprise six categories: Digital Transformation, Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud-Native Development, Automation, Virtualisation, and AI.

Category: Cloud-Native Development
Winner: Department of Information Technology & Communication, Government of Rajasthan
The Department of Information Technology & Communication (DoIT&C), Government of Rajasthan, leads the use of technology across Rajasthan government departments and autonomous bodies to improve administration and public service delivery. Its responsibilities include IT consultancy, e-governance implementation, technical guidance, capacity building, and the delivery of IT infrastructure and software solutions across the Rajasthan government.

To modernise its digital governance ecosystem, DoIT&C needed to address legacy systems, siloed applications, manual provisioning, limited scalability and slow deployment cycles across platforms such as e-Mitra and Raj Kaaj. The organisation adopted Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus, Red Hat Application Foundation, Red Hat Trusted Application Pipeline and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, supported by Red Hat Consulting and Red Hat Training and Certification, to move from virtualised environments to a standardised, container-based platform with greater automation and DevOps capabilities. The transformation reduced service rollout time by 30-40%, improved system availability and performance by 25-35%, automated 50-60% of infrastructure and operations, and accelerated application development and deployment cycles by around two times. This has helped DoIT&C shift from a reactive, maintenance-heavy IT model to a more agile, innovation-focused ecosystem, improving governance efficiency and delivering faster, more reliable services to citizens.

Category: Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure and Cloud-Native Development
Winner: Adani Airport Holdings Limited
Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), India’s largest airport infrastructure company, manages, operates and develops eight airports across the country. Its network accounts for 24 per cent of passenger footfalls and 33 per cent of air cargo traffic in India, serving passengers, airlines, logistics companies, retailers and other airport stakeholders. 

As Adani Airports expanded its digital capabilities, it needed a more scalable and flexible integration platform to connect more than 20 diverse airport systems, accelerate the onboarding of new applications and support operations across on-premise and cloud environments. Using Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat Application Foundation and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Adani Airports built a hybrid cloud integration platform to deliver real-time data across its airport ecosystem. The platform has improved system performance, reducing response times from a few seconds to microseconds, while providing travellers with more transparent and accurate information on wait times, baggage and flight status. Faster detection of bottlenecks and operational issues is helping airports improve efficiency, reduce congestion at checkpoints and enhance the passenger experience, while supporting faster turnaround times and on-time performance for airlines.

Category: Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure and Cloud-Native Development
Winner: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Ministry Of Railways
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, is the digital, catering, tourism and hospitality arm of Indian Railways. It operates India’s largest online railway ticketing platform, alongside catering, tourism, hospitality and premium train services, supporting millions of passengers across the country every day.

With nearly 89% of reserved railway tickets booked online, IRCTC’s next-generation e-ticketing platform (NGeT) had become business-critical but capacity-constrained, especially during Tatkal and peak booking periods. With Indian Railways serving approximately 2-2.5 crore passengers daily and more than 8 billion annually, scalability, uptime and transaction performance are critical to IRCTC’s digital services. To strengthen these capabilities, IRCTC adopted a containerised, microservices-based platform built on Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus, supported by Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform for end-to-end orchestration. The modernisation enabled the platform to auto-scale during periods of intense demand, helping to address the system failures and booking disruptions during peak periods. It has also improved infrastructure efficiency and accelerated application boot times, enabling teams to release new versions faster and with less friction. By replacing manual, error-prone operational tasks with automated workflows, IRCTC is also strengthening its security posture, reducing operational effort and freeing developer resources for higher-value work.

Category: Virtualization
Winner: Bharti Airtel Ltd
Headquartered in India, Bharti Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 650 million customers in 15 countries across India and Africa. The company also has its presence in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka through its associate entities. The company is ranked second amongst mobile operators globally, and its networks cover over two billion people.

To deliver on its customer-first promise at massive scale, Airtel has been reengineering its infrastructure and moving from legacy, manual systems to open, flexible, cloud-native platforms. This future-ready foundation has helped Airtel innovate new technology solutions delivering enhanced customer experiences across its digital services, including recharge, billing and self-service applications. As part of this transformation, Airtel has been leveraging Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes, Red Hat Quay and Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization.

Supporting Quotes
Daniel Aw, Vice President & General Manager, APAC, Red Hat APAC, “Enterprise technology is becoming more complex than ever, but success is no longer about how many new technologies an organisation adopts. What matters more is how effectively these solutions work together to address real business challenges and deliver tangible value. This year’s winners demonstrate that the organisations best positioned for long-term success are those building open, flexible foundations that allow them to innovate on their own terms. Their achievements are a testament to what organisations can accomplish when technology decisions are guided by business needs rather than trends, and it is this approach that we are proud to celebrate through the Red Hat APAC Innovation Awards.”

Additional Resources

• Learn more about the Red Hat APAC Innovation Awards 2026

• Learn more about Red Hat Summit: Connect

About Red Hat
Red Hat is the open hybrid cloud technology leader, delivering a trusted, consistent and comprehensive foundation for transformative IT innovation and AI applications. Its portfolio of cloud, developer, AI, Linux, automation and application platform technologies enables any application, anywhere—from the datacenter to the edge. As the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, Red Hat invests in open ecosystems and communities to solve tomorrow’s IT challenges. Collaborating with partners and customers, Red Hat helps them build, connect, automate, secure and manage their IT environments, supported by consulting services and award-winning training and certification offerings.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on the company’s current assumptions regarding future business and financial performance.  These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Careernet, a leading talent solutions provider, has been recognized as a Leader in Everest Group’s Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2026 – India. The recognition reflects Careernet’s capabilities in delivering technology-enabled, outcome-oriented recruitment solutions and its ability to support organizations with evolving talent requirements.

Careernet recognized as a Leader in Everest Group’s Recruitment Process Outsourcing Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2026 – India

Everest Group’s 2026 RPO assessment examines how recruitment providers are responding to changing hiring requirements through flexible, scalable delivery models — including modular and project-based services, recruiter-on-demand offerings, and expanded advisory capabilities. The assessment also evaluates the growing role of generative AI, agentic AI, automation, analytics, and talent intelligence across sourcing, screening, candidate engagement, workforce planning, and recruiter productivity, and covers 57 RPO providers globally.

Anshuman Das, Co-founder and CEO, Careernet Group, said, “The nature of hiring is changing rapidly, and organizations across industries and stages of growth are navigating increasingly diverse and complex talent needs. This requires recruitment partners who can understand the nuances of each business and curate solutions that bring together deep talent expertise, market intelligence, technology and talent evaluation. At Careernet, our RPO solutions are designed to help organizations address these distinct requirements with the right combination of human expertise, technology and scale. Being recognized as a Leader by Everest Group reinforces our commitment to delivering agile, outcome-focused talent solutions that create meaningful impact for our customers.”

Commenting on the recognition, Sailesh Hota, Vice President, Everest Group, said: “Careernet has established itself as a leading RPO provider in India through its strong expertise in white-collar hiring, deep relationships with GCCs and technology-led enterprises, and its ability to deliver both project-based and end-to-end engagements. Its investments in AI-enabled recruitment technology, the integrated HirePro assessment platform, outcome-based engagement models, and expanding delivery capabilities have helped position it as a Leader in Everest Group’s Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2026 – India.”

The recognition comes at a time when enterprises are reassessing their recruitment strategies amid stabilizing hiring demand, continued economic uncertainty, financial pressures, and persistent skills shortages. Everest Group notes that organizations are increasingly seeking recruitment models that can scale with changing business requirements while delivering measurable hiring outcomes, stronger stakeholder experiences, and greater workforce agility.

About Careernet

Careernet is a leading holistic talent solutions provider. Because the world needs great talent, we make it happen with the unified strength of Careernet, HirePro, Longhouse, and MyCareernet. Founded in 1999, the company’s mission is to shape exceptional teams with scalable, holistic talent solutions while helping candidates realize their dream careers.

We help companies acquire the best talent by making their recruitment experience seamless with technology innovations. We offer a comprehensive suite of talent solutions, some of the prominent ones being Advisory, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Executive Search, Permanent Recruitment, Professional Staffing, Talent Branding, Research and Early Careers. Today, Careernet serves over 1,000 active top employers and has more than 2,000 employees with dedicated offices in multiple locations across the country, the Middle East, the US, and the Philippines.

For more details, visit: careernet.in.

Decentro, the full-stack banking and fintech infrastructure platform used by 2,000+ enterprises, has closed out its strongest award season to date. The company has been named Fintech Company of the Year at the India Fintech Awards 2026, hosted by the Unified Fintech Forum (UFF), and has won the Embedded Finance Innovation Award at the 4th Edition Bharat NBFC & FinTech Summit & Awards 2026. At the same summit, Founder and CEO Rohit Taneja was named Emerging Leader of the Year (Under 40).

Decentro Earns Three Industry Recognitions, reinforcing its Leadership in Fintech Infrastructure and Embedded Finance

Two different juries, evaluating three different things, landed on the same company and the same founder in the same season. Decentro was judged as a business, as a category innovator, and for the leadership behind it. Recognition that points to something more fundamental: an infrastructure stack that most players in the space simply don’t have.

The “boring” part is the actual innovation
Decentro’s approach combines product infrastructure with regulated operating capabilities. The company holds RBI Payment Aggregator (PA) authorisations for online and physical payments, an IFSCA Payment Service Provider licence through its GIFT City entity, and UIDAI Offline Verification Seeking Entity certification. This stack enables enterprises to access bank-grade payment acceptance, identity verification and related financial workflows through a unified integration layer.

The company serves more than 2,000 enterprises across banking, lending, marketplaces, fintech and consumer internet, including large platforms such as AU Small Finance Bank, BharatPe, CRED, Meesho, MakeMyTrip and Muthoot Finance. Decentro’s Payment Aggregator platform supports online and offline payment acceptance, including UPI, bank transfers, recurring mandates and QR-based in-store payments. Public company materials also describe its PA-Physical (PA-P) authorisation as enabling offline payment acceptance alongside its online capabilities.

Decentro processes more than USD12 billion in annual payment volume and 120 million-plus identity verifications a year, with integration timelines cut from months to days and roughly 30% lower operational costs for enterprises building on the stack. The company has also expanded its collections capabilities through Neowise, its conversational AI platform for lending collections. Neowise supports multilingual borrower engagement and human-assisted resolution workflows for lenders, and now handles close to 3 million borrower conversations a month across 12-plus Indian languages, working with lenders including Tata Capital and L&T Finance. Three physical delivery centres and 400+ trained human debt callers support the cases that need a person rather than a bot.

The leadership behind the platform
Rohit Taneja is a two-time fintech founder. Before Decentro, he co-founded Mypoolin, an early social payments platform backed by Accel, which Wibmo later acquired; PayU subsequently acquired Wibmo. He then led product and engineering for Wibmo’s payment gateway business, working with financial institutions across India, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Dubai.

Founded in 2020 by Rohit Taneja and Pratik Daudkhane, Decentro is backed by Y Combinator and offers more than 150 APIs across payments, identity verification, banking and AI-led collections. Under their leadership, the company has secured its PA licence, acquired Neowise, and expanded into cross-border payments infrastructure through its IFSCA licence and GIFT City presence. Decentro’s continued focus is to make financial infrastructure simpler to adopt, so businesses can spend more time building differentiated customer products.

“Being recognised at the company, innovation and leadership levels in the same year is deeply meaningful for all of us at Decentro,” said Rohit Taneja, Co-founder and CEO, Decentro. “We set out to build the infrastructure behind financial products, not another standalone financial product. For our customers, that means faster launches, fewer fragmented integrations, and regulated capabilities that can be embedded directly into their customer experience. These honours reinforce the value of building compliance and reliability into the platform from day one.”

Decentro was named Fintech Company of the Year for its efforts across payments, identity and collections, achieved while staying profitable on a lean ~USD10 million raised to date. Separately, the Bharat NBFC & FinTech Summit recognised Rohit for building a mechanism that lets Decentro’s infrastructure operate seamlessly behind complex banking and financial products.

About Decentro
Decentro is a full-stack banking and fintech infrastructure platform founded in 2020 and backed by notable funds including Y Combinator. It enables businesses to launch and scale financial products through a unified API layer spanning payments, identity verification, banking and AI-led collections. Decentro holds RBI Payment Aggregator authorisations for online and physical payments, an IFSCA Payment Service Provider licence through its GIFT City entity, and UIDAI Offline Verification Seeking Entity certification for offline Aadhaar verification. The platform serves more than 2,000 enterprises across banking, lending, marketplaces and consumer fintech.

More than 500 developers, data scientists, engineers, agronomists, product champions and digital experts came together from September 2-3, in Pune at Syngenta’s DevCon 2026 to showcase cutting-edge innovations, share best practices and explore how artificial intelligence can transform agriculture globally. The annual event, themed ‘Sharper Together’ highlighted the power of teams collaborating to build digital solutions that help farmers make better decisions, improve productivity and advance sustainable agriculture around the world.

More than 500 digital and technology experts at Syngenta’s DevCon 2026 in Pune

Hengde Qin, Syngenta Group’s Global CEO and Feroz Sheikh, Chief Information Digital Officer, launched the event virtually, sharing their perspectives on the growing impact of digital on Syngenta’s business and how AI and agentic development is critical for us to innovate, operate and deliver value in the future. 

Syngenta continues to strengthen its digital agriculture capabilities as an Agtech company. The importance of engineering excellence, AI augmentation and knowledge sharing in developing the next generation of AgTech solutions was clearly reinforced at DevCon 2026.

“Agriculture faces increasingly complex challenges, and technology has a critical role to play in helping farmers navigate them. DevCon is more than a technology conference. It is a platform where our global engineering community comes together to learn, collaborate and innovate. By combining strong engineering practices with the power of AI, we are building solutions that have real-world impact on farmers and strengthen the future of agriculture,” said Andre Piza, Global Head of Digital AgTech, Syngenta.

What makes DevCon unique is the scale of impact behind the innovation. More than 90% of the digital agriculture solutions developed by Syngenta’s Pune-based technology teams support farmers and agricultural stakeholders across global markets, making the city one of the company’s most important hubs for digital innovation. 

“The theme ‘Sharper Together’ reflects our belief that innovation happens when great minds learn from each other and raise the bar collectively. Bringing together 250 developers from across India creates a powerful community of problem-solvers focused on advancing digital agriculture. From Pune, our teams are contributing technologies that support farmers across the world, demonstrating how engineering excellence can drive global impact,” said Salil Bongale, Global Head – IT & Digital, Pune Centre.

Through technical showcases, peer learning sessions and discussions on AI-enabled development, DevCon 2026 celebrated the growing role of engineering communities in shaping the future of agriculture. The event underscored how Syngenta’s developers are not only building software, but also creating digital solutions that help farmers improve resilience, productivity and sustainability. DevCon 2026 demonstrated that the future of AgTech will be built through collaboration, continuous learning and innovation at scale.

AltEons Energy, a renewable energy platform focused on delivering reliable and sustainable clean power solutions has announced a strategic investment from The Sanmar Group. The investment will support the development of over 1.5 GW of renewable energy projects across India, enabling Corporate and Industrial (C&I) customers to accelerate their decarbonisation journey while ensuring reliable, firm renewable power

Vijay Sankar, Chairman, The Sanmar Group

The investment marks a significant milestone in AltEons’ growth strategy as the company scales its integrated renewable energy platform combining solar, wind, energy storage and advanced energy management solutions to provide Round-the-Clock (RTC) clean power to C&I consumers. AltEons is working on an under-construction pipeline of 210 MW Hybrid portfolio (Wind, Solar, and Battery Energy Storage Systems) in Maharashtra to cater to the growing demand of energy intensive businesses in the State.

The company works with customers across manufacturing, automotive, data centres, and industrial engineering, among others. These customers are seeking long-term, sustainable energy solutions that support their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments. Apart from this capacity, AltEons will secure another 800 MW pipeline by the end of the year.

Vijay Sankar, Chairman, The Sanmar Group, said, “AltEons has built a compelling platform focused on addressing one of the most critical challenges in energy transition, delivering reliable renewable power at scale. We believe the company’s innovative approach, experienced leadership, and strong execution capabilities position it to become a significant player in India’s evolving renewable energy sector. As a multinational, sustainability-focused organization, we are pleased to partner with AltEons on this exciting journey.” 

Srinivasan Viswanathan, Founder & CEO of AltEons Energy, said, “We are delighted to welcome The Sanmar Group as our strategic investor and partner in our mission to transform India’s clean energy landscape. This investment reinforces confidence in our vision of delivering reliable RTC renewable power to C&I customers. With Sanmar’s long-term partnership, we are well positioned to develop over 1.5 GW of RTC renewable energy projects and help industries accelerate their decarbonization goals.”

About AltEons Energy
AltEons Energy is a renewable energy company focused on developing and operating utility scale and commercial renewable energy solutions for corporate customers. The company specializes in Round-the Clock renewable energy solutions by integrating solar, wind, energy storage, and digital energy management technologies to provide reliable, sustainable power that supports India’s energy transition and corporate decarbonization objectives.

About The Sanmar Group
The Sanmar Group is a diversified industrial conglomerate with a presence in Chemicals, Speciality Chemicals, Shipping, Engineering and Foundry businesses. With a history of over six decades, Sanmar’s global footprint spans India, Egypt, Singapore, Mexico and the United States of America. Sanmar is known for its strong ethical foundation and emphasis on growth through partnerships. 

For more information, please log on to www.alteonsenergy.com.

• Colleges across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi and Bhubaneswar compete in the Wonderla Off-Campus League (WOCL) from 5 August to 11 September

• Winning colleges take home a rolling trophy and sponsorship worth Rs. 13 Lacs*

• Participants can win daily prizes and iPhone 17 Pro Max

What happens when college students take competition a little too seriously? For Wonderla, it means hairdryers turn into roller coasters, water tanks become training grounds and hostel beds double up as practice arenas. With its latest youth-focused campaign, Wonderla Off Campus, Wonderla Holidays Ltd. India’s largest amusement park chain is bringing the spirit of college competition into its parks through the Wonderla Off Campus League (WOCL), a five-city inter-college championship that combines play, rivalry, teamwork and the unmistakable energy of campus life. From 5 August to 11 September, students from colleges across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi and Bhubaneswar compete within their cities in a season-long points race.  Colleges with the maximum points in each city, take the ultimate prize of rolling trophy and sponsorships worth Rs. 13 Lacs.

Wonderla Off Campus League (WOCL) by Wonderla Holidays brings college rivalries across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi and Bhubaneswar. Students compete to win exciting prizes

Across the season, students go head-to-head in a mix of ride-based challenges that test nerves and reflexes, and skill-based games that reward strategy and teamwork, with solo formats for individual glory and team events, played in twos, for those who’d rather share the win. The week builds to Treasure Hunt Thursdays, a park-wide hunt enabled by Wonderla’s digital platform that carries the highest points on offer, turning a single evening into the biggest swing in the city standings.

The campaign is supported by a series of fun brand films that take a humorous look at students preparing for WOCL in increasingly unconventional ways. Set against familiar hostels and dormitory settings, the films follow students who take their training for the competition to unexpected extremes, much to the confusion and frustration of their roommates.

In one film, two roommates search frantically for a missing hairdryer and fan, only to find their friend using them to recreate the thrill of a roller coaster ride. In another, a mysterious water shortage leads roommates to discover their friend using the hostel’s water tank as a rather unconventional practice arena. A third film sees a student lying upside down on her bunk bed, intensely counting backwards as part of her own preparation ritual.

Each time, the explanation is simple: it’s all for WOCL. The films build on the larger idea behind Wonderla Off Campus – bringing the competitive spirit, friendships, rivalries and shared experiences that define college life in the Wonderla universe.

Dheeran Choudhary, Chief Operating Officer, Wonderla Holidays Ltd., said, “Running a championship inside a live amusement park is an operational sport of its own. Every challenge, in the water and on the rides, is conducted under the supervision of our trained teams, with our standard safety protocols in place across all five parks. And the live leaderboard on the Wonderla Off Campus microsite means a student can leave the park in the evening and watch their college’s position move the same night. The competition is intense by design. The experience stays effortless by design too.”

Pallavi Nayak, Vice President – Marketing & Growth, Wonderla Holidays Ltd., said, “The core essence of Wonderla is that some of the most memorable experiences are created when people come together to connect and celebrate. With Wonderla Off Campus, we want to combine the spirit of our youth from their campuses with the Wonderla energy and create a platform for the young to showcase their talent, passion and competitive spirit. More than a championship, Wonderla Off Campus is about building those connections with the next generation and creating experiences that extend beyond our parks. We look forward to making this a celebration of youth, community and of course, Majaa!”

Students can also enter the College Creator Challenge, posting a reel of their Wonderla experience on Instagram, tagging @wonderla_in with #WonderlaOffCampus, for a chance to win an iPhone 17 Pro Max and weekly headphone giveaways, judged on reel quality and creativity. (T&Cs apply)

Ticket bookings are open through the season and students can register for WOCL at all five parks. The championship closes on 11 September, when five colleges, one in each city, will be crowned champions, who will win sponsorship worth Rs. 13 Lacs along with Rolling Trophy. 

About Wonderla Holidays Limited
Wonderla Holidays Limited is India’s largest and premier amusement park operator, offering world-class entertainment experiences across its amusement parks and premium resorts. The company operates five top-tier amusement parks in Kochi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, and Chennai alongside Wonderla’s resort offerings – Terrea by Wonderla and The Isle by Wonderla, premium retreats in Bengaluru. Known for its thrilling attractions, including custom-designed rides from leading international suppliers, Wonderla continues to set the benchmark in family entertainment. In addition to its parks, Wonderla offers serene, immersive experiences through its resorts, blending leisure and entertainment in one seamless destination. Since its inception in 2000, over 48 million guests have enjoyed Wonderla parks, solidifying its position as India’s most-visited amusement park chain, while its resorts continue to redefine luxury leisure and hospitality.

For further details, visit www.wonderla.com.

• Bajaj Finance among the first businesses to go live with the new AI-powered experience

• The smallest of Indian businesses can now ask about payments, settlements, and support issues, and get them acted on through a simple WhatsApp message

Razorpay, India’s Omnichannel Payments Platform for Businesses, today launched RAY, an AI Account Manager on WhatsApp, in partnership with IndusInd Bank, with Bajaj Finance among the first businesses live on the platform. Built for businesses of every size, RAY gives founders an always-on, intelligent way to manage their payments and get support whenever they need it, day or night. Businesses have already had 20,000+ conversations with RAY, an early signal of how readily they are shifting to conversational, AI-led resolutions over dashboard-based ones for faster, more accessible support.

Razorpay Launches AI Account Manager on WhatsApp, with Induslnd Bank

Starting today, businesses can send RAY, Razorpay’s AI Assistant, a simple message or voice note saying, “Show me a summary of my payments from yesterday” or go deeper with a request like, “Analyse my payments from the last two months and project my sales for the next two months.” RAY responds in natural language, without founders having to navigate dashboards or multiple screens to find the information they need. For India’s small businesses, getting help from their payments provider has just become as simple as texting a friend.

But the bigger shift is what happens next. For years, the largest businesses have had someone they could call to help them manage their payments and business needs. Most small and growing businesses haven’t. Whether it’s checking the status of a settlement ahead of an urgent payout, sending a payment link to a customer, or issuing a refund while on the go, Razorpay is now putting that experience inside WhatsApp, the app most MSME’s already use for their business.

RAY is designed to do more than answer questions. It proactively tracks a business’s payment health and shares useful insights and actions before a business owner has to ask. From recommendations such as “Here’s how you can improve your payment success rate,” to flagging an upcoming settlement with a message such as, “Your Rs 94,600 settles Wednesday. Tuesday is a bank holiday. Would you like to get it settled today?”, RAY helps businesses stay ahead of issues and make faster decisions.

The launch marks the next evolution of RAY, Razorpay’s AI-powered merchant assistance technology. While RAY was originally built to help businesses access information and support by leveraging AI, it no longer just answers questions when businesses reach out – it independently triggers actions across Razorpay’s systems. Where businesses once had to log into a dashboard to issue a refund or generate a payment link, they can now simply ask RAY to do it – on WhatsApp, in the middle of a conversation. 

The idea behind RAY started with a simple insight. Razorpay’s systems can already detect the early signs of a merchant needing support – from improving payment success to staying ahead of settlements. The opportunity was in how to act on those signals at scale. Manual outreach, however well-intentioned, depends on someone picking up the phone, one merchant at a time – a model built for hundreds of businesses, not millions. RAY was built to close that gap: turning real-time signals into real-time action, reaching every business on time, automatically.

Khilan Haria, Chief Product Officer, Razorpay said, “We’ve been thinking about how AI can fundamentally change the way businesses interact with their payments infrastructure. Millions of businesses across India are building and growing every day, and we wanted to make it easier for them to access the information, intelligent insights, and support they need along the way. With RAY, an AI Account Manager on WhatsApp, a business owner can simply ask for what they need in the most natural way possible and have it acted upon.”

He added, “More importantly, we are moving towards a world where they may not even need to ask us first. If we see an opportunity to help, whether it’s improving payment success, staying ahead of a settlement, or taking an action at the right moment, RAY will proactively reach out and help. Every founder, regardless of the size of their business, should feel like they have someone looking out for them.”

Amitabh Saraff, Head – Institutional and Government Coverage, IndusInd Bank said, “At IndusInd Bank, we are committed to making banking simpler, faster, and more accessible for businesses. Our partnership with Razorpay reflects this focus by bringing account management capabilities to a familiar platform like WhatsApp, helping make business support more immediate, intuitive, and convenient.”

Bajaj – Tanaji Khot – Senior Head Banking, Bajaj Finance said, “When you’re running a business, you don’t always have the time to open another dashboard or follow up on multiple support channels. You just want to know what’s happening and get an issue resolved quickly. Being able to simply send a message on WhatsApp makes the experience much more natural. It feels less like using another business tool and more like having someone available when you need help.”

Razorpay’s AI Agent Platform is built around a single intelligent agent that can handle a wide range of business needs end-to-end. Instead of building separate AI agents for payments, settlements, refunds, and other functions, the platform allows a single agent to draw on different capabilities, tools, knowledge, and memory depending on what a business needs in the moment. It holds full 360-degree context for each merchant, and an extensive evaluation system validates every response in real time, keeping hallucinations in check without compromising latency. The result: RAY moves seamlessly within a single conversation – from understanding what a business needs, to finding the right information, to recommending the next step, to taking the action itself.

With this launch, Razorpay is taking another step towards a future where AI doesn’t just help businesses understand what is happening, but helps them act on it. Built on Razorpay’s growing intelligence layer across payments, risk, and business operations, RAY is part of the ecosystem the company is building to make running a business simpler, more proactive, and increasingly intelligent.

About Razorpay

Razorpay, an omnichannel payments platform for businesses, strives to help Indian businesses with innovative solutions built with technology to address the payment and banking journey for businesses. Established in 2014 by alumni of IIT Roorkee, Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur, the company strives to provide technology payment solutions to many businesses. A few angel investors have also invested in Razorpay’s mission to simplify payments and business banking.

Ai+ Smartphone today announced its partnership with Bigg Boss Season 20 across five editions – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali marking a significant step as the brand continues to strengthen its presence across India.
 

Ai+ Smartphone Enters the Bigg Boss House Across Five Language Editions
 

Bigg Boss has grown beyond being a television show to become a cultural phenomenon, driving conversations across television, digital and social platforms. Its ability to connect with audiences across languages and regions makes the property a powerful platform for Ai+ Smartphone to build familiarity, trust and aspiration among consumers across the country.
 

The association spans the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali editions of Bigg Boss, with Salman Khan, Vijay Sethupathi, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Kiccha Sudeep and Sourav Ganguly hosting the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali editions respectively. Together, the association gives Ai+ Smartphone a powerful multilingual platform to build familiarity and relevance while speaking to consumers in the languages, cultural contexts and entertainment formats they connect with most.
 

Speaking on the collaboration, Archi Gogoi, Head of Brand, Marketing & Growth, Ai+ Smartphone, said, “In a market as diverse as India, meaningful consumer connections come from understanding the distinct cultures, conversations and contexts that shape audiences across regions. Bigg Boss is one of the few platforms that combines massive national relevance with incredibly strong regional appeals. For Ai+ Smartphone, this association is about going beyond visibility and becoming part of the conversations and cultural moments, our consumers already care about. Across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali, we have an opportunity to connect with audiences in a way that feels more local, relevant and authentic.”
 

As part of the association, Ai+ Smartphone will engage audiences through product integrations, branded moments, contextual content and digital amplification across the Bigg Boss ecosystem. The approach is designed to take the brand beyond conventional advertising and integrate Ai+ Smartphone naturally into moments and conversations audiences engage with throughout the season.
 

For Ai+ Smartphone, the Bigg Boss 20 partnership represents another step in building a technology brand that combines Indian roots with global ambition while staying close to the culture, conversations and consumers shaping modern India.
 

About Ai+ Smartphone

Ai+ Smartphone is a next-generation brand built in India, delivering reliable and high-performance mobile experiences. Powered by NxtQuantum OS, India’s first sovereign mobile operating system. The brand focuses on delivering a clean design, ensuring long battery life, and maintaining trusted software performance, all while keeping prices accessible without compromising the user experience.

From redefining smartphones to pioneering AIoT products as part of the company’s Connected Ecosystem, Ai+ Smartphone is creating a new standard for trust, immersive experience, and accessibility. Rooted in a privacy-first architecture and a commitment to equitable access, Ai+ Smartphone stands for more than specs — it stands for India’s next era of user-owned, future-ready technology.

About Ai+ and NxtQuantum Shift Technologies

NxtQuantum Shift Technologies is a deep-tech Indian company building secure, sovereign digital platforms for a digital-first world. Founded by Madhav Sheth, the company develops NxtQuantum OS, India’s first sovereign operating system, and is committed to building technology that is designed, engineered and developed in India while remaining globally competitive.

Prateek Group has announced plans to develop a 2-lakh sq. ft. high street mall worth approximately INR 500 crore in Siddharth Vihar, Ghaziabad, marking a significant expansion of the Group’s commercial real estate portfolio. The development will follow a 100% lease-based model, with Prateek Group retaining ownership of the asset and generating long-term recurring rental revenues.

Prashant Tiwari, Chairman, Prateek Group, announces the Group’s plans to develop a INR 500 crore high street mall in Siddharth Vihar, Ghaziabad

Envisioned as a new-age retail, dining and entertainment destination, the project will cater to the rapidly growing residential population of Siddharth Vihar and surrounding markets across NCR.

The project forms part of Prateek Group’s long-term strategy to build a portfolio of annuity-generating commercial assets, complementing its residential development business. By retaining ownership and operating the mall entirely through a leasing model, the Group aims to create a sustainable recurring revenue stream while building long-term value from its commercial portfolio.

The fully lease-based format will also enable Prateek Group to exercise greater control over tenant curation, brand positioning, asset management and the overall consumer experience.

Designed as a comprehensive family and lifestyle destination, the mall will feature a curated mix of national and international brands across fashion, consumer electronics, athleisure, ethnic wear, formal and casual fashion, jewellery, footwear, beauty, accessories and other lifestyle categories.

Entertainment will be a key component of the development, with plans for a state-of-the-art multiplex, dedicated kids’ entertainment and family recreation zones, positioning the project as an experience-led destination extending beyond conventional retail.

The food and beverage portfolio will include quick-service restaurants, cafés, speciality food concepts, premium casual dining, fine-dining restaurants and banquet facilities, creating a strong culinary and social ecosystem within the development.

Strategically located in Siddharth Vihar, the project is expected to benefit from a large and expanding residential catchment across Indirapuram, Crossings Republik, Raj Nagar Extension, Noida, Greater Noida and the NH-24 corridor. Continued residential development and improving connectivity across the region have created growing demand for organised retail, dining and entertainment infrastructure.

Speaking on the announcement, Prashant Tiwari, Chairman, Prateek Group, said, “The INR 500 crore high street mall in Siddharth Vihar is an important part of our strategy to build a strong portfolio of income-generating commercial assets. Our vision is to create a destination that brings together shopping, dining, entertainment and community experiences under one ecosystem. By retaining the asset and following a completely lease-based model, we will be able to curate the right brand mix, maintain high operational standards and create a consistently strong consumer experience while generating sustainable long-term rental revenues.”

The development is also expected to generate economic activity across retail, hospitality and entertainment, create employment opportunities and further strengthen Siddharth Vihar’s emergence as a major residential and commercial destination within NCR.

With a project worth approximately INR 500 crore, a development footprint of around 2 lakh sq. ft. and a 100% lease-based model, Prateek Group aims to establish the project as a landmark organised retail and entertainment destination in Ghaziabad while significantly expanding its portfolio of annuity-generating commercial assets.