In this week’s wrapup, we tell you why Adani quietly grounded its super app dreams, what the NSDL IPO tells us about the invisible backbone of Indian capital markets, why your coconut oil is suddenly costing more than perfume, how memes are driving stock prices again and whether Indian IT’s golden era is truly over.

And in this week’s Markets edition, we break down Tata Motors’ biggest bet — its ₹38,000 crore acquisition of Italy’s Iveco Group — and ask: does it finally give Tata a global edge in commercial vehicles, or is it a risky stretch? Click here to read the full Markets story.

With that out of the way, let’s recap what we wrote this week.

Super apps aren’t that super in India... Just ask Adani

Remember Adani One? The super app that promised to do everything from airport check-ins to UPI payments?

Well, after three years and $100 million in investment, the app is now grounded. The company folded it back into its airport business after it failed to take off. 

The reason? It couldn’t scale beyond 30 million users (far from its 500 million target by 2030).

But Adani isn’t alone. Tata Neu and MyJio haven’t exactly taken off either. So why aren’t such huge companies with deep pockets able to crack the code?

Find out in our Monday newsletter.

The NSDL IPO is here! Is the pioneer still the best in town?

On Tuesday, we explored the ₹4,011 crore NSDL IPO: an offer for sale by existing shareholders of the depository that digitised India’s capital markets.

NSDL may have been the first mover, but CDSL has been grabbing retail market share since the pandemic. And while NSDL holds far more in asset value (₹464 trillion vs. CDSL’s ₹71 trillion), its banking arm contributes little to profits, dragging overall returns.

So should you bet on a legacy infrastructure player with institutional clout or wait for leaner, retail-driven growth stories?

We broke down the pros, cons and financials in our Tuesday’s story.

The curious case of rising coconut oil prices

If you’ve been wincing at the ₹500 price tag on a bottle of coconut oil, you’re not alone.

We dug into why prices have skyrocketed from a raw material crunch to booming export demand. And while all this is playing out, India’s ban on coconut imports is only adding fuel to the fire.

So should the government temporarily ease import rules? And will that fix the mess or just paper over deeper cracks?

We answered that and more in our Wednesday newsletter.

Are memes driving stocks higher?

On Thursday, we took you back to the wild world of meme stocks.

GameStop might be old news, but the meme crowd is back. And this time, it’s chasing names like Krispy Kreme, GoPro and Opendoor. These stocks aren’t rallying on fundamentals. They're spiking on tweets, TikToks and short-squeeze potential.

And it's not just a US story. 

India has its own wave too. And the line between online enthusiasm and outright manipulation is getting blurrier than ever.

So if you’ve ever wondered whether a stock went up because “the internet got bored”, this story’s for you.

Is this the end of the Indian IT Industry?

On Friday, we zoomed out to look at the $250-billion Indian IT industry and the cracks showing up.

From mass layoffs at TCS to frozen hikes at HCL and shrinking US tech budgets, it’s clear the old outsourcing model is under pressure. 

But the bigger threat? Global Capability Centres (GCCs), or the in-house tech hubs by MNCs, that are growing faster, paying more and cutting out Indian IT vendors.

Meanwhile, companies like Zoho are quietly showing a new path forward. So, is it time for India’s IT giants to ditch the billing hours model and build their own software empires?

We laid it all out in our Friday story. You can read it here.

Bonus: One big story we skipped… on purpose!

Okay, we know what you’re thinking. Why haven’t we talked about the big headline this week — where US President Donald Trump announced a 25% reciprocal tariff on India starting yesterday (August 1st)? Oh, and threw in an extra penalty for buying oil and military gear from Russia, even though the US wants the world to cut ties with them over the war in Ukraine.

But the thing is that we’ve already written quite a bit about the effects of tariffs in the past — how they could hurt Indian exports, slow down GDP growth or even push up consumer prices in the US.

So instead of repeating ourselves, we’ve compiled a list of Finshots stories that’ll give you all the context you need to make sense of this latest blow.

1. Why Trump likes tariffs: An explainer on why Donald Trump is such a fan of tariffs
2. Why Trump sent Canada and Mexico into a tariff panic: An explainer on what’s going on with tariffs and how they could impact the global economy
3. A simple explainer on tariffs and the new world order: An explainer where we tell you the real reason Donald Trump sent Canada and Mexico into a tariff frenzy
4. How can India’s pharma companies survive under Trump’s uncertainty?: Will Trump's clampdown on pharma force domestic drugmakers to climb the value ladder faster?

Finshots Weekly Quiz 🧠

Here’s your chance to win some exclusive Finshots merch. All you have to do is click on 👉🏽this link, answer all the questions correctly by 12 noon on August 8th (Friday) and tune in to our Sunday newsletter aka Sunny Side Up next week to check if you got lucky.

That’s it from us this week. Have a great weekend!

Liked this wrap-up?

Don’t forget to share it on WhatsApp, LinkedIn and X.

🔊Introducing Pitch Perfect 2025!

If you've been following us for a while, you know our story didn't begin in a corporate boardroom. It started in a college dorm room with 3 broke students who chose to skip placements and chase something bigger.

That something was Finshots.

Today, Finshots reaches over 500,000 readers, and through Ditto, we've empowered 800,000+ Indians to make smarter insurance decisions.

Now, we're looking for the next game-changing idea to back.

Introducing Pitch Perfect 2025 – a flagship startup pitch challenge powered by Zerodha.

So, if you've got a BIG idea that could help Indians get better with money, pitch it to us!

What's at stake:

✅₹10,00,000 in prizes
✅Potential funding from Zerodha Rainmatter
✅All-expenses-paid trip to Bangalore to pitch directly to Nithin Kamath and industry veterans

Ready? 👉Apply Now!