Thursday's Chai: 🛒 Your Grocery Bill Just Got Cheaper

🌞 Good Morning, Chai Fam!

It’s Friday Junior or Friday Eve if that sounds better? The weekend’s calling, but first — India has rolled out its biggest tax reset since GST’s launch in 2017, Wall Street’s buzzing after Google’s parent Alphabet dodged a breakup, and startups are raising money left and right.

With GST 2.0 kicking in, your grocery bill gets lighter, companies see a demand boost, and India leans on its consumption engine to counter global trade headwinds. Let’s sip through the newsssss!

📰 Chai Shots

• 🍪 GST 2.0 Reshapes India’s Taxes: The GST Council has shrunk slabs to just 5% and 18%, with a 40% bracket reserved for sin and luxury goods. Essentials like paneer, biscuits, shampoo, and even TVs are cheaper, while items like cigarettes and SUVs get pricier. More in the Big Brew 👇

• 📊 Markets Bounce Back: After tumbling in early trade on global jitters, Sensex reversed to close up 410 points at 80,568 while Nifty added 135 to settle at 24,715. The comeback was fueled by India’s services PMI showing its fastest expansion in 15+ years, with new orders pouring in from Asia, Europe, and the U.S. Optimism around GST Council rate cuts also supported investor sentiment.

• 🗺️ MapmyIndia Tightens Control of Gtropy: Digital mapping leader MapmyIndia hiked its stake in telematics firm Gtropy from 76% to 96% with a ₹25 crore investment. Gtropy provides fleet management and IoT-based GPS tracking — making the deal a strategic boost for MapmyIndia as it deepens its mobility and enterprise offerings.

• 📱 Cashify–Google Pixel Deal: Refurbished phone marketplace Cashify has become the exclusive partner for Google’s certified Pixel devices in India. With official spare parts and one-year warranties, the tie-up could lift Pixel’s share of India’s smartphone base from under 2% to 5% within 18 months, as refurbished models give aspirational buyers a cheaper entry into the premium segment.

📈 Market Masala

• 💹 Indices Close Higher: Sensex ended at 80,567 and Nifty at 24,715 after recovering from lows of 80,004 and 24,533. The breadth was strong — 2,600+ BSE stocks advanced versus about 1,470 declines, showing wide-based buying.

• ⚒️ Metals Lead Gains: Tata Steel surged nearly 6% as traders bet on China curbing steel output to stabilize prices. Other metal counters also rallied, turning the sector into the day’s top gainer.

• 🌾 Critical Mineral Recycling Push: The Cabinet approved a ₹1,500 crore scheme under NCMM to create 270k tonnes of recycling capacity, producing 40k tonnes of minerals annually. The initiative will attract ~₹8,000 crore in investments and generate 70k jobs.

• 🏠 Urban Company IPO Coming: Gurugram-based Urban Company fixed its IPO price band at ₹98–103, aiming to raise ₹1,900 crore starting Sept 10. Fresh proceeds will fund tech upgrades, marketing, and new office leases, while investors like Accel and Elevation Capital trim stakes.

• 🍔 Swiggy Hikes Platform Fee: Food delivery giant Swiggy raised its platform fee to ₹15 (GST inclusive) in select markets, up from ₹12. Rival Zomato also increased its fee to ₹12 (excluding GST). The extra charges, though small per order, help offset mounting losses from quick-commerce bets.

🌍 Global Masala

• 💻 Wall Street Climbs on Alphabet Relief: The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq jumped 1% as Alphabet shares soared 9% after a court ruled it can keep Chrome but must share search data. Apple also gained 3.8% on the news, though energy and banking stocks dragged the Dow slightly lower.

• 💸 Global Bonds Under Pressure: Long-term yields are climbing everywhere — the U.S. 30-year is back at 5%, Japanese bonds trade at record premiums, and European debt is at multi-decade highs. The surge reflects doubts about whether central banks can truly anchor inflation. For India, higher global yields often trigger foreign fund outflows from equities and pressure on the rupee, which could make imports like oil and electronics costlier and complicate RBI’s rate-cut path.

☕ The Big Brew: GST 2.0 – India’s Landmark Tax Reset

India has unleashed GST 2.0, the boldest overhaul of its indirect tax system since 2017. The four-slab structure (5%, 12%, 18%, 28%) has been collapsed into just two slabs — 5% and 18% — with a steep 40% reserved for sin and luxury goods.

🍲 What Gets Cheaper

• 🥛 Daily essentials: Milk, paneer, parathas, biscuits, chocolates, shampoos, soaps, and candles all shift to exempt or lower brackets.

• 📺 Durables: ACs, TVs, washing machines, and dishwashers now face 18% tax instead of 28%.

• 📚 Health & learning: Life-saving drugs, medical devices, and books get deep cuts or exemptions.

🚫 What Gets Costlier

• 🚬 Sin goods: Cigarettes, gutkha, pan masala, and sugary drinks head for the 40% slab.

• 🚗 Luxury vehicles: Premium cars and big bikes also join the top tier.

• 🏭 Coal: Taxed at 18%, raising input costs for power-heavy industries.

💡 Why It Matters

• 👨‍👩‍👧 Households: With inflation at 8-year lows, cheaper groceries free up wallets for other spending.

• 🏢 Companies: FMCG giants expect a demand boost — Britannia sees biscuits flying off shelves.

• 💰 Government: Annual revenue losses may reach ₹48,000 crore, but stronger consumption and compliance could bridge the gap.

• 🌍 Economy: GST 2.0 is more than reform — it’s a domestic demand stimulus to cushion India against Trump’s 50% export tariffs.

👉 Bottom line: Your basket gets cheaper, demand gets a boost, and India bets on domestic consumption to power through global trade turbulence 🌍.

🚀 Startup Scoop

• 💻 Seekho Raises $28M: Learning app Seekho closed its Series B at $28M to fund an English app, expand to the U.S., and scale AI-powered personalized learning. With 25M monthly users and 60% growth per quarter, it aims to become the “Netflix for learning.”

• 📊 Edgehax Gets ₹1.39 Cr: Early-stage startup Edgehax secured seed funding from IPV. The fresh capital will support its initial growth and product scaling efforts.

• 💧 WaterScience Raises ₹1.4 Cr: Non-drinking water filtration brand WaterScience, present in 2M homes, raised funds from Velocity to launch new categories and boost offline and online reach. It aims to add 1M more homes this year.

• 📦 FirstClub Triples Valuation: Premium-focused grocery app FirstClub raised $23M at a $120M valuation just months after launch. Serving Bengaluru’s top households, it offers curated products with an average order value of ₹1,050 — double that of quick-commerce rivals.

🤓 Chai Break Trivia

Did you know 🐌: The humble garden snail is the world’s slowest land animal, moving at just about 1 millimeter per second. At that pace, it would take nearly five days to crawl a single kilometer!

🔮 What’s Brewing Next

• 🛒 GST Notifications Incoming: Finance Ministry will soon release detailed GST 2.0 fitment lists and transition rules, including clarity on the 40% sin slab.

• ⚖️ Scale AI vs. Mercor: Scale AI has sued rival Mercor and a former employee for alleged theft of 100+ confidential documents and client pitches, underscoring rising competition in the lucrative AI training data space.

That’s it for Friday Junior! With GST 2.0 slimming your food bill and startups raising millions, it’s a week of resets and fresh brews. Take the savings from your now-cheaper biscuits and paneer — and maybe splurge on a weekend treat. See you tomorrow with another hot pour! ☕✨