While many designers mark their 10th or 15th anniversaries with retrospectives, sisters Kaabia and Sasha Grewal of jewellery label Outhouse chose to celebrate their 13th year last week with a fashion presentation in Mumbai.
Titled Alchemy: The Art of Duality, the showcase drew on the symbolism of the number 13a？？often seen as inauspicious, but here reimagined as a marker of change, balance and new beginnings. The duality in the show was presented with a collusion of metal in silver and gold, with pearlescent accents, clear wrist stacks, intricate chained pieces, motifs that were sensual and strong at the same time, and gorgeous beaded statement clutches too.
In an interview with Lounge, the Mumbai-based sisters discuss their brand's journey, the fashion jewellery market, and why shoppers love drama in their accessories. Edited excerpts:
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Sisters Kaabia (left) and Sasha Grewal
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Mumbai: Mafatlal Industries Ltd, a 120-year-old textile company, shuttered its loss-making and less-profitable businesses while sharpening focus on its core strength of supplying uniforms, including through government tenders, to stitch a turnaround after years of indifferent financial performance.
Over the past five years, the company shut its loss-making denim division, exited contract manufacturing for overseas retail brands, reduced its workforce through voluntary retirement scheme and focused on debt repayment. It also switched to an asset-light business model, where the bulk of the textile it sold was procured through vendors, instead of in-house production. Outsourced production accounted for 95% of the companya？？s top line in the first quarter of FY26, as per an investor presentation.
The company also diversified into new business categories like making sanitary pads, offering digital infrastructure to schools and supplying consumer durable kits for the economically-marginalized section of the society to engineer its revival.
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These measures helped it to improve its income and stem losses. The company reported a revenue of a？11,240 crore from operations in the first quarter of FY26, nearly tripling from a year ago. Profit during the quarter surged to a？146 crore, compared to a？130 crore a year ago.
In FY25, the company reported revenues of a？12,807 crore, sharply up from a？1602 crore in FY21. Profit for the year was a？198 crore, compared to a loss of a？194 crore four years prior. The share price rose nearly five-fold over this period to close at a？1138.8 on the BSE on Thursday.
a？？We have grown between 30-50% over each of the last five years," Priyavrata Mafatlal, part of the fifth-generation of the promoter Mafatlal family, said in an interview.
The company had found itself in a financial crisis around the turn of the last decade. Thata？？s when the fifth-generation scion took over as chief executive and managing director of the company.
a？？On the morning of 17th December 2018, I was named the CEO of Mafatlal Industries Limited, a company drowning in losses at the timea？？ a？1180 crore, to be precise," the 38-year-old wrote on professional networking platform LinkedIn last year.
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a？？The board was looking for a？？young blooda？？ to turn things arounda？| and they chose me. My first thought was, a？？Therea？？s a legacy of four generations before mea？| Am I going to drive it all into the ground?a？？," he wrote.
Just as he got to stabilizing the ship, the covid-19 pandemic struck. However, the resultant factory closures and other challenges also gave the company an opportunity to rethink its strategy, helping chart the turnaround plan. Once the turnaround plan started yielding results, Mafatlal relinquished the CEO position in March 2022 to continue as managing director.
While the turnaround strategy has clicked, the company has a long way to go. It squarely lags its peers in the textile industry. Its peers of similar vintage such as Arvind Limited and Raymond Lifestyle Ltd have multiple times higher revenues.
Mafatlal Industriesa？？ focus on uniforms and affordable products also means lower margins, with an Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin of less than 4% compared to upwards of 10% for its two larger peers.
These weaknesses show in the companya？？s valuation. It has a market capitalization of just a？11,000, crore despite a sharp rise in share prices over the past five years. This compares to a？17,500 crore for Arvind Limited and a？16,900 crore for Raymond Lifestyle Ltd.
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Even as Mafatlal Industries recovers, listed chemicals maker Nocil Ltd, also part of the Arvind Mafatlal group, finds itself languishing in a downcycle. The rubber chemicals producer has been outcompeted by lower-priced imports from China and South Korea, said Priyavrata Mafatlal, who is a director on the companya？？s board.
The company is exploring expansion into other organic chemicals and other chemicals for the larger automotive sector to diversify its business. However, it is in no hurry to make a decision as the sector tends to be cyclical and it was part of business to weather downcycles, Mafatlal said. a？？This is the time in the trenches for us. We will weather the storm."
The Centre may partially compensate exporters for their US shipments under Donald Trump's punitive tariff regime, three people aware of the discussions said.
With the dawn of steep tariffs, Indian exporters are compelled to reduce prices to stay competitive, which makes a direct hit on their business. The government is now looking to bear 10-15% of the price cuts to help exporters stay in the game, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.
The relief, limited to US-bound consignments, will remain in force until the issue is settled through trade talks, which have been delayed but remain under discussion.
The proposal is being coordinated between the ministries of finance and commerce to address the mounting pressure on manufacturers and exporters, particularly those in labour-intensive sectors, which are struggling to execute confirmed orders.
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The Centre may support some of the affected sectors with 10-15% for the price sacrifice they make to keep their US business going, one of the two people cited above said, though the sectors had asked for even higher support. This aid will help exporters continue to execute their orders and keep the manufacturing process going, thepersonadded.
Duty burden
Given that US importers must pay tariffs on goods imported from India, they are asking their Indian suppliers to reduce prices to compensate for the tariff burden, exporters have said. However, doing so would be an additional burden to the Indian exporter.
The matter was discussed in separate meetings held on Thursday with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and commerce minister Piyush Goyal, where stakeholders highlighted the challenges in meeting deadlines for the upcoming spring season.
The government has assured that there is no need to worry about the possible impact of the US tariffs on Indian goods exported to the US, stating the issue is being closely looked at.
The relief package is being explored for labour-intensive goods such as textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, leather and footwear, seafood, among others, the people cited earlier said.
Help assured
a？？The finance minister sounded positive, stressing that exporters will not be left to face the storm on their own. While she didna？？t reveal what specific measures the government is taking, she assured that the government is seized of the matter and will step in to provide support," said Pankaj Chadha, chairman, Engineering Export Promotion Council.
a？？The 50% tariff undeniably dents cost competitiveness, but it also pushes Indian manufacturers to think beyond pricing. For us, the way forward is twofold - strengthening technology and design leadership so clients see value in performance, and building diversified global linkages that reduce overdependence on any one market," said Sarvadnya Kulkarni, CEO of General Instruments Consortium, an engineering company.
Queries sent to the spokespersons of the Prime Minister's Office, and the ministries of finance and commerce remained unanswered.
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According to a report by Global Trade Research Initiative, the damage could be substantial if the tariff remains in place for long. Once competitors gain ground in the US market, it will be very difficult for Indian exporters to reclaim lost space, and New Delhi will need to step up its engagement with Washington, it stated. Countries such as China, Vietnam, Mexico, Turkey, and even Pakistan, Nepal, Guatemala, and Kenya stand to benefit from the US action, potentially locking India out of key markets even after the tariffs are rolled back.
Regional pacts
As reported by Mint on 21 August, New Delhi is also exploring the possibility of joining China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to mitigate potential losses arising from supply chain disruptions amid strained trade relations with the US.
On Wednesday, Peter Navarro, a top aide to US president Donald Trump, characterized the Russia-Ukraine conflict as "Modi's war," arguing that India's continued purchase of discounted Russian oil is funding Moscow's military efforts. He also criticized India for its high tariffs and for "getting in bed with authoritarians" by aligning with Russia and China.
a？？India, you are getting in bed with authoritarians. China invaded Aksai Chin and all your territory. They are not your friends. And Russia? Come on!" Navarro told Bloomberg Television in an interview.
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According to a second person, the government has been apprised of the fact that diversification will take time and that the textile sector is not receiving orders for summer apparel. a？？If the situation continues, labour-intensive industries will come under immense financial pressure, which may result in layoffs," this person said.
According to GTRI estimates, the new tariffs could slash Indiaa？？s exports to the US by 43% to $49.6 billion in FY26, down from $86.5 billion in the previous year. However, Indiaa？？s overall exports may still rise to $839.9 billion, supported by a 10% increase in services exports to $421.9 billion. Economic growth, meanwhile, is projected to slow from 6.5% to 5.6%.
Trade pressures
As per the commerce ministry data, the US remains Indiaa？？s largest trading partner, with Indian goods exports to the country rising 11.6% in FY25a？？from $77.52 billion in FY24 to $86.51 billion. Imports from the US also grew, though at a slower pace of 7.42%, climbing from $42.20 billion to $45.33 billion in the fiscal year that ended on March 31.
According to a report by Crisil Ratings, US President Donald Trumpa？？s decision to double tariffs on imports from India threatens to take the sheen off the countrya？？s diamond polishing industry, which is concentrated in Prime Minister Narendra Modia？？s home state of Gujarat.
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Indiaa？？s natural diamond polishing industry is facing its worst year in nearly two decades, with revenues projected to fall by about 22% to $12.5 billion in FY26 from $16 billion in the previous year, the report released on Thursday said.
The projected decline follows Trumpa？？s decision to impose a punitive 25% duty on India for buying Russian oil, in addition to an earlier tariff of the same level on Indian goods entering the US. The two measures together amount to a steep 50% tariff on polished diamond exports, compounding the industrya？？s challenges after a 40% fall in revenue over the past three years due to weaker prices, slowing demand in the US and China, and the rapid growth of lab-grown diamonds.
India's first legal challenge to its new online gaming prohibition has emerged, with a real-money gaming firm taking the government to court. On Thursday, the Karnataka High Court agreed to hear a petition filed by Heads Digital Works Pvt. Ltd, challenging the constitutional validity of the new law.
The petition, seen by Mint, argues the law is unconstitutional because it fails to distinguish between games of skill and games of chancea？？a distinction upheld by Indian courts for decades. It contends that by equating skill-based games like rummy and poker with gambling, the law exceeds Parliament's legislative authority, a power traditionally reserved for state governments.
The company said the ban infringes on its fundamental rights to trade, equality, and livelihood, as protected by the Indian Constitution. The court will hear the matter on 30 August.
a？？This abrupt action has resulted in the potential disruption of employment of 606 employees of the petitioner; and crores of rupees in investment in the petitioner company being lost overnight; but also potential loss of livelihood of over two lakh employees across the sector, and has resulted in the total loss of over a？123,440 crore worth investments," the petition said.
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The new law bans all forms of online money gaming, casting an existential question over the sector which generated nearly $3 billion in revenue until the last fiscal. Gaming companies are now hoping for a partial strike-down of the law.
The company, which operates platforms like A23 Rummy and Poker, asked the court to temporarily block the key sections of the law and grant a protective order to prevent any enforcement action against it, its directors, or its employees while the case is pending.
The petition highlighted a long history of court rulings that recognized skill-based games as distinct from gambling. It cites a 1968 Supreme Court decision that classified rummy as a game of skill, noting that state high courts have since struck down multiple attempts to ban such games, even when played for stakes.
The petition comes as other major industry players re-evaluate their business models. Dream11, one of the industry's largest companies, recently hosted a town hall where it alerted employees to a potential pivot away from money games toward areas like content streaming.
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The petition said the government itself had favoured a self-regulatory approach and that senior leaders, including the Prime Minister and IT minister, have described online gaming as a "sunrise sector."
However, Vaishnaw has defended the law, pointing to the social harm from addictive gaming, devious algorithms that make the player lose over the long term, and protracted engagement with the industry.
"It seems like an appropriate legal move by the gaming company to approach the Karnataka High Court, especially since the court had earlier, in 2022, struck down provisions of the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act, 2021, which sought to ban online real-money games of skill. That ruling has not been stayed by the Supreme Court, meaning it still holds, at least in the territory of Karnataka. Once the petition is filed, the Hon'ble High court while hearing the merits, may decide to admit the petition and may issue notices to the Centre and Respondents to respond," said Vidushpat Singhania, Managing Partner at Krida Legal.
In its petition, the company also raised concerns over the speed at which the legislation was passed. It said that the government's claims of a link between online gaming and social harms like suicides or financial crimes are unsubstantiated by official data.
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The petition also said that the law fails the proportionality test. It argues that a blanket ban is an excessive response when the industry already has multiple safeguards.
The company said it has raised money from both Indian and international investors, including well-known firms like Matrix Partners and Paragon Partners, as well as the Burman Family, who control Dabur Group. All of these investments were made legally and followed all relevant laws and regulations.
The petition further contends that the law fails the proportionality test. Existing safeguards in online skill gaming include Aadhaar-based KYC, age restrictions, deposit limits, self-exclusion tools, certified random number generators, anti-bot measures, and advertising regulations under ASCI codes.
Bengaluru: Warehousing and logistics companies in India are rushing to bolster their storage, transport and last-mile delivery capacities, as the upcoming festival season is expected to spark an online shopping frenzy across the country.
Warehousing companies are setting up temporary storage spaces near prominent demand hubs to keep pace with order volumes and help deliver goods quickly to consumers.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies as well as e-commerce and quick commerce platforms are expected to corner a bulk of the festive season demand, both in metros and beyond.
IndoSpace, the country's largest warehousing developer, is creating short-term, flexible spaces in key hubs such as National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and Mumbai.
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a？？This allows companies to scale their storage and distribution precisely when and where they need it, without long-term commitments. We enable both large-scale distribution and last-mile readiness, ensuring that goods are positioned directly within key consumption catchments. This strengthens supply chains at the very moment when consumer expectations are at their peak," said Anshuman Singh, managing director and chief executive officer, IndoSpace.
The Mumbai-based company provides storage services to sectors such as e-commerce, retail, FMCG and consumer durables, helping them move inventory closer to markets and manage distribution at scale.
The annual festive season in India typically begins in September, and runs till the year-end.
Mumbai-based logistics company Allcargo Supply Chain Pvt Ltd has enhanced its service delivery capabilities and temporarily added 40,000 sq ft warehousing space in Bengaluru and 17,000 sq ft in Kolkata. It plans to add 70,000-1,00,000 sq. ft space in Chennai and 1,20,000 sq. ft in Kolkata.
a？？This festive season, we expect a 20-40% surge in demand across consignment transport, sorting centres and distribution and logistics parks. We have partnered with leading e-commerce and quick commerce players to serve their logistics service demand in metro cities as well as tier-2, 3 and 4 cities," Allcargo's managing director Ketan Kulkarni said.
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Anshul Singhal, managing director, Welspun One, says the festive season in the country is always a high-stakes period for consumption, and by extension, for logistics.
a？？Festive demand is no longer about ad hoc expansions. This year, preparation started earlier as e-commerce and quick commerce players gear up to handle surging demand. While we are not adding temporary space, we maintain speculative warehouses across major metros and tier-1 cities, typically 1 to 2.5 lakh sq. ft, that are ready at least three months before peak demand cycles," Singhal said.
Besides e-commerce, quick commerce and FMCG, categories such as electronics, lifestyle and consumer durables are also creating strong requirements across multiple cities, he added.
Beyond metros
E-commerce and quick commerce companies are expected to be the biggest drivers of festive season demand, given the convenience they offer and the speed at which consumers in tier-2 and 3 cities are adopting them.
As demand swells across FMCG, retail and automotive segments, logistics and warehousing firms are expanding their focus beyond metros.
This expansion is aligned with consumption hubs in Chennai and Pune, and tier-2 and 3 cities including Hosur, Cochin, Vijayawada, Vizag, Siliguri and Coimbatore, said Aditi Kumar, joint managing director, TVS Industrial & Logistics Parks (TVS ILP).
a？？We expect 15-25% higher throughput volumes during festive season demand compared to regular months. We also offer workforce support during festive season to our clients on their request to ensure faster turnaround time and smooth operations," she said.
To ensure e-commerce supply chains remain scalable and responsive, Mahindra Logistics Ltd is adding around 0.8 million sq ft of temporary warehousing capacity, 50 new delivery stations, and expanding its reach to 500 additional pin codesa？？primarily across tier-2 and tier-3 markets such as Ludhiana, Agartala, Ranchi and Ahmedabad.
a？？This season, we see festive-ready supply chains will be defined by de-centralised fulfilment and data-driven responsiveness," said Hemant Sikka, managing director and CEO, Mahindra Logistics.
It is building a digitally-intelligent logistics ecosystema？？embedding artificial intelligence-led forecasting and predictive analytics into operations to improve demand visibility, minimise stockouts, and enable faster, more reliable deliveries across the country, Sikka added.
Flipkart and Amazon
As the festive season approaches, large online marketplaces such as Flipkart and Amazon India are also preparing to meet the anticipated expansion in demand.
a？？To support this surge, we have expanded our supply chain infrastructure by adding close to one million square feet of warehousing space across 10 key locations. We have also scaled up our workforce to ensure we are fully equipped to deliver a seamless and reliable experience to millions of customers," said Hemant Badri, senior vice-president and head of supply chain, customer experience; ReCommerce, Flipkart Group.
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Badri added that Flipkart is also extending its quick commerce service to 19 cities and over 400 Flipkart Grocery stores, offering 10-minute delivery for everyday essentials.
Amazon India on Thursday said it has expanded its operations network to boost delivery speed for customers across the country, with the launch of 12 new fulfilment centres (FCs) and expansion of six existing centres. This would bring the first Amazon FC to five cities including Hooghly, Tiruvallur, Krishnagiri, Visakhapatnam and Hubballi.
It has also launched six new sort centres in smaller cities such as Trivandrum, Rajpura, Gorakhpur, Moradabad and Prayagraj.