Five things worth your attention from India’s consumer economy this weekend.
1. Aequs funds itself from the inside
Aequs has approved a Rs 650 crore preferential issue of 2.8 crore warrants at Rs 231.55, and the subscriber is its own promoter group entity, with Rs 325 crore payable upfront against the 25% the rules require. The company listed in December 2025 at Rs 124 after a 101x-subscribed IPO and trades near Rs 246 today, so public money was clearly available. Q1 FY27 brought a Rs 53.2 crore net loss against a Rs 3.6 crore profit a year earlier, on revenue up 55% to Rs 395.6 crore. Promoter holding goes to 60.73%. (Business Standard)
2. Tata Cliq grew the half that is smaller
Tata UniStore narrowed its FY26 net loss 19% to Rs 253 crore as revenue rose 20% to Rs 354 crore. The split is the story: Tata Cliq Luxury grew 26%, Tata Cliq Fashion just 7%, and finance costs fell 80% to Rs 9.6 crore. Accumulated losses sit near Rs 3,931 crore, more than eleven years of current annual revenue. A platform whose luxury arm grows nearly four times faster than its fashion arm is not two businesses running at different speeds. It is one business finding out which half it gets to keep. (ET Retail)
3. Decathlon wants Rs 1,000 crore from running alone
Decathlon India plans to take its running business past Rs 1,000 crore within four years, up from just under Rs 500 crore now, while going from 132 stores to 200 by 2030. It is launching 35 running products this year including 17 Kiprun performance shoes, makes half the footwear it sells here in India, and has committed 100 million euros to local manufacturing. India held roughly 2,000 running events in 2025 against 500 to 600 in 2018. Race calendars create deadlines, and deadlines create replacement cycles. (Outlook Business)
4. Rapido charges restaurants rent, not commission
Ownly, Rapido’s food delivery app, has opened in Hyderabad after a year in Bengaluru, running on a subscription paid by restaurants rather than a cut of every order. It works with more than 20,000 restaurants overall and entered Hyderabad with about 10,000 onboarded, while Rapido itself covers 400-plus cities and over five million rides a day. Commission is a charge on success; subscription is a charge on access. That is why high-volume kitchens sign first and small ones eventually leave. The real asset here is a rider fleet Rapido already pays for. (Business Standard)
5. Diageo reformulated a 30-million-case whisky
Diageo India has relaunched McDowell’s No. 1, its 125-year-old flagship, with a new blend of imported Scotch, Indian malts and premium grain spirits matured in oak and American barrels, alongside a redesigned bottle and identity pitched at mass premium. The brand sells over 30 million nine-litre cases a year, and the work followed consumer research across 11 markets with more than 10,000 participants. Changing the liquid in a brand that size is rare, because taste is the one thing the buyer has already accepted. Packaging can be revised every quarter. (Daily Excelsior)
Read today’s full edition → https://theinsightlabs.in/daily/2026-09-27
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