
This was India's first company, Its business was..., was owned by...
India's first company: Do you know which was India's first company? Would you believe if we say that India's first company was established even before the 1857 revolt, often called the 'First war of independence'. Established in 1600, East India Company was the first company of India. Formed for the purpose of trading Indian spices which were very valuable in Europe, the company was closed after the British crown took over control over British India. Here are all the details you need to know about the first company of India. How did India's first company came into existence?
The first company of India started its operation with the permission of Mughal emperor Jahangir, the British East India Company, established its first factory in Surat. Operating from Calcutta, Chennai, and Mumbai, it played a major role in India's subjugation. How 'First war of independence' impacted India?
After the 1857 revolt which challenged the supremacy of the company, called the 'First war of independence', the British Crown took control, and as a result, the company was dissolved in 1874. How was India's first company revived?
In a point of interest, Indian businessman Sanjeev Mehta revived it as an e-commerce brand selling tea, coffee, chocolates, and luxury hampers, opening its first store in London in 2010.
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Economic Times
23 minutes ago
- Economic Times
US trade team postpones India visit for BTA talks
Synopsis The upcoming round of India-US trade agreement talks has been postponed amidst escalating trade tensions. The US has imposed tariffs on Indian goods, including a penalty for trade with Russia. India is hesitant to grant greater market access in agriculture, while states express concerns about the potential impact on their farmers and economies. Agencies New Delhi: The visit of American trade negotiators to New Delhi for the sixth round of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) later this month, is postponed, officials visit was scheduled for August 25-29. 'No new date is decided yet,' said an two sides aim to conclude the first tranche of the BTA by fall this year. The rescheduling of the visit assumes significance as the US has announced a steep 50% tariff on Indian goods. While the 25% tariff on Indian goods entering the US came into effect August 7, the additional 25%, announced as penalty for buying crude oil and military equipment from Russia, will come into effect August 27. The US has pressurred India for greater market access in politically sensitive areas such as farm and dairy, which India has opposed to protect the interests of its farmers. The US remains India's largest trading partner and the commerce and industry ministry is in touch with exporters and export promotion councils to assess the impact of the 25% tariff already in effect. Several inter ministerial committees have also been set up to understand the sectoral impact of the tariffs ad states governments are also looking at how they can facilitate exports to the US were $33.53 billion in April-July FY26, which is 17.8% higher than $27.57 billion in April-July BTA negotiations were launched in March 2025 and five rounds of talks have happened till month, Kerala government had flagged its 'grave concern' over the India-US BTA negotiations citing risks to crops such as coconut, rubber, pepper, cardamom, tea and coffee. It said that any pact impacting agriculture necessitates consultations with state governments to avoid severe socioeconomic and ecological consequences and urged them to 'refrain from signing the agreement'.

The Hindu
23 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Political Line newsletter: Cow Economy, and Diplomacy
Culture influences market and diplomacy. But how much is too much on this count? A slice of the stalemate in trade talks between India and the U.S. is related to the U.S. demand for opening up India's farm sector. The U.S. wants to export more of its dairy and poultry products to India. India resists this demand. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he would make personal sacrifices, if required, to ensure that farmers are protected. The proportion of population dependent on agriculture reveals one of the most striking differences between India and the United States, highlighting their vastly different economic structures and development stages. India has nearly half of its workforce engaged in agriculture, while the United States has only less than two percent directly employed in farming — representing a 32-fold difference in agricultural employment dependency. In India's case, agriculture contributes roughly 18 percent of GDP but nearly half of the population is dependent on it. Farmers are a powerful political constituency in both India and the United States. Food is also a question of national security. Post-Covid fears related to self-sufficiency in critical areas have further strengthened the case for national food markets insulated from global disruptions. India's resistance to allowing American farm produce in its market rests on three reasons. The first, as mentioned above, is that too many people are dependent on agriculture, and opening up the sector to American products could render them vulnerable. The second is national security. The third concerns apparently cultural reasons — American cows may be fed meat products such as chicken waste, and this is unacceptable to India. Milk and other products from a cow whose food chain is not clearly plant-based do not meet Indian standards. Whether such determination is consistently applied across all milk produced within India is beside the point. Cultural reasons are relevant to market decisions in all societies. For instance, some Muslim countries or shops may not sell pork; among the GCC countries, pork is available in the UAE and Bahrain, while in others it is not. In large parts of India now, beef is legally banned; in many parts, such as southern India, West Bengal, and the northeastern states, it is widely consumed by all social groups including Hindus. Cultural barriers to global trade are not new in India. Crossing the seas was once taboo — Gandhi had to do penance to be readmitted to his Modh Vaniya caste, which had ostracised him for doing so. Of the three issues at play in trade in agriculture, perhaps the easiest to change is the competency of the sector. But the cultural politics around the cow and the requirements of the agriculture sector often come into conflict. At least 20 out of 28 states have some form of laws to protect cows, which effectively translates into restrictions on the trade and transportation of cattle, including buffaloes. In the last decade or so, many states have enforced these laws aggressively, and vigilantes targeting even legal cattle trade often go scot-free. Simultaneously, a whole network of rent-seeking has emerged in the guise of cow protection, as the state spends massive amounts to shelter unproductive cows that farmers do not want to keep. It is not the case that meat production has ended; India's export of buffalo meat has been growing in the last three years at around four percent annually. What has happened is that cattle and leather trade have been pushed into a grey zone of legality, inflicting costs and losses for all involved and creating new rent-seeking opportunities. You can read about a sample of such restrictions here. Farmers are paying a huge price for this — on the one hand, the difficulty in disposing unproductive cattle, and on the other, the problem of free-roaming cattle destroying their crops. Cow protection in India was linked historically to farming practices of an earlier era. Those factors have changed due to technology and other developments. Yet, productivity in India's agriculture sector remains entangled in the religious association many people have with cows. The cow has long functioned as a symbol in Hindu-Muslim rivalry in the subcontinent. Hindu leaders such as Dayananda Saraswati made cow protection a tool for popular consolidation antagonistic to Muslims in the 19th century. Some Muslim leaders, such as Pir Abu Bakr in Bengal in the early 20th century, argued that cow sacrifice was an essential practice of Islam. Whether cow sacrifice is indeed an essential practice of Islam has been the subject of several litigations in independent India as well. While India grapples with global uncertainties created by political and technological upheavals, it might also make sense to review its priorities at home. The Fear of the Future People Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now raised the spectre of a demographic threat to India in his Independence Day speech. He said there was a conspiracy to change the demographic profile of India. You can read The Hindu editorial on this speech here. Does demographic composition determine the character of a nation? Leaving that question for a future discussion, here are some quick adjacent thoughts. Variations in population growth across communities and geographies pose challenges for governance and national identity. It is one thing to say that everyone is an individual citizen regardless of social location, faith, or ethnicity. But India's governance structure acknowledges the principle of group identities while providing special protections for religious and linguistic minorities, Dalits, backward classes, tribes, etc. Collective identities are not anathema to India's constitutional scheme; in fact, they are central to it. Political contestations have historically been framed in India around the numerical strength of communities. That history warrants discussion separately, but to cite a well known example, the 15% and 7.5% reservations for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, respectively, were based on their proportion in the population. As the proportion of their population changes, so will their representation. This will be among the issues in the next delimitation of parliamentary constituencies in India. Currently, there are two distinct divergences in population growth in India. First, the north-central regions have higher birth rates than peninsular and western India. Second, Muslims have a higher birth rate than Hindus. Among Hindus, upper castes have lower birth rates compared to other groups. While the BJP and its supporters try to highlight the Hindu-Muslim divergence in population growth, many others, particularly parties in the South, are more worried about the regional divergence in population growth. It is this regional divergence that makes the next delimitation an unsettling prospect for many regions. Population management has to be a secular task, and all communities should participate in it. While the BJP constantly talks up an Islamic demographic threat, there are Muslim actors who acknowledge and even amplify it. Last year, a Muslim Minister in West Bengal said Muslim population was growing fast and would soon become a majority. The ruling Trinamool Congress distanced itself from the statement. Federalism Tract: Notes on Diversity This article by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin discusses how India is home to many nationalities and emphasizes the importance of linguistic diversity as a defining feature of India. It argues that in a true federal system, states should not have to protest, litigate, or plead for their rightful share of revenues. Governors are taking their role as chancellors of State universities too seriously, which is roiling the higher education sector. Read our editorial on the ongoing conflicts between Governors and State governments over university governance here. The drive against unauthorised immigrants from Bangladesh is creating rifts within India, as any Bengali-speaking individual can end up as a target of police action.
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Business Standard
23 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Dixon Tech, China's HKC form ₹370 cr JV for display module manufacturing
Domestic electronics contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies has formed a Rs 370 crore joint venture for display modules manufacturing with Chinese company HKC Overseas. The Dixon Technologies-HKC Overseas joint venture is for manufacturing and selling of LCD and TFT-LCD modules that are used in electronic devices like TV, mobile phones etc for display, a regulatory filing said on Saturday. "Dixon Technologies (India) Ltd has entered into a Term Sheet with HKC Corporation Ltd to form a joint venture for manufacturing of Liquid Crystal Modules, thin film transistor liquid crystal display modules, assembly of end products such as smartphones, TVs, monitors and auto displays and selling HKC branded end products in India," the filing said. HKC Overseas Ltd will acquire 26 per cent stake in Dixon Display Technologies Pvt Ltd (DDTPL) for USD 10.998 million, about Rs 95.5 crore and Dixon will acquire 74 per cent stake in the JV for USD 31.3 million, about Rs 274 crore in two tranches. "The company, HKC and DDTPL have executed the SSHA (share subscription and shareholders' agreement) on August 16, 2025," the filing said. Dixon has been on a spree of forming joint ventures with Chinese technology companies. Last month, the company had announced a JV with Chinese electronic component firms -- Chongqing Yuhai Precision Manufacturing Co Ltd and the Indian arm of Kunshan Q Technology -- for manufacturing and sales of electronic components used in electronic devices like mobile phones and laptops, among others. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)