Filter Coffee - Energy 🚀

Solar power wins, IRCTC rides high, and Big tech made some noise.

🗓 Morning, folks!

Another day, another market slump. Sensex and Nifty slid over 1%, marking five straight sessions in the red. We could say Tariffs, global uncertainties etc. is driving all this negative action, but it is at this point getting a bit insane.

💡 Spotlight: India’s tax base is growing. By December 31, FY25, total income tax returns filed rose 4% YoY, hitting 83.9 million. But here’s the kicker, 55.7 million of those had zero tax liability.

Filings have steadily climbed from 64.7 million in FY20 to 74 million in FY23, signaling improved tax compliance and financial activity. Whether this translates into higher revenue collection is another question altogether.

Let’s hit it.

1 Big Thing: IRCTC Keeps Chugging 🚆

IRCTC pulled off a solid Q3, riding high on a tourism boom as holiday travel remained solid, driving steady growth across all segments.

Revenue climbed 10% YoY to ₹1,224 crore, while net profit rose 14% to ₹341 crore, though margins dipped slightly from 35.3% to 34% — which still remain quite impressive.

Tourism, which includes elaborate travel packages, stole the spotlight, jumping 16% YoY to ₹223 crore.
Internet ticketing inched up 5.3% to ₹353 crore
Catering saw 9.2% growth, pulling in ₹552 crore.
Rail Neer sales hit ₹96 crore, up from ₹83 crore last year.

IRCTC also declared a ₹3 per share interim dividend, cherry on the cake for investors looking for well rounded returns.

Zoom out: India’s travel and tourism market is projected to hit $25 billion in 2025, growing 8% annually to reach $34 billion by 2029. And railways still form the backbone of how the average Indian travels.

Despite the solid numbers, markets weren’t too excited. IRCTC’s stock ended the day down 3%.

While we are on earnings…☝️

Vodafone Idea posted a mixed Q3, with losses narrowing but revenue growth still sluggish.

Net loss came in at ₹6,609 crore, slightly better than ₹6,986 crore last year. Revenue rose 4% to ₹11,117 crore, while EBITDA hit ₹2,450 crore, up 15%, its highest since the Vodafone-Idea merger.

Vi is pushing ahead with 5G and network expansion, planning to invest ₹50,000–55,000 crore over the next three years. But securing funding remains a hurdle.

Overall, a completely opposite story to what you’d see from other telcos like Airtel.

2. Major deals in focus 🚀

Amazon-backed ToneTag secured $78 million in a Series B2 round led by ValueQuest S.C.A.L.E. Fund.

ToneTag is a contactless payment solution that uses soundwave technology to enable secure transactions between devices, even without an internet connection. The company processes 30 million transactions daily.

What's the deal: this is ToneTag’s first fundraise in nearly seven years, making it one of the few startups to break such a long pause and still secure fresh capital.

Google, Amazon, SBI, and ICICI Bank already use its tech to power their payments.

While we are on fundraises,

Zeta, the banking software provider, secured $50 million from Optum, pushing its valuation to $2 billion.

The company helps banks modernize infrastructure with cloud-based solutions to launch and manage credit cards, checking accounts, and loans, essentially giving legacy institutions a much-needed tech facelift.

3. Around the world in big tech 🌍

1. Musk wants OpenAI… again 🚀

Elon Musk isn’t done with OpenAI. He shot a $97.4 billion unsolicited bid to buy the company, says WSJ. But Sam Altmam, who’s already working to raise OpenAI’s valuation to $300 billion wasn't really biting it.

The Musk-OpenAI saga is a full-blown soap opera at this point. After co-founding OpenAI in 2015, Musk walked away in 2019, started his own AI venture (xAI), and then sued OpenAI, claiming it had abandoned its nonprofit vision.

Now, he’s trying to buy it back.

But what Musk is really trying to do is block OpenAI’s conversion to a for-profit entity, which in the midst of a takeout offer, is further complicated.

2. UK vs Apple 🔐

The UK government is trying to get Apple to build a backdoor into iOS, according to The Washington Post. This would allow the government access to all user data, worldwide.

The move revives a controversial provision of the UK Investigatory Powers Act (aka the Snoopers' Charter), which Apple and others successfully fought off in 2016.

Apple is standing firm, warning that if forced to comply, it would rather disable end-to-end encryption for UK users than build a global backdoor that could be exploited.

The worst part: UK law forbids Apple from even telling users if their security is weakened.

The company has already argued that this move could violate European human rights laws, setting the stage for a major legal showdown.

3. Meta’s AI pivot 💼

Meta laid off 4,000 employees, which is about 5% of its workforce, as it shifts towards AI.

Zuck had already warned that 2025 would be an "intense" year, with a stronger focus on AI talent and moving out slow and low performers.

But Meta isn’t alone. Salesforce is cutting over 1,000 jobs while ramping up AI sales hiring, and Google is offering buyouts to some teams ahead of expected AI-driven job cuts.

All change comes with some difficult decisions, but the headcount impact of AI is likely only getting started, and is going to reverberate through the economy for a very long time.

4. India’s solar power milestone 🌞

India crossed 100 GW of installed solar power capacity this week. This marks a significant milestone in the country's renewable energy journey.

The numbers: India’s solar capacity has grown by over 3,000% from just 2.8 GW in 2014 to a remarkable 100 GW in 2025.

Last year, India set a new record with 24.5 GW of solar capacity added, more than double the 2023 figure. Of this, utility-scale solar installations contributed 18.5 GW, marking an impressive 2.8x growth.

What’s next: India’s solar ambitions are far from over. Currently, 84.1 GW of capacity is in progress, with another 47.4 GW under tender. By 2030, India aims to achieve 280 GW of solar capacity, contributing significantly to its target of 500 GW in total renewable energy.

Solar energy makes up 47% of India’s total installed renewable capacity.