India's third‑quarter corporate landscape saw mixed fortunes, with IT giants facing profit pressure from new labour codes despite steady revenues, while banks delivered divergent performances — HDFC Bank posting solid profit growth and ICICI Bank weighed down by higher provisions.
Politically, the BJP registered a sweeping victory in Maharashtra's civic polls, reclaiming dominance across key cities. There was some solace for arch-rival Thackeray family in Mumbai.
On the global stage, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's India visit strengthened bilateral cooperation on defence, trade, and critical technologies. Meanwhile, Greenland became a flashpoint of geopolitical tension as renewed US efforts to acquire the territory prompted NATO allies to bolster security in the region.
IT, Bank Earnings
Indian information technology behemoths released their third quarter financial results this week that showed a large hit to their profits due to implementation of the new labour codes in late 2025. Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys faced profit slump despite revenue growth due to wage hikes and compliance costs, while HCLTech showed strength. Overall sentiment points to cautious optimism with selective recovery in spending, focus on AI, and Tier-2 firms outperforming. Margin pressure, rising deal wins, and ongoing macro uncertainty affecting discretionary spending were some of the key highlights.
Major Indian banks also announced their quarterly performance. HDFC Bank reported an 11% year-on-year rise in standalone net profit, supported by steady growth in core earnings, healthy deposit accretion and stable asset quality, even as margins remained under some pressure. On the other hand, ICICI Bank reported a decline in profit, weighed down by a sharp rise in provisions, even as core operating performance remained stable and asset quality improved.
Saffron Sweep In Maharashtra
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a monumental victory in local body elections across Maharashtra on Jan. 16. After nearly nine years, civic body elections across 29 municipal corporations were held on Jan. 15, including key urban centres such as Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nagpur, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nashik. BJP emerged as the single largest party in all these areas, with some contested with allies Shiv Sena and NCP.
In the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections, the BJP-Shiv Sena won 114 seats, touching the majority mark. Uddhav Thackeray may have lost control of the BMC, but his position as a leader of consequence has remained intact with the Shiv Sena (UBT) winning 74 seats and outsmarting Eknath Shinde.
German Chancellor Visits India
India and Germany celebrated 25 years of their Strategic Partnership in 2025 during the visit of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Merz at Gandhinagar and they reiterated their support for the conclusion of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement as a key outcome of the upcoming EU-India Summit. The German Chancellor indicated that the European Union and India may conclude a free trade agreement by the end of this month.
The two countries signed a Joint Declaration of Intent to develop a Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap, emphasising technology partnerships, co-development, and co-production of defence platforms. To ensure supply chain resilience, agreements were signed focusing on semiconductor and critical minerals. Germany announced a visa-free transit facility for Indian passport holders.
Hustle On Greenland
Greenland remained at the center of an intense international, geopolitical crisis following renewed efforts by US President Donald Trump to acquire the Danish territory. In a direct response to the situation and at Denmark's request, NATO allies Germany, France, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the Netherlands sent small numbers of personnel and vessels to Greenland to bolster security.
A high-stakes meeting in Washington on Wednesday between US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and representatives from Denmark and Greenland failed to reach a breakthrough. The White House continued to push for "technical talks on the acquisition" of Greenland.
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