Business
How IndiGo Managed To Hold A Country Of 1.4 Billion People Hostage, Forced Govt To Bend Rules | Analysis
At a time when most Indian airlines are posting losses, IndiGo stands out as the only profitable carrier. Yet, while loss-making airlines managed to comply with DGCA directives within the allotted 18-month period, the one airline turning a profit failed to do so. The DGCA had provided ample time for compliance and workforce planning. But while others focused on meeting regulatory requirements, IndiGo appeared to pursue a different strategy—creating disruption to pressure the government. Incredibly, this approach worked: instead of imposing penalties, the government chose to relax the norms.
Aviation expert Harsh Vardhan squarely called this entire crisis a failure of IndiGo’s management. He said this is an extremely unprecedented situation. Passengers have been suffering for three days, and this is the peak tourist, wedding, and business season. IndiGo’s claim that the new FDTL policy suddenly created problems is nothing but a management failure. The policy wasn’t introduced overnight—it was formulated over years of deliberation and was finalised a year ago.
Harsh Vardhan reminded that the soft launch of the FDTL took place on July 1, 2025, and it was fully implemented from November 1, 2025. Other operators like Air India and SpiceJet made timely adjustments, which is why no major crisis emerged there. What surprises him most is the timing—if the policy was effective from November 1, why did this sudden “rampage” begin only a month later, at the start of December?
“The Government of India has decided to institute a high-level inquiry into this disruption. The inquiry will examine what went wrong at Indigo, determine accountability wherever required for appropriate actions, and recommend measures to prevent similar disruptions in the future, ensuring that passengers do not face such hardships again,” said the Ministry of Civil Aviation in a statement.
No one knows what will come out of the inquiry but, interestingly, IndiGo got rewarded for its blackmailing, instead of getting punished as the government relaxed norms.
Due to the IndiGo induced turbulence, the airfare on key routes touched Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000. IndiGo didn’t merely cancel flights—it brought the system to a standstill, grounding aircraft, showcasing its clout, and effectively challenging the government to respond. Instead of asserting its authority, the NDA government backed down and rolled back its own directive. Through deliberate mismanagement, the airline pushed the system toward chaos. The suspension of over a thousand IndiGo flights severely disrupted the economy, sending hotel prices and ticket fares on other airlines soaring.
“The central government has ordered a probe and refunds—but the question is: when the monopoly of private companies and the government’s silence come together, who will protect the common people? Who are you working for? The public or the interests of big corporate houses?” Former Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia rightly questioned the government.
Shockingly, a country of 1.4 billion people relies primarily on just two major domestic carriers—IndiGo and Air India. IndiGo’s dominance is so significant that even Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi publicly criticised the government for its oversight failures. “IndiGo fiasco is the cost of this Govt’s monopoly model. Once again, it’s ordinary Indians who pay the price – in delays, cancellations and helplessness. India deserves fair competition in every sector, not match-fixing monopolies,” said Gandhi.
For two decades, successive governments have allowed major airlines to collapse instead of restructuring them under new ownership. Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines are prime examples: both could have been revived by removing problematic promoters, yet no institutional mechanism was activated. The pattern repeated itself with Go First. When three airlines vanish in a decade, it signals not merely corporate failures but a systemic unwillingness to safeguard competition and consumer interest, wrote Prashant Tewari, public policy expert, mentioned in a recent report in The Pioneer.
Today, IndiGo controls over half of India’s domestic aviation market, with the Air India group holding most of the remainder. Smaller airlines operate on the margins, too weak to influence pricing or service standards.
Tewari wrote that disappearance of three airlines within years show government’s failure of protecting competition and consumer interest.
This duopoly-like environment has suffocated passengers: airfares on busy domestic routes routinely exceed those for comparable distances in Europe, Southeast Asia, or even the United States. A two-hour flight within India can cost more than a four-hour international journey elsewhere.
“IndiGo airline fiasco shows that Modi govt is either incompetent or in collusion. In either case, India deserves better. People have never suffered so much,” said Former Delhi CM and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal.
For years, India’s aviation sector has needed at least eight to ten robust operators to foster true competition, stabilise fares, and minimise disruptions. Instead, new entrants face steep barriers, licensing moves painfully slowly, and foreign carriers seeking expansion are hindered by outdated protectionist policies disguised as national security concerns. This refusal to liberalise the skies has turned India into one of the world’s most expensive domestic aviation markets.
According to Tewari, the duoploy ecosystem suits certain entrenched interests. With opaque decision-making, India’s aviation sector functions with minimal accountability, he opined.
Though the government’s UDAN scheme was launched to make air travel accessible to the common citizen, soaring fares have made flying increasingly unaffordable.
Besides opening new airports, the government must urgently liberalise the sector, encourage new domestic players, revive grounded airlines under competent management, and allow credible foreign carriers to compete under regulated conditions. Until then, Indian travellers will continue to pay excessively, learning the same harsh lessons again and again.
Business
New Income Tax Act 2025 to come into effect from April 1, key reliefs announced in Budget 2026
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that the Income Tax Act 2025 will come into effect from April 1, 2026, and the I-T forms have been redesigned such that ordinary citizens can comply without difficulty for ease of living.
The new measures include exemption on insurance interest awards, nil deduction certificates for small taxpayers, and extension of the ITR filing deadline for non-audit cases to August 31.
Individuals with ITR 1 and ITR 2 will continue to file I-T returns till July 31.
“In July 2024, I announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act 1961. This was completed in record time, and the Income Tax Act 2025 will come into effect from April 1, 2026. The forms have been redesigned such that ordinary citizens can comply without difficulty, for) ease of living,” she said while presenting the Budget 2026-27
In a move that directly eases cash-flow pressure on individuals making overseas payments, the Union Budget announced lower tax collection at source across key categories.
“I propose to reduce the TCS rate on the sale of overseas tour programme packages from the current 5 per cent and 20 per cent to 2 per cent without any stipulation of amount. I propose to reduce the TCS rate for pursuing education and for medical purposes from 5 per cent to 2 per cent,” said Sitharaman.
She clarified withholding on services, adding that “supply of manpower services is proposed to be specifically brought within the ambit of payment contractors for the purpose of TDS to avoid ambiguity”.
“Thus, TDS on these services will be at the rate of either 1 per cent or 2 per cent only,” she mentioned during her Budget speech.
The Budget also proposes a tax holiday for foreign cloud companies using data centres in India till 2047.
Business
Budget 2026 Live Updates: TCS On Overseas Tour Packages Slashed To 2%; TDS On Education LRS Eased
Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament, her record ninth budget speech. During her Budget Speech, the FM will detail budgetary allocations and revenue projections for the upcoming financial year 2026-27. Sitharaman is notably dressed in a Kanjeevaram Silk saree, a nod to the traditional weaving sector in poll-bound Tamil Nadu.
The budget comes at a time when there is geopolitical turmoil, economic volatility and trade war. Different sectors are looking to get some support with new measures and relaxations ahead of the budget, especially export-oriented industries, which have borne the brunt of the higher US tariffs being imposed last year by the Trump administration.
On January 29, 2026, Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2025-26, a comprehensive snapshot of the country’s macro-economic situation, in Parliament, setting the stage for the budget and showing the government’s roadmap. The survey projected that India’s economy is expected to grow 6.8%-7.2% in FY27, underscoring resilience even as global economic uncertainty persists.
Budget 2026 Expectations
Expectations across key sectors are taking shape as stakeholders look to the Budget for support that sustains growth, strengthens jobs and eases financial pressures:
Taxpayers & Households: Many taxpayers want practical improvements to the income tax structure that preserve simplicity while supporting long-term financial planning — including broader deductions for home loan interest and diversified retirement savings options.
New Tax Regime vs Old Tax Regime | New Income Tax Rules | Income Tax 2026
Businesses & Industry: With industrial output and investment showing resilience, firms are looking for policies that bolster capital formation, ease compliance, and expand infrastructure spending — especially in manufacturing and technology-driven sectors that promise jobs and exports.
Startups & Innovation: The startup ecosystem expects incentives around employee stock options and capital access, along with regulatory tweaks that encourage risk capital and talent retention without increasing compliance burdens.
Also See: Stock Market Updates Today
The Budget speech will be broadcast live here and on all other news channels. You can also catch all the updates about Budget 2026 on News18.com. News18 will provide detailed live blog updates on the Budget speech, and political, industry, and market reactions.
We are providing a full, detailed coverage of the union budget 2026 here, with a lot of insights, experts’ views and analyses. Stay tuned with us to get latest updates.
Also Read: Budget 2026 Live Streaming
Here are the Live Updates of Union Budget 2026:
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Sunday approved the Union Budget 2026-27 during a meeting in Parliament chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A meeting of the Union Cabinet was held at Sansad Bhawan at 10 a.m., and after the Cabinet’s approval, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proceeded to Parliament to present the Budget.
Earlier, FM Sitharaman met President Droupadi Murmu and offered her a copy of the digital budget. The President also offered ‘dahi-cheeni’ (curd and sugar) to Sitharaman when she arrived at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Finance Minister was seen carrying her trademark ‘bahi-khata’, a tablet wrapped in a red-coloured cloth bearing a golden-coloured national emblem on it.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Chief Economic Advisor Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Ravi Agrawal and other officials were seen accompanying the Finance Minister. Sitharaman was set to present her ninth consecutive Union Budget in the Lok Sabha. In 2021, she switched to using a digital tablet to carry the Budget papers, further promoting a modern and eco-friendly approach.
The ‘bahi-khata’ is a red pouch that holds the digital tablet containing the Budget documents. This year, Sitharaman opted for a deep maroon Kanjeevaram saree from Tamil Nadu. The saree featured a deep maroon base with a contrasting border and subtle gold detailing, paired with a yellow blouse.
The Budget is likely to strike a deft balance of sustaining growth momentum and maintaining fiscal consolidation. It also needs to address near-term challenges emanating from unprecedented geopolitical flux, said economists. According to economists, the budget is likely to focus more on capital expenditure, especially in sectors deemed to be strategically important owing to prevailing geopolitical compulsions.
While the FY26 Budget was more tilted towards stimulating middle-class consumption with tax reliefs, the FY27 Budget’s approach to stimulating consumption will be selective, they added.
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New Income Tax Act 2025 to come into effect from April 1, key reliefs announced in Budget 2026
Budget 2026 Live Updates: TCS On Overseas Tour Packages Slashed To 2%; TDS On Education LRS Eased
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