Business
India’s Growth Ambition Needs Long-Term Capital, Not Quick Exits
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Budget 2026 is a chance for India to shift incentives from short-term gains to rewarding long-term investor commitment, supporting manufacturing, etc.
From Fast Exits to Patient Capital: India’s Budget 2026 Test
As India approaches Budget 2026, conversations around growth, investment and competitiveness dominate the economic and policy landscape. Yet beneath these themes lies a deeper and often unexamined issue—what kind of investor behaviour does India’s financial and tax ecosystem actually reward?
Despite our ambitions around manufacturing, capital formation and supply-chain resilience, the system, often unintentionally, continues to tilt incentives towards short-term decision-making. As India enters a structurally different phase of growth, this misalignment between policy intent and incentive design has become increasingly consequential. Budget 2026 offers a timely opportunity to correct this imbalance.
India’s framework does not explicitly discourage long-term investing. However, through design and execution, it nudges investors towards shorter horizons. Tax design is a major contributor.
Capital gains structures define “long-term” using relatively short holding thresholds by global standards. Frequent changes in tax treatment, surcharges, exemptions and interpretative rules introduce uncertainty into long-term return assumptions. Incentives are often time-bound rather than outcome-bound, rewarding entry within a policy window rather than commitment across a full investment cycle. The behavioural message is clear: enter when incentives exist, exit when optimal, optimise tax later.
Policy volatility reinforces this mindset. Shifts in custom duties and input tariffs alter cost structures mid-cycle, while sector-specific incentives—particularly manufacturing and export-linked schemes—are periodically recalibrated or sunset without multi-year visibility. Even flagship programmes such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme reflect this tension. PLI has accelerated capacity creation across electronics, semiconductors and specialty manufacturing, yet remains output- and period-specific rather than explicitly rewarding capital retention, reinvestment or operational continuity beyond the incentive window. Rational investors respond accordingly, prioritising speed of capital recovery over permanence.
The ease of short-term liquidity in India further compounds the tilt toward tactical behaviour. Deep public markets, an active PE/VC ecosystem and vibrant secondary transactions are structural strengths for the economy, but without counter-balancing incentives for duration they naturally encourage faster exits and tactical capital deployment.
This matters because India’s growth model is evolving. The next phase of expansion will depend less on consumption-led momentum, rapid capital recycling and asset-light growth alone, and more on manufacturing scale, supply-chain resilience, domestic value addition and stable long-term capital formation. These outcomes cannot be delivered by transient capital. They require patient capital—capital willing to absorb longer gestation periods, regulatory frictions and early-stage inefficiencies in pursuit of durable outcomes. Yet when signals favour agility over longevity, investors adapt by shortening holding horizons, structuring investments for exit optionality and prioritising flexibility over continuity. Over time, a disconnect emerges: policy seeks long-term outcomes, but incentives reward short-term behaviour.
Budget 2026 arrives at a particularly consequential juncture. India is positioning itself as a global manufacturing and supply-chain hub, and capex-led growth remains a stated priority. Global investors are increasingly evaluating India not merely as a tactical allocation but as a long-term destination. States are actively competing for investment through incentives. Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, for instance, offer combinations of capital subsidies, interest subvention, land rebates and payroll-linked incentives.
New frameworks for Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and advanced manufacturing hinge on employment thresholds and upfront investment commitments. However, many of these incentives are still front-loaded—rewarding establishment rather than long-term continuity. In this context, policy credibility is no longer just about incentive quantum; it is about predictability over time. The question is no longer, “How do we attract capital?” It is, “Do we meaningfully reward investors who stay the course?”
Budget 2026 presents a clear opportunity to rebalance India’s investment ecosystem—not by discouraging liquidity or exits, but by explicitly recognising and rewarding long-duration commitment. Tax frameworks could reward extended holding periods through progressively lower capital gains for assets held beyond longer thresholds. Stability clauses could ensure that core tax and incentive terms remain unchanged over defined periods.
Greater alignment between central and state incentives could enhance benefits tied to reinvestment, asset longevity, employment continuity or supply-chain deepening. States could shift from purely entry-based subsidies to outcome-linked incentives tied to duration—such as sustained employment or capacity utilisation over time. Such an approach would encourage capital with longer horizons, support manufacturing and supply-chain decisions that require permanence and reinforce India’s positioning as a predictable, long-term investment destination.
Crucially, none of this requires new subsidies. It simply requires better incentive design and policy signals that reward patience, predictability and persistence.
India’s next stage of growth depends not only on how quickly capital arrives, but on how confidently it stays. Budget 2026 has the opportunity to send a clear signal that duration matters. By rewarding investors who stay the course, India can better align investor behaviour with its long-term economic ambitions—unlocking sustainable wealth creation and supporting the country’s next phase of structural growth.
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January 25, 2026, 17:22 IST
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The initiative, named Deliveroo Reservations, is scheduled to launch initially in London this Thursday.
Customers will gain the ability to secure tables at a range of prominent London eateries, including Dishoom, Dove, Hide, Kricket, Barrafina, and Kolae. This expansion marks a strategic move for the company, which was acquired by US-based DoorDash for £2.9 billion last year.
The new reservation system integrates technology from SevenRooms, a restaurant booking platform business that DoorDash also purchased for approximately £900 million.
This integration follows DoorDash’s own expansion into restaurant bookings on its platform in the United States late last year, setting a precedent for Deliveroo’s latest venture.
This move is central to Deliveroo’s ambitions to grow beyond its established takeaway delivery model in the UK. While the feature will first be rolled out to restaurants in London, Deliveroo has indicated plans to extend the service across the wider UK later in the year.
Suzy McClintock, vice president for consumer and new verticals at Deliveroo, commented on the development: “This launch is about supporting restaurants to grow in new ways. Whether it’s a Deliveroo order or a reservation in store, we want to drive discovery, demand and revenue across every channel.”
She added: “By fully integrating SevenRooms into the Deliveroo app, we’re giving restaurants access to new customers and giving diners an easier way to discover and book some of London’s best tables – all in one place.”
Joel Montaniel, vice president and co-founder of SevenRooms, echoed this sentiment, stating: “Bringing reservations into the Deliveroo app gives London restaurants a new way to connect with diners and grow, while making it easy for consumers to discover and book great restaurants.”
Business
Warner Bros. Discovery books $2.9 billion net loss tied to Paramount deal, restructuring costs
An American flag flies at Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank, California, on Sept. 12, 2025.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday reported a staggering net loss for the first quarter, but it has an explanation.
The company booked a net loss of $2.9 billion, far larger than the net loss of $453 million it reported in the year-earlier quarter.
The figure included $1.3 billion of “pre-tax acquisition-related amortization of intangibles, content fair value step-up and restructuring expenses” as well as the $2.8 billion termination fee that Warner Bros. Discovery owed Netflix after their pending transaction fell through in February.
Netflix walked away from its proposed deal to buy WBD’s assets after Paramount Skydance came in with a higher offer. Paramount agreed to pay the termination fee as part of its agreement to buy the entirety of WBD, but the cost lives on WBD’s books until the close of that deal.
Since the amount is refundable to Paramount under certain circumstances, such as if it were to terminate the deal with Paramount for a higher offer, the obligation would be shifted to WBD.
Paramount’s proposed acquisition received approval from WBD shareholders in April and is currently in the midst of a regulatory review process. On Monday, Paramount said in its earnings release that it has “made significant progress” toward closing the deal, which it expects to be completed in the third quarter.
WBD on Wednesday also reported first-quarter revenue that was down 1% year over year to $8.89 billion. The company’s adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization was up 5% to $2.2 billion. WBD had $33.4 billion in gross debt at the end of the quarter.
Streaming continued to be a highlight for the company.
Total streaming revenue was up 9% to about $2.89 billion as subscriber revenue increased due to the expansion of HBO Max — WBD’s flagship streaming platform — in international markets. Advertising revenue for the unit was up 20% due to an increase in customers subscribing to the ad-supported tier.
The company said in a shareholder letter it exceeded its guidance of more than 140 million global streaming customers at the end of the first quarter, and it remains on track to surpass 150 million global subscribers by the end of the year.
WBD’s portfolio of pay TV networks, which includes CNN, TBS and the Discovery Channel, continued to weigh on the company. The linear TV networks reported $4.38 billion in revenue, down 8% from the prior year. The company said linear advertising revenue was down 11%, which was primarily driven by the absence of NBA media rights from its portfolio.
Revenue for the film studio division, meanwhile, increased 35% to $3.13 billion year over year.
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Peak downstream traffic on the network surged by 17 per cent compared to an average Tuesday evening, marking an unprecedented event in Virgin Media’s broadband history.
This figure was 4.2 per cent higher than the previous record, established during Liverpool’s Champions League match against Real Madrid last November.
Jeanie York, chief technology officer at Virgin Media O2, commented on the phenomenon: “Live sport is one of the biggest drivers of broadband traffic in the UK and last night’s Champions League semi-final set a record on our network.
“As more people stream the biggest sporting moments from home, reliable, high-capacity connectivity has never been more important.”
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He said: “Bring it on, bring it on, I’ll be ready. I want every Arsenal fan out there, 200,000 of you, come out. Let’s try and do it because we’re going to need all the support, all the energy and let’s make it special.”
Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, hailed his “incredible” players for “making history” after securing the win.
Arteta said: “It was an incredible night. We made history again together and I cannot be happier and prouder for everybody that’s involved in this football club.
“The supporters were with us for every ball. They made it special and unique, and I have never felt it like that in this stadium.
“We knew how much it meant to everybody, we put everything on the line, the boys did an incredible job and after 20 years, and the second time in our history, we are back in the Champions League final.”
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