Happy Monday, Munchers! 🙏

I started this newsletter 8 months back.

Ever since then, it’s been the driving force behind my mornings.

I wake up energized and excited to distill the coolest stories in business and tech for you.

But today, I have some good news and bad news.

The Bad News

Market Munch is no more.

The Good News

Market Munch is rebranding to Cutting Chai - another awesome daily publication which packs a deep-dive into the Indian business world to your inbox every morning.

It’s gonna have the same crisp, refreshing, and humorous takes that you’re used to.

Less flirtatious 5-line content and more deep-dives that make you a genuine expert on emerging markets.

And it’s all gonna be centered around India.

A short India thesis is below this, but before I move onto that, I need one thing from you.

If you want to receive the Cutting Chai, you’re already there!

But if you don’t want us in your inbox, you can hit un-subscribe at the bottom of this mail :).

Thank you so much for your love and support.

God bless, and have a lovely week. 🙏

Warm regards and lots of ❤️,

Aryaansh

The Indian Investment Odyssey

India’s digital economy, talent pool, and startup ecosystem is at an inflection point.

Over the last 3 decades, the world’s biggest MNCs and corporates have been outsourcing to India.

India was always the cost-saving center for big Western businesses.

As the ever-increasing Dollar-Rupee exchange rate and young population handled a lot of admin-focused heavy lifting for cheap, the world slowly built their organizational roots in India.

But things have been changing.

Today, India isn’t just an outsourcing center for the world - it’s an untapped source of trillions in value.

There are a few big reasons why. I’ll touch on each of them quickly. 👇

1 - Sustainable AND stable growth.

India is the only major economy that has isn’t walking on a tightrope.

The rest of the world is grappling with all sorts of headwinds - credit crunches, market slowdowns and tighter operating environments.

In the midst of this noise, India seems to be thriving.

The sheer size and diversity of it all is another big driving force - India’s capital markets are not dependent on any one entity or sector for their growth.

Adani barely rocked the bourses, and you’ll find all sorts of stocks listed - sugar mills, paint producers, and finance companies.

As they say - if you want to see the world, go to India.

2 - Big money flowing in.

Foreign investors with big stacks of dry powder are quickly taking notice.

Over the last 25 years, India has taken in over half a trillion US Dollars of FDI at an increasing rate of ~12-14% a year.

Big corporates like Amazon, Google, and Apple who’ve been catering to the average Joe for years are moving the backbones of their business to India and are deciding to decipher the average Jai as well.

These investments are well diversified - but they’re all mainly in the Indian tech space.

Massive votes of confidence in the digital future of 1.3 billion people.

3 - Quicker + more efficient networking/connections.

India is not one country. India is a ton of different countries put together.

The magic happens when this melting pot works together to win.

As of 2023, India has over 750 million Internet users with over 1.2 billion mobile phone users. Second only to China.

Every Indian boy and girl across the country wields the power of infinite information - only supercharging the middle-class dream further.

The total road lengths have doubled in the last 8 years and new rail networks are being built all over.

650k + kilometers of fiber-optic cables. 40+ million homes constructed for needy folks in the last 10 years. LPG connections for all.

A country as vast as India will only harness it’s full potential when everyone is seamlessly connected.

4 - Crazy young and crazy smart population.

The average age of India is 26.

And it’s the only big market where this rate of population is going to stay the same/increase.

Tons of major economies are dealing with irreversible population declines - but the glory days of India’s population are yet to come.

Plus, the Indian middle class dreams like no one does.

It’s kinda like the American dream - moving one rung up the social ladder at a time.

This leads to jugaad - an insane mindset that helps build big businesses at low costs.

5 - Fundamental tech-powered backbone.

There is more than just smoke and mirrors to all of this.

Out of every 100 digital payments in 2022, 46 of them happened in India.

Increased financialization and digital empowerment is making everyday things so much simpler - which means that there’s something different about the hype.

It’s sustainable and has more room to blossom into something beautiful.

The number of Indians online is slated to cross 900 million by the 2025 - and this tech tadka is gonna push growth into the 6th gear.

The billion-dollar bet - what manufacturing was to China, is what technology is to India.

Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost…

Lots of love,

Aryaansh 🙏🫡