Nvidia has signed a 10-year lease for 7,60,000 sq ft of office space in Bengaluru, making it the chipmaker's single largest office setup anywhere and India's biggest office commitment to date. The deal pushes Nvidia's total India footprint to over 11.35 lakh sq ft spread across six cities. The scale of the lease signals that Nvidia is treating India as a core operational base, not just a satellite presence. Bengaluru, already home to a dense pool of semiconductor and AI engineers, is the natural anchor for that strategy. Nvidia has been riding surging global demand for AI infrastructure, and expanding engineering capacity in India is one way to scale without the cost pressures of adding headcount in the US or Europe. A 10-year term also locks in long-run cost certainty on real estate. Watch for further hiring announcements tied to this space and whether other major chip or AI firms respond with competing expansions in Bengaluru's office market.
HDFC Bank's board has approved Rajiv Kumar, former Chief Election Commissioner and financial services secretary, as its Part-time Non-Executive Chairman from June 30, 2026. His chairmanship still requires RBI approval, but the move ends the bank's prolonged search for a permanent board leader.
Indian startups raised $1.1 billion across 16 deals in the week of June 21-26, 2026, up 2.5 times from the prior week, with CRED's $900 million Series H led by Meta accounting for most of the total. Square Yards became India's 131st unicorn after closing a $95 million round.
Jet fuel costs dropped sharply after a US-Iran interim peace deal, but airlines are expected to use the savings to rebuild margins rather than cut fares. Tight capacity, aircraft delivery delays, and weak budget carriers give major carriers unusual pricing power heading into the second half of 2026.
Meta is investing $900 million in CRED at a $4.5 billion valuation, the largest Indian startup round of 2026, as founder Kunal Shah moves to a global leadership role at WhatsApp. Miten Sampat takes over as interim CEO, and a major employee stock buyback is expected within weeks.
