India’s top 50 listed companies just posted their slowest March-quarter revenue growth in years — barely 5–6% YoY, compared to 11% last year. Consumer demand was soft, exports slumped, and capital investment remained cautious.
Yet, here’s the twist: EBITDA margins actually improved.
Why? Because Indian corporates flipped the switch from aggression to efficiency.
🔍 What’s happening on the ground?
📌 Real incomes are flat. Urban demand is cautious.
📌 Inflation cooled late, but left scars.
📌 High interest rates choked big-ticket purchases.
📌 Global orders dried up.
📌 Businesses stopped chasing growth — and started engineering it internally.
💡 What did companies do?
📌 Rationalized costs across the board
📌 Leveraged soft commodity prices
📌 Used pricing power selectively
📌 Doubled down on digitization and supply chain efficiency
🧠 Lesson? You can’t cost-cut your way to greatness, but you can buy time while you reposition for growth.
📈 FY2026 might bring tailwinds — lower interest rates, policy momentum, and a favorable base effect.
📌 But sustainable performance will depend on how fast demand recovers — and how ready companies are to ride that wave.
💬 What’s your take — is India Inc. too focused on margins, or rightly biding its time?