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The fast-growing unicorn in the express delivery sector, Zepto, has postponed its initial public offering (IPO) timeline and intends to raise approximately 100 billion rupees in a pre-financing round with the company valued at $4.5 billion USD.

Details of the New Round and Valuation

According to sources familiar with the situation, the funds from this investment round are expected to be raised primarily from domestic investors with the aim of increasing the share of Indian shareholders in the company, which currently stands at about 40 percent. Zepto's previously planned IPO for July 2026 has been temporarily frozen.

Comparison with Previous Valuation

The current valuation of $4.5 billion USD is a decrease compared to the $7 billion USD valuation the company received in October 2025. At that time, Zepto raised $450 million in a round led by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS).

History of IPO Filings

Zepto was founded by Stanford University graduates Aadit Palich and Kaivalya Vohra. The company filed preliminary documents for the IPO in December 2025 through a confidential pre-filing route with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Planned IPO Size

According to updated filings submitted to the regulator Sebi, Zepto plans to raise 80.1 billion rupees through a new share issuance as part of the proposed IPO. Additionally, an Offer for Sale (OFS) of 11.35 billion shares will be offered to existing shareholders.

Competitive Landscape and Financial Performance

If the listing is successful, Zepto will join Eternal and Swiggy on the stock exchanges, directly competing with their express delivery services Blinkit and Instamart, respectively. For the fiscal year 2026, Zepto reported operating revenue of 22,624 billion rupees and Net Realizable Value (NRV) of 24,816 billion rupees. During the year, the company processed an average of 1.75 million orders daily and had 1,139 stores as of March 31, 2026. The annual base of transactional users reached nearly 48 million people. In the quarter ending March 2026, Zepto processed approximately 210 million orders, equivalent to about 2.33 million orders per day.

Tata Steel reported an 11.6% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit, reaching ₹2,318.35 crore in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2026-27 (Q1FY27), driven by strong performance in India. Net profit in the previous year was ₹2,077.68 crore.

First Quarter Financial Results

The company's total revenue for Q1FY27 reached ₹60,794.29 crore, which is 14.3% higher compared to the same period last year. However, the company failed to meet the Bloomberg consensus forecast for net profit, which was ₹2,501.6 crore. Nevertheless, revenue exceeded the Bloomberg forecast of ₹58,154.7 crore.

Compared to the previous quarter, net profit decreased by 20.8%, and revenue declined by 3.9%, attributed to falling volumes, although higher steel prices partially offset this decrease.

Strategy and Investments in India

The company's board of directors approved an expansion at Nilachala Ispat Nigam with a capacity of 4.8 million tonnes per annum, involving capital expenditures (capex) of ₹33,873 crore. This initiative is part of Tata Steel's strategy to strengthen its position in the high-margin branded long products segment. During the quarter, the company invested ₹3,579 crore in capital expenditure, and net debt stood at ₹84,173 crore.

T V Narendran, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Steel, noted that the global operating environment remains challenging, and the impact of events in West Asia has been noticeably felt in supply chains and raw material costs. He added that despite these difficulties, Tata Steel demonstrated a consistent improvement in EBITDA per tonne for the third consecutive quarter.

Performance in the Indian Segment

India remained the backbone of the financial results, as domestic sales grew by 11% year-on-year, reaching 4.85 million tonnes. Tata Steel India generated a turnover of ₹36,989 crore in Q1FY27, compared to ₹31,137 crore in Q1FY26. Profit after tax was ₹4,668 crore versus ₹3,454 crore the previous year.

The company reported that production capacities and supplies were affected by planned shutdowns at the Meramandali and Kalinanganagar plants, but normalization is expected in subsequent quarters.

Overseas Operations

Regarding overseas operations, Tata Steel UK reduced its losses. The EBITDA loss in Q1FY27 was ₹341 crore, compared to ₹471 crore in Q1FY26. Revenue from operations in Q1FY27 reached ₹6,115 crore, while it was ₹6,096 crore in the same period last year.

Koushik Chatterjee, Executive Director and CFO of Tata Steel, commented that performance in the Netherlands was affected by the temporary closure of the rolling mill section. He stated that they are working on resuming operations in consultation with the local regulator. Furthermore, working capital was impacted by inventory accumulation due to operational disruptions and supply chain issues, as well as rising prices. The company is focused on optimizing costs and working capital efficiency to maximize cash flow.

Tata Steel Netherlands (TSN) recorded revenue of ₹15,803 crore in Q1FY27, higher than ₹14,619 crore the previous year. However, EBITDA in Q1FY27 was only ₹39 crore, significantly lower than the figures for Q1FY26 (₹611 crore) and Q4FY26 (₹624 crore).

The company continues to face environmental issues in the Netherlands related to alleged non-compliance with maintenance requirements for the cement and gas (coking) plant. TSN is also engaging with regulators regarding changing standards for slag classification and disposal. Currently, the temporary halt in slag removal from the Ijmuiden site has led to excess stockpiling.

The Institute for Reducing the Shadow Economy, Improving Tax and Customs Administration, and Fiscal Analysis at the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Uzbekistan has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate income tax rate for certain organizations from 20% to 15%, as well as to revise the system of taxing financial services. This proposal was presented during a fiscal dialogue on July 30th.

Areas for Reduced Rate Application

According to the information presented, the reduced corporate income tax rate should apply to banks, mobile operators, producers of polyethylene granules, markets, and shopping centers. Implementing this proposal will require amendments to Article 337 of the Tax Code.

Compensation for Budgetary Losses

The Institute calculated that lowering the tax rate would lead to a decrease in budget revenues by 859 billion soums. To cover this deficit, it was proposed to introduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on fee-based financial services.

New Taxation Structure

The proposed model involves separating financial income into commission income and interest income. Under this proposal, fixed fees for financial services will be subject to VAT, while interest (margin) income will remain exempt from taxation.

VAT Subject Objects

VAT will be applied to services for which fixed payments are charged. Such services include account and bank card maintenance, cash settlement services, acquiring and payment acceptance, commissions on bank guarantees, sureties, and letters of credit, foreign currency commission services, processing of bank card transactions, depositary, registration, and stock exchange services, payment system fees, as well as the service component of factoring and forfaiting.

Tax Exemptions

The proposal maintains the VAT exemption for services whose charges are not specified separately. These include deposit attraction, provision of loans and credits, interest on loans, repurchase agreement (repo) transactions, the interest portion of financial leasing, the discount portion of factoring and forfaiting, operations with stocks, shares, securities, and derivatives, as well as assignment of creditors' claims.

Compliance with International Standards

The presentation noted that the proposed approach aligns with international practice. Recommendations from the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development were cited as justification, stating that fee-based financial services are subject to VAT, while interest (margin) income remains exempt from such taxation.