Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA)

  Fictitious Capital, Felt Consequences: A Market Check-In for the Piramal Empire Posted on 5th December, 2025 (GMT 02:58 hrs) ABSTRACT This letter-cum-article presents a public-interest reflection on recent market developments surrounding Piramal Group companies and the wider governance questions they have sparked among investors, analysts, and civil society. Drawing on publicly available financial data, media reportage, and long-circulating discussions in the public sphere, it examines the convergence of market underperformance, debt concerns, corporate restructuring decisions, and historical reputational debates linked to the group. The letter raises broader issues about transparency, accountability, political economy, and investor sentiment in contemporary India, especially in a climate where corporate influence, public institutions, and regulatory processes often appear intertwined. Without making allegations, the article highlights the anxieties and questions currently s...

  The Big Picture of a Philanthropic Façade: Inside the Piramal Empire Posted on 29th November, 2025 (GMT 08:15 hrs) ABSTRACT This article offers a critical exploration of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and philanthropic landscape surrounding the Piramal Group, with particular emphasis on the Piramal Foundation and its mastermind tycoon Ajay Piramal. It highlights the stark contradictions between publicly espoused moral principles and documented corporate controversies. While Piramal frames his business philosophy through the lenses of Gandhian trusteeship, Tagorean humanitarianism, and Vaishnava spiritual teachings—collectively termed by Mr. Piramal as so-called “conscious capitalism”—a series of regulatory incidents, allegations of political ties, environmental transgressions, restructuring tactics, and financial scandals underscore a dissonance between professed ideals and actual practices. The analysis contends that the Group’s philanthropic initiatives often se...