A five-year trail of LIC's red flags on Rajesh Exports before Sebi order

Published 6 June 2026 · local

Nehal chronicles India’s top conglomerates for Mint. From navigating the complexities of big-bang mergers and large-scale fundraises to decoding high-profile recruitments and seemingly inexplicable corporate pivots, Nehal focuses on unpacking the long-term strategies of the country’s most influential business houses. He aims to provide readers with a clear-eyed view of how these corporate titans shape the broader Indian economy. His professional journey began at The Economic Times in 2018, where he spent over five years before joining Mint in 2023. Over his career, he has tracked diverse sectors like automobiles, metals, cement, power, infrastructure, and renewable energy. He also keeps a close watch on the intricacies of corporate finance and corporate governance.

This wide-ranging sectoral experience allows him to better understand India’s large conglomerates that sit at the confluence of these vital industries. Nehal studied mechanical engineering from the Pune University and graduated with distinction in 2017. Driven by a passion for storytelling, he pivoted to journalism immediately after, attending the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai. While his time in the newsroom has made him a healthy sceptic, his engineering roots keep him perpetually inquisitive about how things work—and why they fail. He actively encourages readers to reach out for feedback, collaboration, or news tips. Nehal can be reached via LinkedIn or directly at nehal.chaliawala@livemint.com.

Varun Sood has been a business journalist writing on corporate affairs for the past 17 years. He currently oversees corporate coverage, including information technology (IT) services, aviation, auto, metals and mining, and conglomerates at Mint. He started as a reporter at Business Standard in 2005, after a short internship at the Economic and Political Weekly. Having worked across newsrooms in Delhi and Mumbai, including at DNA, the Financial Times, and the Economic Times, he is now based in Bengaluru. He is most proud of his work over the last decade at Mint, including writing about the rise and fall of some CEOs at Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, and Wipro.

His first book, “Azim Premji: The Man Beyond the Billions”, was published by HarperCollins in October 2020. These days, he is spending more time reading annual reports and analysts' transcripts. Varun’s two pet peeves are access journalism and the dying art of interviews with business leaders. If you think there is something wrong inside your company or there are problems with corporate governance that you'd like to highlight, email him at varun.sood@livemint.com.