NEW DELHI: From a spike in crude oil prices amid the conflict in West Asia to the tightening economic race between India and Vietnam, logistics activity reflected in e-way bill generation, rising startup shutdowns in niche sectors, and India’s continued dependence on imported arms—here’s this week’s news in numbers.
Oil shock
The West Asia conflict jolted global markets, pushing amid fears of shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about 20% of global oil supply. Global stocks also slid as investors worried the crisis could trigger one of the biggest oil shocks since 1990, an analysis by howindialives.com showed.
In the 12 days of the conflict so far, oil prices surged about 34%, the sharpest rise among major oil-shock episodes.
Prices have since eased to around $98 a barrel. For the analysis, oil prices are indexed at 100 on the event start date, with values rebased up to 90 days before and after each shock.
Race to the top
India and Vietnam on Mint’s Emerging Markets Tracker. While India benefits from strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth, manufacturing strength and stable inflation, weakness in the rupee and stock markets has hurt its rankings since December.
Vietnam, newly added to the tracker, has surged ahead, topping the rankings in three of the past four months on the back of rapid economic growth, strong exports and rising stock market capitalization.
Over the past 12 months, however, India retains a narrow lead, ranking first six times compared with Vietnam’s five.
Numbers talk
₹88.7 crore: The government’s spending on promoting the GST Bachat Utsav, aimed at publicizing GST rate rationalization that took effect on 22 September 2025, the finance ministry said in a reply to the Lok Sabha.
$692 million: The potential pay package for Google CEO Sundar Pichai over the next three years under Alphabet’s new compensation plan, placing him among the world’s highest-paid corporate leaders.
$93.4 billion: Saudi Aramco’s net profit for 2025, down 12% from $106.2 billion in 2024 as weaker revenues, US tariffs and broader economic headwinds weighed on earnings.
9 million: Women removed from Maharashtra’s Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, reducing beneficiaries to 15.3 million, with 283,000 names dropped in Beed district alone.
₹8.69 trillion: The outlay approved for Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0, extending the rural drinking water programme to December 2028 and restructuring it to emphasize sectoral reforms.
Lopsided growth
Generation of e-way bills rose 18.8% year-on-year in February to more than 132 million, from 111.6 million a year earlier, according to Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) data. The increase indicates steady movement of goods across factories, warehouses and retail networks, signalling resilient supply-chain and logistics activity.
Sequentially, however, e-way bill generation fell 3.1%, marking the second straight monthly decline after a 1.1% dip in January. The moderation is largely seasonal, as February is a shorter month and typically follows stronger January activity.
Activity is expected to pick up in March as businesses accelerate transactions ahead of the financial year-end, potentially supporting stronger GST collections, a Mint report said.
Startup shutdowns
As many as 6,789 startups recognized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had shut down across sectors, as on 31 January 2026, commerce ministry data shared in the Lok Sabha showed. The closures are uneven across industries, with some niche and emerging sectors seeing relatively higher shutdown ratios.
Non-renewable energy startups recorded the highest closure share at 8.1%, followed by social networking platforms at 7.8% and dating and matrimonial ventures at 6.3%.
Among technology-led segments, computer vision startups saw 6.2% of ventures shut down, followed by augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) startups at 6.1% and Internet of Things startups at nearly 6%, pointing to higher churn in experimental and consumer-internet segments.
Arms reliance
India accounted for about 8.2% of global arms imports between 2021 and 2025, making it the world’s second-largest importer after Ukraine, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The report said India’s arms purchases are largely driven by , including the conflict with Pakistan in May last year.
Pakistan also ranked among the top importers with a 4.2% share, after Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
India’s arms imports, however, fell 4% compared with the period between 2016 and 2020, partly reflecting growing domestic defence production, though delays persist.
The report said that recent orders—up to 140 combat aircraft from France and six submarines from Germany—highlight continued reliance on foreign suppliers and a shift toward Western partners, moving away from traditional sources such as Russia.