Is Aakash Educational Services profitable in 2026?

No. FY25 revenue fell 16.7% to ₹2,032 crore and losses before exceptional items jumped nearly 5x year over year, per filings reported in March 2026. The company remains unprofitable while ownership litigation with Byju's lenders drags on.

Who owns Aakash Educational Services now?

As of June 21, 2026, Manipal Education and Medical Group holds roughly 58% of Aakash, built by converting defaulted Byju's debentures into equity starting January 2024. Byju Raveendran-linked entities hold a contested residual stake near 5%.

Is Aakash still owned by Byju's?

No. Byju's bought Aakash in April 2021 for roughly $950M-$1B, but after Byju's insolvency, Manipal Education and Medical Group took over, holding about 58% by June 2026 while Raveendran's stake was diluted amid disputed rights issues.

Could AI replace Aakash's coaching business?

AI threatens doubt-solving and adaptive practice tools, but Aakash's 300+ physical centers and exam-result track record since 1988 give it in-person trust hard to replicate digitally, especially in Tier 2/3 India, as of 2026 reporting.

Is Physics Wallah a bigger threat to Aakash than Byju's was?

Yes. Physics Wallah raised ₹3,480 crore in its November 2025 IPO and is expanding low-cost offline 'Vidyapeeth' centers directly into Aakash's NEET/JEE stronghold, while Byju's itself has effectively collapsed.

Has Aakash Educational Services had layoffs?

Yes. Aakash cut roughly 80-100 mostly senior and mid-level employees in September 2024 during a strategic shift, and Revelio Labs data shows headcount down 9.3% from 17,942 in 2023 to about 16,275 by March 2026.

Education companies · subsidiary of Manipal Education & Medical Group (MEMG) · India

Aakash Educational Services

aakash.ac.in ↗

Physical coaching chain for India's JEE/NEET exam prep, majority owned by Manipal, once Byju's.

Losing its protection

Assessed 25 July 2026 · Evidence as of 25 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 25 July 2026 · Checkable from Aug 18, 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: NCLT hearing to finalize Byju's-Manipal-lender ownership settlement

The call

Aakash still has the classrooms and the reputation, but its ownership fight and a cheaper rival's expansion are both unresolved.

Aakash teaches students to pass India's big medical and engineering entrance exams through 300+ physical centers and decades of success stories, mainly in smaller cities. It is being pushed hard by Physics Wallah, a newer competitor that just raised ₹3,480 crores and is opening cheaper centers in the same towns, doing the same job for less money. The company's revenue dropped 16.7 percent last year, and its ownership is tangled in a court case that won't be settled until August 2026, so no one knows who actually owns what piece of the company right now.

Why

AI pressure: Free AI doubt-solving apps and chatbots (e.g. ChatGPT, Physics Wallah's Alakh AI). AI tools now answer exam doubts instantly, chipping at the tuition-fee logic behind physical coaching centres. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: Physics Wallah. Now publicly listed with fresh capital, Physics Wallah runs low-cost offline Vidyapeeth centres straight into Aakash's Tier 2/3 turf. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. Decades of NEET/JEE result credibility and 300+ physical centres still pull Tier 2/3 families who trust the brand over apps.

What would change this call

NCLT settlement hearing outcome on Aug 18, 2026. Shows whether Aakash gets a clean owner or stays hostage to litigation.
Aakash FY26 annual revenue filing versus FY25's 16.7% decline. Shows whether the core business is stabilizing or still shrinking.
Number of new Physics Wallah Vidyapeeth centres opened in Tier 2/3 cities by end of 2026. Shows how fast a well-funded rival is replicating Aakash's offline model.

Key numbers

FY24 revenue flat at Rs 2,437 crore (2024)
Manipal group holds about 58% of Aakash (2026-06-21)
CCI fined Manipal Rs 20 lakh and Rs 50 lakh for gun-jumping (2026-07)

Named risks

Ownership litigation unresolved pending August 18, 2026 NCLT hearing. Severity: high
FY25 revenue declined 16.7%, indicating core business erosion. Severity: high
Leadership churn: CEO and CFO both exited within three months in 2025. Severity: medium
QIA arbitration freezing orders on pledged shares could derail settlement. Severity: medium
Physics Wallah's capitalized low-cost offline expansion into Aakash's Tier 2/3 markets. Severity: high

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Physics Wallah	gaining on	Raised ₹3,480 crore in Nov 2025 IPO, expanding low-cost offline centers into Aakash's NEET/JEE market
Allen Career Institute	losing to	Cited by Mint (Nov 2025) as most decorated NEET brand, outranking Aakash on results prestige
Unacademy	contesting	Digital-first rival pressuring Aakash's 2025 pivot toward Aakash Digital 2.0
FIITJEE	contesting	Engineering-prep focused competitor in the same JEE coaching segment as of 2025 reporting

Questions people ask

Is Aakash Educational Services profitable in 2026?: No. FY25 revenue fell 16.7% to ₹2,032 crore and losses before exceptional items jumped nearly 5x year over year, per filings reported in March 2026. The company remains unprofitable while ownership litigation with Byju's lenders drags on.
Who owns Aakash Educational Services now?: As of June 21, 2026, Manipal Education and Medical Group holds roughly 58% of Aakash, built by converting defaulted Byju's debentures into equity starting January 2024. Byju Raveendran-linked entities hold a contested residual stake near 5%.
Is Aakash still owned by Byju's?: No. Byju's bought Aakash in April 2021 for roughly $950M-$1B, but after Byju's insolvency, Manipal Education and Medical Group took over, holding about 58% by June 2026 while Raveendran's stake was diluted amid disputed rights issues.
Could AI replace Aakash's coaching business?: AI threatens doubt-solving and adaptive practice tools, but Aakash's 300+ physical centers and exam-result track record since 1988 give it in-person trust hard to replicate digitally, especially in Tier 2/3 India, as of 2026 reporting.
Is Physics Wallah a bigger threat to Aakash than Byju's was?: Yes. Physics Wallah raised ₹3,480 crore in its November 2025 IPO and is expanding low-cost offline 'Vidyapeeth' centers directly into Aakash's NEET/JEE stronghold, while Byju's itself has effectively collapsed.
Has Aakash Educational Services had layoffs?: Yes. Aakash cut roughly 80-100 mostly senior and mid-level employees in September 2024 during a strategic shift, and Revelio Labs data shows headcount down 9.3% from 17,942 in 2023 to about 16,275 by March 2026.

Timeline

2026-08-18NCLT hearing scheduled to resolve Byju's-Aakash ownership settlement
2026-07-06CCI imposes second gun-jumping penalty of ₹50 lakh on Manipal Group
2026-06-21Reports show Manipal/MEMG holds about 58% of Aakash amid settlement talks
2025-12-10QIA freezing orders on pledged Aakash shares reported amid rights-issue dispute
2025-11-04CFO Vipan Joshi resigns effective October 31, 2025
2025-08-05CEO Deepak Mehrotra resigns after about 16 months leading Aakash 2.0
2025-03Aakash Digital 2.0 launched with AI-powered platform ambitions
2024-09-18Aakash lays off roughly 80-100 mostly senior and mid-level employees
2024-01Manipal converts defaulted debentures into 39.61% Aakash stake
2021-04Byju's acquires Aakash for roughly $950M-$1B

Revision history

25 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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