Indian benchmark indices closed relatively flat on Friday, ending their two-day winning streak. The BSE Sensex edged down 7.51 points (0.01%) to 74,332.58, while the Nifty 50 inched up 7.80 points (0.03%) to 22,552.50. Market sentiment remains cautious, amid concerns over potential US tariffs under president Trump's proposed reciprocal tariff policy beginning April 2025. Chemicals, metals, jewellery, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and food products are particularly vulnerable. Foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows have reached US$15.6bn (billion) year-to-date, pressuring the rupee and broader financial markets.
The Indian government is actively working to mitigate these challenges through multiple channels. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal is leading trade negotiations with US officials, building on discussions from prime minister (PM) Modi's February meeting with president Trump. These talks aim to reduce the tariff differential of 7-8.2 percentage points that puts Indian exports at risk. India is considering lowering tariffs on 30+ products including luxury cars, solar cells and chemicals, to avoid US reciprocal duties. The recent Union Budget already reduced duties on electronics, textiles and premium motorcycles. If negotiations fail, India may impose retaliatory tariffs on key American exports like apples, almonds and motorcycles, following precedents set in previous trade disputes. Government ministries are conducting detailed sector-specific analyses to prepare for post-tariff scenarios, focusing on protecting labour-intensive industries like textiles and pharmaceuticals, while developing market diversification strategies to reduce US market dependence.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the repo rate by 25bps (basis points) to 6.25%, the first reduction in five years. Governor Sanjay Malhotra's team projects FY25-26 GDP (gross domestic product) growth at 6.7% with inflation at 4.2%. The central bank is actively intervening in foreign exchange (forex) markets to stabilise the rupee, with reserves at US$640.47bn as of 21 February 2025. A US$10bn US dollar-rupee swap was announced to inject long-term liquidity. Daily variable rate repo auctions continue, with a recent Rs75,000 crore auction announcement on 7 March 2025, demonstrating proactive liquidity management.
The trends of the major indices in the course of the week's trading are given in the table below:
News
Gensol Engineering (Gensol) crashed, following successive credit rating downgrades by CARE Ratings and ICRA. ICRA revised its rating downward, assigning ICRA D to its total rated amount of Rs2,050 crore which includes long-term fund-based term loans (Rs925 crore), cash credit (Rs718.5 crore) and bank guarantees (Rs406.5 crore). This marks a significant downgrade from ICRA BBB- (stable) / ICRA A3. While CARE Ratings downgraded Gensol's long-term bank facilities worth Rs639.7 crore from CARE BB+ (stable) to CARE D. Additionally, long-term/short-term bank facilities worth Rs76.3 crore were downgraded from CARE BB+ (stable) / CARE A4+ to CARE D.
Quess Corp's three-way demerger was approved by the national company law tribunal (NCLT) to create separate entities focusing on workforce, business processing and infrastructure services.
Kamat Hotels signed agreement for the management and operation of The Orchid Hotel at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.
Ola Electric Mobility became the first two-wheeler (2W) automotive electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer in India to receive incentives under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for automotive and auto-component (PLI-Auto Scheme). It was granted total incentive of Rs73.74 crore for the determined sales value of FY23-24 under the scheme.
Axiscades Technologies’ subsidiary—Mistral Solutions (Mistral)—entered into strategic partnership with Altera (an Intel company) to advance high-performance computing solutions for mission-critical defence applications. This collaboration aims to leverage Altera Agilex 9 Direct RF FPGA technology to drive next-generation innovations in defence and aerospace industries.
Firstsource Solutions opened its Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) headquarters in Melbourne (Victoria), alongside the launch of a dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) innovation lab. This expansion aligns with the Victorian government’s economic growth statement, which prioritises digital technology as a key driver for economic and job growth.
RHI Magnesita India’s wholly-owned subsidiary—Intermetal Engineers (India)—is acquiring 100% shareholding of Ashwath Technologies from the existing shareholders of the company. Muthoot Microfin (+1.44%) received approval to conduct Aadhaar enabled e-KYC for customer on-boarding. With this milestone, the company will introduce fully digital eKYC, enabling a seamless and paperless onboarding experience for rural women entrepreneurs, joint-lending groups (JLGs), and other underserved communities across India.
RateGain Travel Technologies entered into a partnership with Mews, a hospitality cloud and property management system-provider. RateGain Travel Technologies and Mews are joining forces to redefine how hoteliers manage their operations, optimise guest experiences and unlock new revenue streams. Uno Minda established a new research, development and engineering centre in the Czech Republic.
AstraZeneca Pharma India received approval from drug regulator—Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO)—to import and distribute cancer treatment medicine Durvalumab solutions in the country. The approval by CDSCO, directorate general of health services, government of India is for import, for sale and distribution of Durvalumab solution for infusion 120mg/2.4ml and 500mg/10ml (Imfinzi) for an additional indication.
United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has concluded an inspection at Unichem Laboratories Pithampur active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility. The inspection closed with four observations which were more of procedural changes; none of these related to data integrity. The company will provide the necessary response on these observations to US FDA within the stipulated 15 days.
Som Distilleries and Breweries’ subsidiary—Woodpecker Greenagri Nutrients—is setting up a greenfield project comprising a brewery, distillery and other manufacturing facilities at Khimsepur district (Uttar Pradesh) at a cost of around Rs600 crore. The land parcel of 40 acres for the project was allotted by Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA).
The national company law appellate tribunal (NCLAT), Chennai, set aside insolvency proceedings against Coffee Day Enterprises on 27 February 2024, overturning an earlier NCLT Bengaluru order. The proceedings had resumed briefly in February as NCLAT missed the Supreme Court's 21st February deadline to rule on the appeal.
Tata Motors launched the first-ever trials of hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks. Through this pioneering initiative, it underscores its commitment to leading the charge in sustainable mobility solutions, aligning with India’s broader green energy goals. It was awarded the tender for this trial, which is funded by the ministry of new and renewable energy under the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
Rail Vikas Nigam received letter of acceptance (LoA) from HPSEBL for development of distribution infrastructure at central zone of Himachal Pradesh under the revamped reforms-based and results-linked, distribution sector scheme (loss reduction work). The size of contract is Rs729.82 crore. The order is to be executed in 24 months.
GE Vernova T&D India received an order from Power Grid Corporation of India for bulk procurement of 765kV Class Transformers & Reactors of various capacities. Three orders totaling to approximately Rs500 crore. The said orders to be executed within 36 months
Bharat Forge’s wholly-owned subsidiary—Kalyani Powertrain—entered into a technology licensing agreement with Compal Electronics, Inc., for manufacturing of X86 platform servers in India. The two parties have signed anMoU to develop server business using locally manufactured solution in India, echoing the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ policy. Compal Electronics will provide Kalyani Powertrain with technological support related to servers, including overseeing local production, assembly, testing activities and final sales.
Zydus Lifesciences received final approval from the US FDA to manufacture Dasatinib tablets, 20mg, 50mg, 70mg, 80mg, 100mg and 140mg. (USRLD: Sprycel Tablets, 20 mg, 50 mg, 70 mg, 80 mg, 100 mg, and 140 mg ).
Orders
Transformers and Rectifiers (India) secured domestic and export orders amounting to Rs350 crore. Out of the total, it received domestic order worth Rs272 crore from Adani group for supply of transformers and reactors. The company has received export order worth Rs78 crore from Al Sabha group, Iraq and Powerlink Queensland (Australia) for supply of transformers.
Shakti Pumps (India) received LoA from Maharashtra energy department agency (MEDA) for 877 solar photovoltaic water pumping system (SPWPS) at various locations across Maharashtra under component-B of PM-KUSUM scheme. The total amount of the work order is for around Rs23.91 crore. The order is to be executed within 120 days from the date of issue of work order.
Suzlon group bagged a third order of 204.75MW from Jindal Green Wind 1, a subsidiary of Jindal Renewables. JSW Energy (+1.56%) added 159MW(megawatt) of greenfield wind power capacity in the quarter so far, resulting in total operational capacity of 8,400MW. This added capacity is available ahead of the wind season and is ready to meet the increased energy demand during the upcoming peak demand season.
ASK Automotive signed technical assistance and licence agreement for cast wheel production with Kyushu Yanagawa Seiki Co, Japan (KYSK) for manufacturing high pressure die-casted alloy wheels for 2W (products) with KYSK offering technical expertise and knowledge sharing under the agreement.
Grasim Industries commenced commercial production of paints plant located at Mahad. The plant has a installed capacity of 180MLPA (million litres per annum ) for water-based paint, 20MLPA for distemper and 30MLPA for solvent-based paint.
Welspun Specialty Solutions was declared as L1 bidder by Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL, Trichy) for supply of around 4,050 tonnes of stainless steel (SS) seamless boiler tubes for series of super critical thermal power projects. Formal contract will be released after internal approval process at BHEL.
Power Grid Corporation of India was declared as successful bidder under tariff-based competitive bidding for the three projects to establish inter-state transmission system under build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis.
PSP Projects Limited has received work orders/letters of intent worth Rs1,764.12 crore (excluding taxes), including key projects such as cityside development at Ahmedabad Airport (Rs647.22 crore), Adani Medicity& Research Centre (Rs411.72 crore) and other institutional and residential projects. The total order inflow for FY24-25 stands at Rs3,478.58 crore. Additionally, the company has emerged as the lowest bidder for a street development project in Ahmedabad worth Rs120.53 crore.
Investment/ Acquisition / Stake Stale
Bajaj Finance raised Rs776.52 crore through allotment of 7,814 - 7.60%pa (per annum) secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) at face value of Rs10 lakh each on private placement basis.
Coforge, through its wholly-owned step-down subsidiary—Coforge Technologies Australia—will acquire all of the outstanding shares of TMLabs. In this regard, the company has agreed to enter into a share sale agreement with TMLabs and its shareholders.
JSW Energy raised Rs1,200 crore through the allotment of 1,20,000 unsecured, rated, listed, taxable, redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of Rs1,00,000, on a private placement basis.
Top gainers and losers of the major indices for the week are given in the table below:
