Stocks to Monitor: Adani Group, LIC, Dr. Lal PathLabs, Crompton Greaves, Zomato, ZEEL

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are expected to begin trading on March 18, 2024 with losses. Investors are keeping an eye on key central bank decisions from the US, Japan, and Australia among others, which are expected to be announced this week. As of 7:30 am, the Gift Nifty futures were down 69 points at 22,064 compared to the Nifty futures’ last close.

Adani Group: The Adani Group is reportedly planning to significantly increase its investment plans for the fiscal year ending in March 2025. According to PTI, the group is expected to invest more than Rs 1.2 lakh crore ($14 billion) across various business portfolios, with a focus on green and renewable energy. However, a separate investigation by US prosecutors into the Adani Group has recently intensified, with a particular focus on potential bribery and the actions of its billionaire founder, Gautam Adani. Sources close to the matter stated that the probe is scrutinizing whether an entity associated with Adani or individuals connected to the company engaged in bribing Indian officials to secure preferential treatment for an energy project. In response, the Adani Group stated, "We are not privy to any investigation against our chairman. As a corporate group that adheres to the highest governance standards, we comply fully with anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws in India and other countries," as quoted by Bloomberg.

Life Insurance Corporation of India: On March 15, the insurance giant LIC announced that it has received government approval for a wage increase for its employees. The wage revision will be implemented from August 1, 2022, and will result in a 17 percent hike in the wage bill, as per LIC's press release. This development will benefit over 110,000 employees across the organization. In addition, approximately 24,000 employees who joined LIC after April 1, 2010, will see their contribution to the National Pension System (NPS) increase from 10 percent to 14 percent. Furthermore, over 30,000 LIC pensioners and family pensioners will receive a one-time ex-gratia payment.

Dr. Lal PathLabs: A diagnostics company has recently announced the appointment of Shankha Banerjee as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Key Managerial Personnel. The change in leadership will take effect from May 21, 2024, as per a stock exchange filing on March 17. Banerjee, who graduated from the Delhi College of Engineering and SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai, has over two decades of corporate experience. Prior to joining Dr. Lal PathLabs in 2014, he held important positions at Castrol India Limited, BP Lubricants, and Pidilite Industries Limited. He also served as the President of Sales & Marketing for the Middle East and Africa regions.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals: The company has been awarded a patent for their innovative linear node tubular lighting system. The patent, which is valid for 20 years, officially came into effect on August 14, 2020. In other news, Sachin Phartiyal has stepped down from his position as the head of the home electricals unit due to personal and professional circumstances, effective from April 9. His responsibilities will be assumed by Rajat Chopra, who is presently leading the pumps division, starting from April 10.

Zomato: Zomato, the online food delivery platform, has received a GST penalty notice from the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax in Gujarat for the financial year 2018-19. The notice was sent due to an over-claim of input tax credit and underpayment of GST. As per a regulatory filing with the stock exchanges, Zomato has received a GST demand of Rs 4.12 crores for FY 2018-19, along with applicable interest and penalty, totaling Rs 8.58 crores. In response to the show cause notice, the company clarified all the issues and provided relevant documents and circulars. However, Zomato believes that the authorities did not take these clarifications fully into account when passing the order.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises: The company recently went through a restructuring process after a failed merger with Sony. As a result, changes have been made in the technology and data department. Nitin Mittal, who previously held the position of President for Technology and Data at Zee, has resigned, and this decision has been accepted by Punit Goenka, the MD and CEO of the company. In the short term, Amrit Thomas (Data Science), Kishore Krishnamurthy (Engineering), Bhushan Kolleri (Product), and Vishal Somani (Enterprise and Content Technology) will report directly to Amit Goenka, who is currently the President for Digital Businesses & Platforms. This information was shared in a company press release on March 15.

PTC India Financial Service: On March 15, PTC India Financial Service (PFS) announced to the stock exchange that their CFO, Mahendra Lodha, has withdrawn his resignation. PFS has been facing regulatory scrutiny due to issues related to corporate governance and mismanagement. In June 2020, Lodha was appointed as Director (Finance), and after the departure of former CEO Pawan Singh, he was also assigned the responsibilities of MD and CEO, as directed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Due to heightened regulatory scrutiny following an unsuccessful attempt to appoint a new MD and CEO in 2023, PFS is in the process of finding a suitable candidate for the position. Recently, the company had stated in an exchange filing that they were attempting to retain Lodha beyond his original exit date of March 15.

RailTel Corporation of India: The company has secured a work order from the State Project Director (SPD) of the Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC). The order, which includes a supply contract worth Rs 130 crore (inclusive of taxes), was announced to the stock exchanges by the PSU. This follows the company's recent acquisition of a contract valued at over Rs 113.46 crore from the Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC).

NHPC: On Friday, the company announced that it has won a contract to construct a 200 MW solar power project in the 1,125 MW RE Park of the Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd (GSECL) located in Khavda, Kachchh district, Gujarat. The project is expected to generate approximately 473 million units of electricity in its first year of operation. Over a period of 25 years, the total energy output from the project is expected to be around 10,850 million units. The company will develop the project under a build-own-and-operate basis, with an estimated development cost of Rs 847 crore.

DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations Ltd.: A company that specializes in drone technology solutions recently announced that it has won a contract to supply IT hardware for the Indian Army's Drone Lab located in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The contract includes the supply of essential IT equipment such as CPUs, monitors, keyboards, and mice, which are required to set up and run the Drone Lab. According to the company's regulatory filing, this advanced facility will provide crucial training and research activities for defense personnel, which will enhance their skills in unmanned aerial systems.