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Defence under spotlight 📈

By tanvi  | May 12, 2025

Drones fly high, Swiggy's earnings, and Coal India’s clean pivot.

🗓 Morning, Monday is here.

The country is still processing last week’s events. The good news? India came out on top. The conflict has paused (at least for now), while we’ve uncovered vulnerabilities in the opposition that weren’t visible before.

Markets may not cheer the pause though, given the enemy’s tendency to act erratic. But we expect a long capital cycle to begin, accelerating India’s push for self-reliance in defence, energy, software, intelligence, and beyond.

💡 Spotlight: Drone-related stocks surged after India’s precision strikes on Pakistani military targets doubled up as a live demonstration of their capabilities. ideaForge surged nearly 20%, while Zen Technologies and Droneacharya rose up to 5%. The face of modern warfare is changing. We just got a glimpse of it at home.

Let’s hit it!


1 Big Thing: Swiggy’s losses mount, but Instamart races ahead đŸ›”

Swiggy’s Q4 FY25 numbers is a story of aggressive expansion and mounting losses, a mix that not all investors are cheering.

By the numbers:

  • Quarterly revenue: â‚č4,410 crore, up 45% YoY
  • Losses: â‚č1,081 crore, nearly double last year’s â‚č555 crore
  • Instamart Gross Order Value: â‚č4,670 crore, which nearly doubled YoY
  • New dark stores: 316 added in Q4, up almost 45% vs. last quarter

What’s driving the losses: we all know quick-commerce isn’t cheap, particularly when competition is so hot. Zepto, Zomato, Flipkart, and a handful of others are spending like there’s no tomorrow.

Swiggy is compelled to pour hundreds of millions to stay competitive, opening new dark stores while continuing discounts to keep consumers engaged. The competition is particularly bloody with industry leader Blinkit.

Bottomline: the food delivery business is largely saturated, with growth slowing across the country. Instamart is its only real growth engine for Swiggy. The question is: will public market investors wait it out, or are they better off taking their money elsewhere.

Google Finance

2. Coal India’s clean pivot ⚡

Coal India is going green, with a â‚č25,000 crore plan to build 4.5 GW of renewable energy capacity over the next few years.

  • That’s enough clean power to light up 30 lakh homes or energize an entire state like Punjab.

What matters: the company has already lined up customers. It signed an MoU with AM Green, a green ammonia maker, to supply 4,500 MW of solar and wind energy for its upcoming plants. The green power will be used to produce ammonia, a clean fuel alternative critical for decarbonizing sectors like shipping and fertilizers.

AM Green will pair pumped hydro with Coal India’s solar and wind to ensure a steady 24/7 clean energy supply, solving the problem of gaps when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.

The why: this is part of Coal India’s push toward net-zero operations. Once synonymous with fossil fuels, the state-run giant is now actively diversifying, without stepping away from its core role in powering the country.

Zoom out: India plans to add 80 GW of new coal-fired capacity by 2031-32, but it’s also targeting 500 GW of clean energy by 2030, up from 172 GW today. Coal and clean are now running in parallel—and both are scaling fast.


3. Ravi Infrabuild files for â‚č1,100 cr IPO 🚧

Ravi Infrabuild Projects a seasoned player in India’s infrastructure game, has filed draft papers with SEBI for a â‚č1,100 crore IPO.

The deets: this is essentially a civil construction company that builds everything from roads and highways to tunnels and flyovers, mostly for public sector clients.

It’s been around for over two decades and has a strong footprint across Rajasthan, MP, Maharashtra, and UP.

The company’s project portfolio includes work under NHAI, MoRTH, IRCTC, and state governments. As of Dec 2024, its order book stood at â‚č3,092 crore.

The why: the funds raised will be used to buy new construction equipment, repay debt via investments in subsidiaries, and for general corporate expenses.


4. Porter is raising big money 💰

Porter, an on-demand logistics startup, raised $200 million in Series F funding, led by Kedaara Capital and Wellington Management.

  • The company has officially become India’s third unicorn of 2025 with a valuation now between $1.1–1.2 billion.

Porter operates like Uber for goods transport, providing an on-demand logistics platform primarily for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Its offerings include everything from mini-truck rentals to full-stack tech for streamlining last-mile delivery.

By the numbers: in FY24, the company clocked ~â‚č2,700 crore in revenue, a 56% jump YoY. More impressively, it cut losses by 45%, down to â‚č95.7 crore from â‚č174.6 crore in FY23.

Porter operates across 20+ Indian cities, powering efficient deliveries.

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5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

1. BPCL is getting some wind power 🌀

India’s oil refining giant, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), handed out contracts for 100 MW worth of wind energy projects to Suzlon Energy and Integrum Energy Infrastructure.

The deets: Suzlon will build a 50 MW wind farm in Madhya Pradesh, while Integrum Energy will set up another 50 MW project in Maharashtra.

Together, these wind farms will supply power to BPCL’s own refineries in Bina (MP) and Mumbai (MH), replacing a portion of their fossil fuel-based electricity with clean, renewable wind energy.

Why it matters: ​​BPCL is trying to go green by using wind power instead of fossil fuels, cutting pollution and reducing oil imports.

This shift is part of BPCL’s bigger plan to have 10,000 MW of renewable energy and become a Net Zero company by 2040.

Google Finance

2. Lupin bags US FDA nod for HIV drug 💊

Lupin received approval from the USFDA to sell its version of a medicine used in the treatment of HIV-1 infection. The drug is called Raltegravir Tablets USP, 600 mg.

What’s up: Lupin is the first company to apply to sell this generic version of the drug. Because of that, it gets a 180-day head start where no other generic competitor can sell the same drug in the US.

The deets: Raltegravir is a medicine used along with other HIV drugs to help control the virus in people living with HIV-1. It doesn’t cure HIV, but it helps keep the virus in check, and this specific version is meant for adults and children (weighing at least 40 kg).

Why it matters: Lupin's Raltegravir is basically a copy of an existing drug - Isentress HD by Merck Sharp & Dohme but at a much lower price. The US FDA has said that Lupin’s version works the same way as the original.

This also means a major earnings boost for the company.

Google Finance

6. Chart of the day: State of Defence 📊

India’s defence manufacturing push is gaining serious global traction.

In FY25, defence exports hit a record â‚č23,622 crore, up nearly 5x since FY18. The steady rise reflects growing international demand for Indian-made systems, from missiles to surveillance equipment.


What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🧠 Gates’ giveaway: Bill Gates plans to donate nearly all of his $168 billion fortune and shut down the Gates Foundation within 20 years.

😎 SIP & chill: Mutual fund SIP inflows hit a record â‚č26,632 crore in April, up 3% from March.

₿ Comeback: Crypto markets cheered as Bitcoin stayed above $100K, hitting six figures for the first time since Feb 2025.

🏩 SBI offloads YES: SBI will sell a 13.2% stake in YES Bank to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui for â‚č8,889 crore.

🚀 Atmanirbhar Bharat: India has inaugurated a new BrahMos missile production unit in Lucknow with the capacity to roll out 150 missiles a year—giving a major push to indigenous firepower.


That’s a wrap! Don’t let the Monday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

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