NewsletterSolar stocks hit, Paras makes a drone deal, and Mamaearth's Q4.
🗓 Morning, folks!
India just leapfrogged Japan to become the 4th largest economy in the world, clocking a $4 trillion GDP. With the US, China, and Germany ahead, India is now eyeing a spot in the top 3 within the next 2–3 years.
Markets were mostly flat on Friday, but the heat was on for solar stocks, and not the good kind.
Indian solar majors like Waaree Energies and Premier Energies fell as much as 8%, tracking a global clean energy sell-off.
The trigger? A new U.S. tax bill narrowly passed in Congress that threatens to gut Biden-era clean energy incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act.
That includes the 30% federal tax credit on rooftop solar, EV subsidies, and funding for greenhouse gas cuts.
For Indian solar exporters banking on the U.S. market, this rollback dims the outlook. That said, India’s domestic rooftop solar market is still powering ahead. It’s grown 6x in the past five years and is set to double again by FY27—even if exports take a hit.
Let’s hit it!
1 Big thing: Foxconn makes a big India bet 🤝
Foxconn is going ahead with a $1.5 billion iPhone display factory near Chennai—ignoring Trump’s recent call to “build in America.”
The deets: Apple’s top manufacturing partner is setting up a new facility in Oragadam, Tamil Nadu, right next to its existing iPhone assembly line.
This plant will produce display modules, the tech behind every swipe, tap, and bright screen.
The backdrop: Trump recently warned Apple not to shift production to India unless it was purely for local use. But Foxconn is pushing forward full throttle.
Why it matters: this is one of India’s largest electronics investments yet. The move boosts local manufacturing, cuts reliance on imports, and cements India’s role in Apple’s global supply chain. iPhone exports from India already crossed $10 billion in FY24, and rising.
With Apple now making 1 in every 7 iPhones in India, states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and UP are becoming serious global manufacturing hubs.
2. Paras & Israel’s Heven take a drone leap 🚁
Paras Defence is teaming up with Israel’s Heven Drones to set up a cargo drone Joint Venture in India, marking a big step into the high-potential defence & logistics drone space.
The deets: Paras Defence will hold a 51% majority stake in the new company, tentatively named Paras Heven Advanced Drones Pvt. Ltd. while Heven Drones will own the remaining 49%.
The new venture will design and manufacture logistics and cargo drones for both defence and civilian markets.
Why it matters: this partnership gives Paras Defence a strategic edge with access to Israeli drone tech, while Heven Drones gets a launchpad into India’s fast-evolving drone ecosystem.
Zoom out: India’s drone market is expected to cross ₹3 lakh crore by 2030, fuelled by defence orders, smart farming, and last-mile delivery.
Startups and defence-tech players are racing to build indigenous capabilities, and this JV could be Paras Defence’s ticket to that next big altitude.
3. Mamaearth’s Q4 glow-up hits the street 💄
Honasa Consumer, the parent of D2C beauty brand Mamaearth, dropped its Q4 results and the market loved it.
The stock surged over 14%, even though net profit dipped 18% YoY to ₹24.9 crore.
The deets: revenue came in at ₹533.5 crore, up 13% YoY, beating Street expectations. The company also guided for 7% margins by Q4FY26, a big promise for a brand often critiqued for overspending on ads.
What’s driving it: Mamaearth is no longer just about toxin-free facewash. The brand’s pivot to deeper category leadership and sharper media play seems to be working.
It clocked double-digit growth across e-commerce and modern retail, think better brand recall, better shelf presence.
Zoom out: Honasa’s house of brands—BBlunt, The Derma Co., Aqualogica—is starting to click. If it can scale while keeping marketing spends in check, Honasa might just become the D2C brand that figured out how to grow and stay profitable.
4. Quick IPO alert — Kanodia Cement lays IPO foundation 🧱
Kanodia Cement has filed draft papers with SEBI for an IPO, which will be a pure Offer For Sale (OFS) of 1.49 crore shares by promoters and one individual shareholder.
The deets: Kanodia Cement operates five Satellite Grinding Units (SGUs) across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with a total cement grinding capacity of 3.54 million tonnes per annum.
The company runs on a dual model, producing cement for other brands (B2B) and selling its own branded products directly to consumers (B2C). It specialises in blended cements like Portland Pozzolana and Composite Cement, which are eco-friendlier and cost-effective.
Financially, Kanodia Cement clocked a profit of ₹98 crore and revenue of ₹732 crore in the nine months ending December 2024.
Zoom out: India is the world’s second-largest cement producer, and demand is only climbing with massive government spend on roads, housing, and urban infrastructure.
5. Stock that kept us interested 🚀
1. Bondada’s ₹9,000 cr solar spark ⚡
Bondada Engineering surged 10% after bagging a massive ₹9,000 crore solar power project from the Andhra Pradesh government.
The deets: the order comes from the state’s energy department and involves 2,000 MW AC / 2,600 MWp DC of solar capacity across Ananthapuramu and Sri Sathya Sai districts.
The company said this contract pushes its total order book above ₹14,000 crore and is expected to generate ₹1,160 crore in IPP revenue from FY2029.
The 2,000 MW AC / 2,600 MWp DC solar project can generate around 3.6 billion units of electricity a year, enough to power over 12 lakh Indian homes annually.
Zoom out: this is a big win for Bondada, especially after the stock lost 30% in 2025. It signals renewed momentum for the company in India’s clean energy wave.
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What else are we snackin’ 🍿
💰 Record transfer: RBI to transfer ₹2.7 lakh crore surplus to the government for FY25, its highest-ever annual payout.
☀️ Green leap: India has tripled its renewable power capacity in a decade, jumping from 75 GW in 2014 to 232 GW today.
🛣️ IPO crowd: four companies, including luxury hotel operator Schloss Bangalore and Aegis Vopak Terminals, are hitting the IPO market next week to raise over ₹6,600 crore.
💰 Masa bets: SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is reportedly proposing a massive US-Japan sovereign wealth fund focused on tech and infrastructure.
That’s a wrap! Don’t let the Monday blues get to you.
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