LIC's slowdown

IPO season warms up, UP's semiconductor bet, and EV delivery gets a boost

🗓 Morning, folks!

Markets ended lower for the second straight session, with both the Sensex and Nifty slipping 0.3%.

While broader indices stayed muted, the Nifty Bank stood out by closing in the green, offering some cushion.

💡 Spotlight: IPO season is warming up.

June is shaping up to be a packed month for India’s primary markets, with over half a dozen IPOs lined up to raise between ₹8,000 and ₹10,000 crore.

After a quiet second half in May, the IPO pipeline is back with a mix of big and mid-sized names:

• Sri Lotus Developers is eyeing ₹800 crore
• Travel Food Services could raise ₹2,000 crore
• NSDL is expected to bring a ₹3,000 crore issue

Plus smaller listings from Laxmi India Finance and Indogulf Cropsciences. If market sentiment holds, June could bring the buzz back to Dalal Street.

Let’s hit it!

1 Big thing: UP makes a semiconductor splash 🤖

The Hiranandani Group has committed ₹28,440 crore for a semiconductor project in Noida, marking another bold push in India’s chip ambitions.

The deets: the investment was part of a flurry of industrial pledges in Uttar Pradesh:

• Avaada Group is putting in ₹20,000 crore for solar projects
• Tata Power plans ₹13,700 crore for two ultra-supercritical thermal units in Bundelkhand
• UltraTech Cement committed ₹1,981 crore across multiple districts

Context: India is going all-in on semiconductors. Hiranandani’s mega move comes just months after the Union Cabinet greenlit a ₹3,706 crore semiconductor wafer fab in Jewar under the HCL-Foxconn JV.

Micron is setting up a $2.75 billion Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging) plant in Gujarat. Tata Group is building a semiconductor chip manufacturing facility in Dholera, while HCL-Foxconn has partnered to establish a wafer fabrication unit in Noida.

Zoom out: India has earmarked ₹76,000 crore under the Semicon India Programme, which is a government-led initiative to build a domestic semiconductor ecosystem from design to fabrication. As global tensions strain supply chains, semiconductors are becoming a strategic asset—and India wants in.

Big theme: from AI to EVs to defence tech, chips are the new oil. And India’s making sure it doesn’t run out.

2. LIC cashes in, but misses a beat 💰

LIC jumped 7% after posting a 38% jump in profit but growth in new business didn’t keep up.

The country’s biggest life insurer surprised the street with strong profits, but slipped on sales.

By the numbers:

• Profit after tax (PAT): ₹19,013 crore, up 38% YoY
• New business premium: ₹70,019 crore, down 9% YoY
• Value of New Business (VNB): ₹3,534 crore, down 14% YoY

What worked: the profit spike came largely from investment income and better margins, even as policy sales slowed. Growing competition from nimbler insurers and digital insurance buying is presenting headwinds to LIC’s model.

Zoom out: at 4.2%, India’s insurance penetration still lags global levels. The post-COVID awareness bump, rising middle class, and digitisation should help—but LIC is no longer the only giant in the room. Private players like HDFC Life and SBI Life are moving faster, with sharper digital plays and more agile sales models.

3. Quick IPOs in focus: Emmvee joins the solar IPO wave ☀️

Solar module maker Emmvee is gearing up to raise ₹2,500–3,000 crore via its IPO.

The company currently has 2.5 GW capacity for solar cells and 6.6 GW for solar modules, placing it among the top names in India’s fast-growing solar manufacturing ecosystem.

Zoom out: Emmvee’s IPO comes on the heels of blockbuster listings by peers like Premier Energies (₹2,830 crore) and Waaree Energies (₹4,321 crore) in late 2024.

With India chasing 500 GW of non-fossil energy by 2030, solar players are racing to scale. That said, India’s solar exports have more than doubled in a year, powered by US demand and China’s pullback and Emmvee wants in on the action.

While we are on IPOs,

Hero FinCorp, the financial arm of Hero MotoCorp, has received SEBI’s nod to launch a ₹3,668 crore IPO.

The deets: the company is a non-banking financial company (NBFC) that offers a wide range of financial products targeted at retail customers and MSMEs across India.

Hero FinCorp's IPO comes at a time when India’s credit cycle is booming, with NBFCs seeing strong demand for consumer and business loans.

4. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

1. NLC digs into new ground 🪨

NLC India rose 2% after being named the preferred bidder for a phosphorite and limestone block in Chhattisgarh.

Why it matters: this gives NLC a strategic entry into the critical materials game, expanding beyond its core lignite and power biz. It follows an 810 MW solar PPA in Rajasthan and a fresh MoU with Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) for minerals—a clear pivot into new growth engines.

Zoom out: India is one of the largest limestone producers globally and is seeing rising demand from the cement, steel, and construction sectors. On the other hand, phosphorite, vital for fertilisers, is largely imported, making domestic mining a key step toward resource security and Atmanirbhar Bharat goals.

With this win, NLC is clearly stepping beyond power and into India’s materials supply chain future.

2. EV delivery just got a boost ⚡

Jupiter Wagons jumped nearly 2% after its EV arm tied up with Pickkup for green logistics.

The deets: Jupiter Wagons is a major railway and mobility player with an EV subsidiary called Jupiter Electric Mobility. Pickkup is a logistics startup focusing on sustainable intra-city and intercity deliveries.

The two have signed an MoU to deploy 300 JEM TEZ electric light commercial vehicles (eLCVs) into Pickkup’s fleet by year-end.

Why it matters: this is about replacing diesel vans with high-performance electric vehicles that actually deliver. For logistics firms, that means lower fuel costs, zero emissions, and more efficient urban delivery.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

👋 Founder exit: Unacademy co-founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini are stepping back from daily ops, and plan to spin off their language app Airlearn into a new company.

🛫 Runway ready: IndiGo will be the first to take off from Navi Mumbai Airport, launching 18 daily flights to 15+ cities on day one.

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

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