Stocks to Watch: Zomato, BHEL, Vedanta, HUL, PowerGrid, HDFC Life and more

Here’s a quick look at stocks likely to be in focus in today's trade.

Zomato: Food delivery aggregator Zomato opened its Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP) offering, setting a floor price of ₹265.91 per equity share for a total issue size of ₹8,500 crore. The company announced on November 23, 2024, that its shareholders had approved the capital raise through a QIP. This follows the board's decision last month to approve raising up to ₹8,500 crore via QIP. The funds will be utilized to strengthen the company’s balance sheet.

BHEL: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), in a consortium with Hitachi Energy India Ltd, announced it has secured a contract to establish two high-voltage direct current (HVDC) terminal stations. This is part of the Khavda Renewable Energy Zone Phase V project. The contract, awarded by Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), aims to facilitate renewable energy evacuation from Khavda in Gujarat to Nagpur in Maharashtra.

New India Assurance: New India Assurance revealed it has secured a favourable ruling from the Income Tax Department for assessment years 2013-14 to 2019-20. Following appeals to the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), the company is entitled to a cumulative tax refund of ₹1,945.08 crore, including ₹489.22 crore as interest. The company also stated it is actively working with tax authorities to expedite the refund process.

Power Grid: Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd announced it has emerged as the successful bidder for a transmission system project to evacuate power from a renewable energy installation spanning Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The project, awarded under tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB), will be executed on a build, own, operate, and transfer (BOOT) basis. Power Grid received the letter of intent (LoI) for the project on November 25, 2024.

Vedanta: Vedanta is proceeding with its second dollar bond issuance in two months, targeting up to $500 million. The move comes as a test of global investor sentiment toward Indian offshore debt, following the US indictment of Adani Group founder Gautam Adani in a bribery case. The bonds will feature call options, providing flexibility for the issuer.

HDFC Life: HDFC Life Insurance disclosed a data breach involving customer information. In a stock exchange filing, the company reported receiving communication from an unidentified source sharing certain customer data fields with alleged malicious intent. HDFC Life has launched an information security assessment and data log analysis to identify the breach's origin and strengthen its security measures.

Ashoka Buildcon: Ashoka Buildcon announced it has received a letter of award (LoA) from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a project worth ₹1,391 crore. The contract involves constructing a four-lane economic corridor from Bowaichandi to Guskara-Katwa Road along NH-116A in West Bengal under the hybrid annuity mode. The project is expected to be completed in 910 days, including the monsoon period.

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL): Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) announced its board has given in-principle approval to demerge its ice cream business into a separate listed entity. The decision aligns with Unilever's global strategy to separate its ice cream business and follows assessments by an independent committee of HUL directors. The demerger decision was initially announced in October 2024.

GE Vernova: Grid Equipments Private Ltd, the promoter of GE Vernova, announced an offer for sale (OFS) to divest up to 8.38 percent of the company’s paid-up equity share capital. The OFS includes a base offer of 14,000,000 equity shares (5.47 percent of paid-up equity) and an option to oversubscribe by an additional 7,451,168 shares (2.91 percent). The floor price for the OFS has been set at ₹1,550 per share.

Premier Energies: Premier Energies reported that its subsidiaries—Premier Energies Global Environment Private Ltd, Premier Energies International Private, and Premier Energies Photovoltaic Private—have received multiple orders worth ₹1,087 crore. The contracts, awarded by two large Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and another customer, include ₹964 crore for solar modules and ₹123 crore for solar cells.