Latest Sectors News
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has mandated Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers to refund ?218 crore, including interest, to Thermax Ltd. This decision reverses an arbitral award as determined by the Bombay High Court, which the apex court has chosen not to contest. Central to this legal battle was the claim for damages resulting from a malfunctioning gas turbine. View More
The Supreme Court has asked public sector fertiliser major Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) to refund ₹218 crore plus 6% interest to engineering conglomerate Thermax Ltd within four weeks. Refusing to interfere with the Bombay High Court order that set aside the 2023 arbitral award, the apex court dismissed RCF's appeal seeking to retain ₹218 crore deposited earlier by Thermax Ltd as a condition for staying the arbitral award that favoured the former. The HC had cited a lack of evidence and failure to provide reasons in the original award, which involved a dispute over gas turbine breakdown damages. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
RBI approval for Bharti Airtel to begin NBFC operations, to a stay on an arrest warrant against Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal...among reasons why these stocks will be in focus today View More
The gross refining margin (GRM) for Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) quadrupled in the third quarter, while that of Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) grew over two-fold, aided by softer crude and stronger product cracks. View More
New Delhi: State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs)-IOC, BPCL and HPCL-more than doubled their combined quarterly profit to ₹23,743 crore in the December 2025 quarter from ₹10,545 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, buoyed by robust refining margins and lower LPG under-recoveries. The gross refining margin (GRM) for Indian Oil Corporation ( IOC ) quadrupled in the third quarter, while that of Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) grew over two-fold, aided by softer crude and stronger product cracks. According to data from ICICI Securities, GRM for IOC stood at $12.2 per barrel, up from $3 in the year-ago period. It grew to $13.3 from $5.6 for BPCL, and to $8.9 from $6 for Hindustan Petroleum ( HPCL ). During the October-December quarter, crude oil benchmark Brent averaged $63.8 per barrel, down from $74.9 in the year-ago period. The crack spread-the difference between the price of crude oil and those of its refined products-on diesel, petrol and aviation turbine fuel improved from a year earlier. Live Events The benchmark Singapore GRM increased to $6.2 per barrel in the December quarter from $4.9 in the year-earlier period. Marketing margins muted The three state-run refiners, however, experienced a decline in marketing margins as pump prices remained the same. The retail margin on petrol was ₹7.8 per litre during the December quarter, down from ₹12 per litre a year ago, showed ICICI Securities data. Retail margin on diesel was ₹2.9 per litre, down from ₹8. IOC posted a profit of ₹12,126 crore during the quarter under review, while BPCL and HPCL reported profits of ₹7,545 crore and ₹4,072 crore, respectively. Compensation from govt For the three months ended December, the government also started paying the promised compensation to the oil marketing companies for selling cooking gas below market rates. Receipt of compensation, as well as lower liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices during the quarter, aided companies' earnings. Inventory gains, too, significantly aided IOC's profit. Of the more than one lakh petrol pumps in the country, 90% are operated by the state-run OMCs. Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy account for the remaining ones. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has secured a significant power plant project from Steel Authority of India Limited. The order is valued between Rs 1,200 crore and Rs 1,500 crore. This captive power plant is a crucial part of SAIL's expansion at its IISCO Steel Plant in Burnpur. Project completion is anticipated within 39 months of contract award. View More
New Delhi: State-owned engineering firm BHEL on Tuesday said that it has received a power plant project worth Rs 1,200-1,500 crore from Steel Authority of India Ltd ( SAIL ). The letter of acceptance received for a captive power plant, which is part of a 4.08 MTPA crude steel expansion project of SAIL's IISCO Steel Plant at Burnpur , BHEL said in a regulatory filing. The size of the order is in the range of Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 1,500 crore, excluding GST ( goods and services tax ), it said, adding that the commissioning of the project is expected in 39 months from the date of awarding the contract. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran stated that AI's impact on India's demographic advantage hinges on current decisions, urging coordinated national action. He emphasized that technological adoption must be deliberately aligned with mass employability, requiring political will and national commitment to ensure human abundance and machine intelligence reinforce each other for co-created prosperity. View More
Addressing the AI summit 2026, Nageswaran said if AI displaces humans faster than people can be trained, if productivity rises without employment elasticity, and if institutional reform lacks technological adoption, there is a risk that India will squander its demographic window. View More
Law firms representing the NAACP sent xAI a notice of intent to sue over alleged Clean Air Act violations in Mississippi. View More
Nikolas Kokovlis | Nurphoto | Getty Images Elon Musk's xAI, which merged with SpaceX last week, is facing increased pressure from environmental and civil rights groups over pollution concerns, this time at the company's facility in Southaven, Mississippi. On Friday, the Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice, on behalf of the NAACP, sent a notice of intent to sue xAI and subsidiary MZX Tech LLC, saying the company's use of dozens of natural gas-burning turbines requires a federal permit, violates the Clean Air Act and harms nearby communities. Pollution from the turbines, which xAI has also used in Memphis, Tennessee, for its Colossus 1 and Colossus 2 data centers, has been a major source of local contention for more than a year. Plans for a third data center in Southaven, located about 20 miles from Memphis, were announced early this year, when Mississippi Republican Governor Tate Reeves said he expected the project to create "hundreds of permanent jobs throughout DeSoto County."Launched by Musk in 2023, xAI is trying to compete with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google in the booming generative AI market. On Feb. 2, Musk said SpaceX, his rocket maker and defense contractor, acquired xAI in a deal that valued the combined entity at $1.25 trillion. Musk is banking on the area in and around Memphis as the foundation of his AI ambitions, and he's been flouting environmental rules in order to develop as quickly as possible. Musk's social network X, formerly Twitter, is also owned by xAI, which created the Grok AI chatbot and image generator.XAI is currently under a myriad of government investigations in Europe, Asia and the U.S. after Grok enabled users to easily create and share deepfake porn, including explicit imagery depicting child sexual abuse. Last year, residents in the majority-Black community of Boxtown in South Memphis testified at public hearings about a stench in the air, and the impact of worsening smog on their health caused by xAI's use of natural gas turbines. Research by scientists at the University of Tennessee also found that xAI's turbine use added to air pollution woes in the area. Environmental advocates, including the NAACP, had previously said they would sue to stop xAI's un-permitted use of the turbines in Memphis. But they stopped short of filing a legal complaint after Shelby County's health department allowed xAI to treat the turbines as temporary, non-road engines, and issued permits for their use. At the federal level, the EPA recently clarified gray areas of the law and said these turbines can't be categorized as temporary non-road engines. Nonetheless, xAI has been using the turbines across state lines without obtaining federal permits. XAI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.Noise pollution from the turbines has also been a source of local consternation. Jason Haley, a Southaven resident, told CNBC the turbines make headache-inducing noises around the clock that he can hear inside his home.Haley is part of a group called Safe and Sound which documents the decibel levels, and is pressing local officials to stop xAI from making so much noise, especially overnight, with its turbines.Mississippi officials will hold a public hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, for community members who wish to express their concerns about xAI's expansion plans in the area. The hearing will focus on whether the state should give xAI permission to install and run 41 permanent turbines at its Southaven facility, Mississippi Today previously reported. Similar community dynamics are playing out across the U.S. as tech giants rush to construct massive data centers, which can strain local energy and water supply and cause prices to increase.In November, Microsoft ended efforts to build a data center in Wisconsin due to the community's vocal opposition. Amazon also pulled out of plans for a data center in Arizona after community protests.In terms of Musk's Southaven project, Patrick Anderson, a senior attorney with SELC, said xAI "has to follow the law, just like any other company.""And when it flouts the Clean Air Act's bedrock protections against unpermitted emissions, it puts the health and welfare of ordinary citizens at risk," Anderson said in an email. "That's why we intend to hold xAI accountable here."The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Read the environmental groups' notice of intent to sue xAI here:
A woman of quiet efficiency and understated energy, Anu Aga embodies the Parsi entrepreneurial spirit tempered by social consciousness. View More
The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity has allowed the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission to proceed with framing regulations for power market coupling, dismissing a plea by the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). The tribunal deemed IEX's petition premature as regulations are yet to be drafted. Market coupling aims to improve price discovery and efficiency by establishing a uniform price across electricity markets. View More
New Delhi: The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity on Friday allowed the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission to proceed with framing regulations on power market coupling , dismissing a plea by the Indian Energy Exchange ( IEX ) challenging the commission's July order. The tribunal said IEX's petition was not maintainable at this juncture since the rules on coupling were yet to be framed. Market coupling is aimed at improving price discovery and efficiency by ensuring a uniform price in different electricity markets. The commission in July issued a suo motu order to start market coupling in a phased manner in the day-ahead market from January 2026 and in the real-time market after gaining operational experience. "The tribunal dismissed the appeal while holding that once market coupling is implemented, the appellant may challenge it and CERC regulations if they have a valid challenge," said Amit Kapur, Partner, JSA law firm. Live Events IEX, which has a 99.7% market share, had challenged the move, arguing that the proposed framework could disrupt the existing power market structure. Following the tribunal's decision, the power regulator is expected to move ahead with drafting a market coupling framework, under which power prices across exchanges would be discovered through a common mechanism instead of individual exchange-based bidding. Apart from IEX, India has two other power exchanges: Power Exchange India and Hindustan Power Exchange . Industry experts said a uniform price discovery mechanism may reduce the competitive advantages of the leading exchange. IEX had argued that redistribution of market share was the only outcome of market coupling. As per its petition, the commission's order to implement market coupling upended the regulatory framework of the multi-exchange model that had evolved over 17 years, without considering its impact and in the absence of any evidence of its benefits. When the enabling provisions were first introduced in the Power Market Regulations, 2021, for future need of market coupling, a market-based economic dispatch was being considered, it said. In the absence of such mechanisms or any other issues, there was no reason to consider market coupling, it had argued. For the broader power market, proponents argue that coupling could enhance efficiency, reduce price fragmentation and align India's market design with global best practices. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
He said that the nature of the global system has changed, with trade no longer being reciprocal and supply chains being used as instruments of state power View More