The second week of September 2025 opened with a mix of surprises and bold moves across sectors—from defence stocks and gold ETFs to major policy tweaks and corporate investments. Here’s a deep dive into the key developments shaping India and global markets.
Defence Stocks Rally on Modernization Roadmap
Despite overall weakness in markets, defence stocks like HAL and BEL surged on Monday after the Ministry of Defence unveiled its 15-Year Defence Modernization Plan, charting the roadmap till 2040. The new plan emphasizes India’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat mission, ensuring defence procurement largely remains in-house. This drove the India Defence Index up by 0.5% for the day, underscoring investor confidence in domestic players taking center stage in meeting armed forces’ needs.
Gold ETFs Glitter with Record Inflows
G
old continued to shine as one of the best-performing assets in 2025. According to the World Gold Council, Indian gold ETFs saw inflows of $233 million in August, a 67% jump over July. Year-to-date inflows have touched $1.23 billion, almost matching the full-year figure for 2024. With gold prices up 35% in 2025, investors are increasingly turning to ETFs for portfolio diversification and risk hedging, even as AMFI awaits to release its August fund flow data.
IBC Tightens Grip with Section 164A
A new clause—Section 164A—has been introduced in the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to crack down on fund diversion before personal insolvency filings. The rule empowers the Committee of Creditors (COC) to claw back such funds into the pool account, including transfers made at undervalued prices. The aim is to prevent promoters from shielding assets ahead of bankruptcy, though its effectiveness will be tested in practice.
Adani’s Mega $60 Billion Power Investment
In one of the largest investment announcements this year, the Adani Group will invest $60 billion by FY32 across the power value chain.
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Adani Green Energy: $21 billion to boost renewable capacity from 14.2 GW to 50 GW by FY30.
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Adani Energy Solutions: $17 billion to expand its transmission network to 30,000 KM.
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Adani Power: $22 billion to scale up thermal capacity to 41.9 GW.
This ambitious plan aligns with India’s rising power demand and the transition to greener energy, while balancing thermal requirements.
Trump’s Tariff Plus Outsourcing Tax
On the global front, Donald Trump’s administration has doubled down on its “America First” policy. Alongside steep import tariffs, the US will now levy a 25% tax on outsourcing payments—money paid by US companies to foreign workers. The rule, effective January 2026, removes tax breaks on such spending. This could reshape outsourcing dynamics for Indian IT and service firms heavily dependent on US contracts.
FM Pushes Corporate India to Invest
Even after income tax cuts and GST reductions, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed displeasure at the lack of private sector investments. With cheaper household goods expected to boost festive demand, the FM argued that companies sitting on ₹13.5 trillion in cash must step up and complement government spending, rather than waiting for policy-driven growth alone.
World Roundup
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Vedanta vs. Adani: Vedanta outbid Adani to acquire Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. for ₹17,000 crore. However, analysts like Nuvama Wealth call it an “unimpressive win,” citing litigation risks and valuation concerns around JAL’s assets.
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Pharma Spotlight: JM Financial turned bullish on Piramal Pharma, giving it a buy rating with a 67% upside to ₹313/share. The optimism stems from Piramal’s CDMO deal with New Amsterdam Pharma for Obicetrapib, a promising non-statin drug targeting LDL cholesterol. With trial success and $2 billion market potential, this could be a big growth driver.
Conclusion
From defence self-reliance and gold inflows to Adani’s mega investments and global policy shocks, markets are being shaped by bold commitments and shifting rules. As India’s economy navigates policy pushes and corporate hesitations, investors must track these sectoral shifts closely—because the next big market story is already in motion.
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