Indian share markets witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day today and ended marginally higher. Benchmark indices ended marginally higher amid consolidatory mood and mixed global cues.

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After starting gap-up opening, the Sensex marched ahead to hit an intra-day high of 60,130. However, selling in select heavyweights like Bajaj twins, M&M, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, and L&T in the second half of the session erased gains.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 143 points (up 0.2%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 67 points (up 0.4%).

Grasim Industries and ONGC were among the top gainers today.

Bajaj Finserv and M&M, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,854, up by 65 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended up by 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the oil & gas sector, energy sector and FMCG sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

Engineering and telecom stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of Birlasoft and Pidilite Industries hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note today.

The Hang Seng ended up by 1.8%, while the Shanghai Composite ended down by 0.2%. The Nikkei ended down by 0.1% in today's session.

US stock futures are trading on a positive note today with the Dow Futures trading up by 40 points.

The rupee is trading at 74.30 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading on a flat note today at Rs 47,446 per 10 grams.

In news from the mining sector, Vedanta was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Vedanta, the mining major said that its aluminum business has entered into a pact with GEAR India to deploy one of the largest fleets of lithium-ion battery-powered electric forklifts in the country.

The company will commission 23 such forklifts in a phased manner over the next few months at its aluminum smelter in Jharsuguda, Odisha.

In a statement, Rahul Sharma, CEO - Aluminum Business, Vedanta said,

• Vedanta Aluminum is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Our partnership with GEAR to deploy one of India's largest and most advanced forklift fleets is in line with our endeavor towards leveraging the power of innovation and technology to make our operations future-ready.

Shares of Vedanta had taken a beating earlier in the week, shedding over 6% as investors were left underwhelmed by the company's aluminum production numbers.

arlier this week, Vedanta said 5.8 lakh tonnes of cast metal aluminium production was recorded at its smelters in the quarter ended 31 December 2021, registering an increase of a mere 2% from a quarter ago.

In a separate development, the national company law appellate tribunal (NCLT) has set aside an order by the Mumbai Bench of the NCLT approving the resolution plan for Videocon by Vedanta's Twin Star Technologies. The tribunal has asked the committee of creditors for fresh bids.

Vedanta share price ended the day down by 0.3% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from the electric vehicle (EV) space...

Electric Two Wheelers Register a Staggering 132% Growth in 2021

The year that has gone by has shown what difference subsidies can make in the evolution of a new age industry.

Spurred by generous incentives under central government's faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicle (FAME 2) scheme with an extra helping from similar policies in as many as 18 states in the country, sale of high-speed scooters shot through the roof in 2021 registering a jaw dropping 425% growth at nearly 1.4 lakh units.

As a result, for the first time ever, high speed scooters have outpaced their slower counterparts that need no registration or insurance but do not benefit from any government subsidy.

Slow speed scooters grew at a relatively sedate 24% at 91,142 units. The overall segment more than doubled from just about a lakh units to 2.3 lakh last year.

Electric mobility has come of its own in India's two-wheeler market.

Sohinder Gill, Director General, Society of Manufacturers of EVs said,

• We haven't seen better days than the last few months in the entire EV journey. In the last 15 years, we collectively sold around 1 million e-two wheelers, e-three wheelers, e-cars, and e-buses, and we will most likely sell the same 1 million units in just one year beginning January 2022.
  
  The recent positive changes in EV policy through FAME 2 are a game-changer and a decisive move by the government to ensure a cleaner and greener transportation sector, reducing reliance on expensive and contaminated liquid fuel.

The government has extended the FAME II scheme for 2 years. Now, this scheme will be applicable till 31 March 2024. Previously this scheme was launched from 2019 to 31 March 2022.

Under this scheme, necessary charging infrastructure will also be set up for electric vehicles. FAME India scheme has been launched with the objective to address the issue of environmental pollution and fuel depletion. Under this scheme, the government has also increased the subsidy incentives from Rs 10,000 per kilowatt hour (kWh) to Rs 15,000 per kWh.

Speaking of EVs, have a look at the chart below which shows the massive opportunity in the two-wheeler EVs.

Here's what lead Smallcap Analyst at Equitymaster, Richa Agarwal wrote about this in a recent edition of Profit Hunter:

• In the last five years, two-wheeler sales in India were around 2 crore units per year. Now the sector is cyclical and has been in the downturn for some time. So let's consider a moderate 5% growth for the next 10 years.
  
  By 2030, we are looking at 2-wheeler sales of 3 crore units. Even if one third of this is EV sales, that's 1 crore electric 2-wheelers per year.
  
  In the last 2 years, average electric 2-wheeler sales were 1.5 lakh units. From 1.5 lakh to 1 crore, that's a 66x opportunity in 2-wheeler EVs.
  
  This is an annual growth rate of 52% over next 10 years. It's an almost vertical growth opportunity.

As per Richa, this is like a gold rush. But like in any gold rush, the winners will just be a few.