Share markets in India are presently trading marginally lower.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 62 points, down 0.1% at 49,154 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 24 points.

Power Grid Corporation and NTPC are among the top gainers today. Bajaj Finance and L&T are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.4%.

The BSE Small-Cap index is trading down by 1.2%.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the real estate sector, are witnessing most of the selling pressure.

On the other hand, stocks from the FMCG sector, are witnessing most of the buying interest.

US stock futures are trading mixed today.

Nasdaq Futures are trading down 40 points (down 0.3%) while Dow Futures are trading up 11 points (up 0.03%)

The rupee is trading at 72.5 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.2% at Rs 45,045 per 10 grams.

Gold and silver prices fell today in Indian markets, tracking a similar trend in global markets. On MCX, gold futures were down 0.1% to Rs 44,904 per 10 gram while silver slumped 1% to Rs 67,100 per kg. In the previous session, gold had edged 0.3% higher amid volatile trade while silver rose 0.7%.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks, today is Adani Green Energy.

Adani Green Energy (AGEL) on Thursday (March 18, 2021) said it has raised US$ 1.4 billion in debt for its under-construction renewable energy projects via definitive agreements signed with a group of twelve international lenders.

The revolving project finance facility would initially finance the 1.7 gigawatts (GW) hybrid portfolio of solar and wind renewable projects to be set up in four SPVs (special purpose vehicles) in Rajasthan, AGEL said in a statement.

The company claimed this will be the first certified green hybrid project loan in India.

The twelve international banks that will provide loans are Standard Chartered Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., DBS Bank ,Mizuho Bank, BNP Paribas, Barclays Bank PLC, Deutsche Bank AG, Siemens Bank GmbH and ING Bank N.V.

The new pool of liquidity strengthens AGEL's strategy to fully fund its under-construction asset and augurs well for its vision of scaling capacity to 25 GW by 2025. The facility is an important element of AGEL's overall capital management plan and is key to fully funding its growth aspirations.

AGEL shall engage with the financiers to raise financing efficiently and expeditiously for all the future projects as per the agreed threshold parameters, it added.

The facility will also ensure capital recycling needs of the banks and make the same capital available for future projects of AGEL and will position the company well to capture growth in the attractive Indian renewable sector, he added.

AGEL, a part of India-based Adani Group, has one of the largest global renewable portfolios with over 14,815 MW of operating, under-construction, and awarded projects catering to investment-grade counterparties. The company develops, builds, owns, operates, and maintains utility-scale grid-connected solar and wind farm projects.

We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.

At the time of writing, shares of Adani Green Energy were trading up by 2.7% on the BSE.

Speaking of the stock markets, India's #1 trader, Vijay Bhambwani, breaks down his most profitable trade of the year, in his latest video for Fast Profits Daily.

Moving on to news from the engineering sector...

Varroc Engineering said that it has entered into a contract manufacturing agreement with Vancouver-based Delta-Q Technologies Corp. As per a co-operation agreement inked between the two entities, Varroc would manufacture Delta-Q's chargers in India to support the expansion of the electric two and three-wheeler market.

Delta-Q is a leader in the design and supply of high-reliability on-board chargers for original equipment manufacturers in a variety of industrial and consumer markets in the US, Europe, and Asia.

"Post the implementation of BS-VI, the transition to EV is the most significant opportunity in the Automotive Electronics industry. With this partnership with Delta-Q, we aim to enhance our electric vehicle (EV) component portfolio," Varroc President - Electrical Business Unit Arjun Jain said in a statement.

The combined capabilities of the two partners will create business synergies and strengthen the foothold in the country, he added.

"This contract manufacturing agreement with Varroc is a first for Delta-Q in India. The company has the capability and resources to support Delta-Q's manufacturing processes," Delta-Q Co-CEO and CFO Sarah MacKinnon noted.

Varroc Engineering is a global tier-1 automotive component group, incorporated in 1988.

It designs, manufactures, and supplies exterior lighting systems, plastic and polymer components, electricals-electronics components, and precision metallic components to passenger cars, commercial vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and off-highway vehicle OEMs directly worldwide.

How this pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates from this space.

Speaking of electric vehicles, note that the power ministry has approved setting up 2,636 electric vehicle charging stations across 62 cities in 24 states.

Here's what co-head of Research at Equitymaster, Tanushree Banerjee wrote about electric vehicles in one of her editions of Profit Hunter:

• 106 public and private entities have approached the government for permission to set up about 7,000 EV charging stations.
  
  This clearly shows the vehicle manufacturers have enough incentive to capture this latent demand.
  
  The tax benefit in terms of a lower GST rate (at 5%) is a further shot in the arm of the EV industry.

As per Tanushree, electric vehicles are very much on their way to invading Indian roads. The threat of disruption in this era is something you cannot ignore.

Tanushree believes one of the companies manufacturing lithium-ion batteries for powering electric cars will be a key catalyst for the Rebirth of India.

In January 2020, Tanushree recommended a high-quality stock from this space. Subscribers can read the report here.