Share markets in India are presently trading on a strong note.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 226 points, up 0.5% at 49,977 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 113 points.

Coal India and HDFC Bank are among the top gainers today. GAIL and TCS are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.3%.

The BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.6%.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the banking sector, are witnessing most of the buying interest.

On the other hand, stocks from the IT sector are witnessing most of the selling pressure.

US stock futures are trading lower today, indicating a negative opening for Wall Street.

Nasdaq Futures are trading down 104 points (down 0.8%) while Dow Futures are trading down by 103 points (down 0.3%)

The rupee is trading at 72.29 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 46,742 per 10 grams.

Gold prices were flat today in Indian markets despite positive global cues. On MCX, gold futures were 0.06% higher at Rs 46,830 per 10 grams. In the previous session, gold had inched 0.2% lower.

Note that gold has been under pressure this year on fears that prospects of a faster economic recovery will ignite inflation and lead to rising lending rates, especially in the US, where Congress is moving forward on a US$ 1.9 billion stimulus plan. In August, gold had hit a record high of Rs 56,200 and has been under pressure since then.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks, today is Aurobindo Pharma.

Aurobindo Pharma on February 23, 2021, said that it has inked a pact to acquire a 26% stake each in two Hyderabad-based solar power generating companies.

The drug firm has entered into binding agreements to invest Rs 53.8 million each in NVNR (Ramannapet I) Power Plant and NVNR (Ramannapet II) Power Plant, aggregating to Rs 107.6 million, Aurobindo Pharma said in a regulatory filing.

The company has invested in the two firms to avail the benefit of captive consumption of solar power, it added.

"After making the said investments, the company will be holding 26% of the share capital in each of the aforesaid solar power generating companies," Aurobindo Pharma noted.

The deal has been executed in cash and is expected to be completed by the end of March 2021. The announcement was made after market hours on February 23, 2021.

Aurobindo Pharma is a pharmaceutical manufacturing company headquartered in HITEC City, Hyderabad, India. The company manufactures generic pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients.

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

At the time of writing, Aurobindo Pharma's share price was trading up by 0.2% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from the power sector...

NTPC Inks Pact to Buy GAIL's Stake in Ratnagiri Gas and Power

State-owned National Power Thermal Corporation (NTPC) has signed a share purchase agreement to buy GAIL's 25.5% stake in Ratnagiri Gas and Power (RGPPL), which is commonly known as the Dabhol project.

After the transaction is complete, NTPC would have an 86.5% stake in RGPPL.

Earlier in January, the company had announced acquiring a 37.5% stake in RGPPL from its lenders. Initially, NTPC and GAIL had a 25.5% stake each in the Dabhol project.

"NTPC has executed a share purchase agreement with GAIL (India) on February 23, 2021, for the purchase of GAIL's share (25.5%) in Ratnagiri Gas and Power (RGPPL) and sale of NTPC's share (14.8%) (on a fully dilutive basis) in Konkan LNG (KLL)," the company said in a BSE filing.

It added that after the transfer of shares as per the agreements, NTPC will exit from KLL, and NTPC's shareholding in RGPPL will stand at 86.5%.

RGPPL was incorporated on July 8, 2005, and is promoted by NTPC and GAIL (India). The company was set up to take over and revive the assets of the Dabhol Power Company Project.

RGPPL owns an integrated power generation and re-gasified LNG facility. The power station is one of India's large gas-based combined cycle power stations.

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

Speaking of the power sector, it is interesting to note that the power exchanged in India is about 4.5% of the overall power production, as can be seen in the chart below: