Energy, oil and commodities
3 articles · 17 insights
2018's 2.5% gold bond cost the government 21% a year
The government repays its October 2018 gold bond at ₹14,425 a gram, 4.59x the ₹3,146 it raised. With interest, that is about 21.3% a year, against 7.97% on an ordinary bond sold the same week.
23 October 2026Read more →Electricity drove the core sector's record 7.9%
Core industries grew 7.9% in September 2026, a high for the new series. Electricity and refinery products gave about 73% of it, newly added iron ore about 9%.
22 October 2026Read more →Prices, not output, drove Hindustan Zinc's 142% profit jump
Hindustan Zinc's September quarter profit rose 142% while it sold only 8% more metal. Its own bridge credits higher prices and a weaker rupee with 81% of the EBITDA rise.
20 October 2026Read more →Gold imports fell 81% as mutual funds restrict gold funds
India's gold imports fell 81% in September 2026 even as gold got 18% dearer. HDFC and Nippon India have stopped fresh money into gold funds, but ETFs, jewellery and coins stay open.
17 October 2026Read more →Panel, turbine, wire, plug: who makes money at each step?
India added about 45 GW of solar in the year to March 2026. Filings show who works at each step of the wind and solar chain, and who keeps the profit.
14 October 2026Read more →Onion, steel and oil drove September's wholesale price jump
Wholesale price inflation rose to 11.39% in September 2026. Steel, onion and crude oil drove the jump, not diesel or petrol.
14 October 2026Read more →Who makes money from India's sugarcane?
Sugar mills owed farmers ₹1,12,740 crore for one season of cane. Company filings show who works at each step from field to buyer, and who keeps the profit.
13 October 2026Read more →India's copper import bill rose 260% in 10 years
India spent $11.8bn importing copper in 2025, up from $3.3bn in 2015. It makes only about 35% of the refined copper it uses.
11 October 2026Read more →RBI opens its 3rd dollar window for state oil companies
From October 12 the RBI will sell dollars straight to Indian Oil, HPCL and BPCL, as it did in 2008 and 2013. This time it is an outright sale, not a swap.
11 October 2026Read more →A primer on the recent RBI developments
5 steps between 9 and 12 October: tighter bank cash, a squeeze on hedging and dollars for the oil firms. The rupee likely opens stronger, bank shares weaker.
11 October 2026Read more →ONGC's APM gas outprices deepwater gas on paper
Since April 2026 the formula for APM gas from ONGC's old fields has often topped the limit for deepwater gas: $11.22 against $9.89 in October. ONGC is paid only $7.00.
9 October 2026Read more →Private firms filed ₹5.6 lakh crore of project plans in FY26
The RBI counted 1,839 private projects worth ₹5.6 lakh crore in 2025-26, up from ₹5.0 lakh crore, with power, Maharashtra and Gujarat taking the biggest shares.
2 October 2026Read more →Metal stocks track copper, but copper buyers' stocks do not
Hindustan Copper, Hindalco and NALCO moved the same way as copper in about 2 of every 3 weeks. Appliance makers, which buy copper, did so about half the time.
29 September 2026Read more →NSE brings in Augmont to wake up its gold receipts
NSE made an Augmont company a partner to promote its gold receipts. On 25 September they traded ₹1.88 crore, against ₹568.67 crore in gold ETFs.
28 September 2026Read more →Only 3 SEMICON India stocks make or design chips themselves
SEMICON India 2026 lifted chip stocks for a day, but only CG Power, Kaynes Technology and MosChip make or design chips themselves.
23 September 2026Read more →Replacing Saudi crude is easy, replacing the discount is not
Saudi Aramco has reportedly stopped selling crude to Indian refiners. India can find the barrels, but not at the old price, and the reserve covers about five days.
17 September 2026Read more →Fuel price controls are why WPI has run ahead of CPI
WPI rose 9.92% in August against CPI's 4.82%. The oil companies and the government are carrying the gap, not consumers.
16 September 2026Read more →Chalet’s hotels last decades. Kimbell’s oil wells don’t.
Chalet Hotels and Kimbell Royalty Partners both own the asset and let someone else do the work, but only one of them is racing its own decline.
10 September 2026Read more →Gold and home loans are driving NBFC growth
In NBFC lending, gold and housing are picking up, trade and transport are slowing down, and commercial real estate is riding the wave.
8 September 2026Read more →Greasing the wheel
How the price of a barrel of Gulf oil limits RBI policy, widens the fiscal deficit, weakens the rupee and raises the discount rate on Nifty growth stocks.
5 April 2026Read more →