🧱 Adani Vs Vedanta: Cement Empire Up For Grabs

Happy Wednesday, Chai drinkers!
Midweek blues? Not on our watch. Between Adani sniffing around a cement empire, Apple Wallet ads triggering U2 flashbacks, and the Sensex doing a triple flip, there's no shortage of drama to keep you buzzing. Let's get you caught up before your chai gets cold ☕️

☕️ Chai Shots

• 🌋Adani, Vedanta eye Jaypee Group's cement empire: With over ₹57,000 crore in debt and valuable assets at stake, industry giants like Adani Group, Vedanta, and Dalmia Bharat Cement have submitted resolution plans for Jaiprakash Associates. The outcome could reshape India’s cement landscape. More in the Big Brew 👇

• 🏭 Hindalco ramps up alumina game with $125M US buy: Hindalco is acquiring Ohio-based AluChem through its US arm, Aditya Holdings LLC. This marks Hindalco’s third American metal acquisition after Novelis (2007) and Aleris (2020), and pushes the company deeper into high-tech alumina production for specialty applications.

• 🚫 AI wins 1-0 vs Authors: A US judge ruled that using copyrighted books to train AI models qualifies as 'fair use' under copyright law. The decision is a major legal win for AI developers but has left authors and publishers fuming.

• 🚗 Evera secures $4M to scale EV fleet: With a growing presence at Delhi Airport, Evera is planning to double down on airport pickups, which already make up 55% of its trips.

🌟 Market Masala

• 📈 Sensex & Nifty hold green despite tension hiccup: The Nifty 50 climbed 72 points to close at 25,044.35, while Sensex added 158 points to end at 82,055.11. Both indices trimmed sharp intra-day gains after fresh Iran-Israel ceasefire complications hit global risk appetite.

• 🚀 Nifty touches 2025 peak before losing steam: Nifty crossed 25,300 intraday for the first time in 2025 but dropped over 260 points from its high. Sensex also gave up 500+ points from peak gains, despite early optimism from easing oil prices and Middle East de-escalation.

• 🔝 Market movers up: Adani Ports rallied on cement acquisition buzz. Tata Steel surged on metal optimism. Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, and Titan added muscle to the rally.

• 🔻 Market movers down: Power Grid, Trent, NTPC, Maruti, HCL Tech, and Bharat Electronics lost ground amid expiry week volatility and geopolitical jitters.

🌍 Global Masala

• 💹 Wall Street rallies as oil tanks on truce hopes: The Dow soared 507 points while the Nasdaq rose over 1.4% as investors bet that the fragile Israel-Iran ceasefire will hold. Oil prices plummeted for a second straight day—Brent and WTI are down over 13% in just 48 hours—easing inflation fears and boosting airline and tech stocks.

• 🇺 Powell vs Trump: The rate cut standoff: Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the US central bank will wait on inflation data before adjusting interest rates, resisting President Trump's demands for immediate cuts.

• 🎥 Apple fans fume at F1 ad: A push notification from Apple Wallet promoting Brad Pitt's new F1 movie sparked backlash. Users weren't thrilled about ads in their core appss

☕️ The Big Brew: 🧱 Adani, Vedanta, and the ₹57,000 Cr Cement Chessboard

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL), once a heavyweight in India’s cement and infrastructure game, is now under insolvency, dragging a monstrous ₹57,185 crore debt behind it. But where there's debt, there's also a tug-of-war for assets.

🏗️ The Bidding Blitz

• 🏢 Adani Group, Vedanta, and Dalmia Bharat Cement are leading the charge with formal resolution plans under the IBC.

• 🌀 Suraksha Group, fresh from acquiring Jaypee Infratech, is back for more.

• 🧘 Patanjali Ayurved showed interest but didn’t submit a final bid.

🗓️ Timeline Recap

• 📆 Admitted to the insolvency process by NCLT Allahabad in June 2024.

• 🏦 Lenders, led by SBI, handed over major loan exposures to NARCL, now the top claimant.

• 📥 25+ firms showed initial interest; only a few crossed the June 24 final bid deadline.

🧠 What Does This Mean?

This isn't just a cement plant fire sale—JAL controls real estate, infrastructure projects, and large-scale manufacturing capacity. The winner won't just grab assets—they’ll inherit a fast-pass into India’s infrastructure boom. For Adani or Vedanta, it could mean cementing their place (pun intended) in one of India’s most lucrative growth sectors.

🚀 Startup Scoop

• 🏀 Skippi raises ₹12 Cr for frozen treat takeover: Shark Tank India alum Skippi got fresh funds from Dubai's Surya family office to expand in the Middle East and launch new snacks.

• 🤬 Fabheads gets $10M Series A from Accel: This Chennai-based deeptech startup, founded by ex-ISRO engineers, automates composite manufacturing with proprietary robots.

• 🚡 Fantail nets ₹13.75 Cr to digitise Surat's textile game: The B2B MMF player, founded by Ramya Iyer, is upgrading manufacturing and backend ops for SMEs in India's textile capital.

• 🏢 Rohit Sharma backs Prozo: The former Indian cricket captain invested in Prozo, a supply chain platform operating 42 warehouses and delivering across 24,000+ pincodes.

☕️ What’s Brewing Next?

• 📊 India Inc earnings: Final wave of Q1 results to begin trickling in.

• 🌿 Monsoon session: Early chatter suggests infra spending will get a boost.

🧩 Did You Know? 🌍🧲

Earth’s magnetic field flips every few hundred thousand years! 🧭
That’s right — north becomes south and vice versa. It’s called a geomagnetic reversal, and while it sounds like sci-fi, it’s totally natural. The last full flip happened 780,000 years ago, and scientists believe we're overdue for another one.

Don't worry — it takes thousands of years and won’t cause apocalyptic chaos... just some confused compasses 🧭🔄✨

That’s all for today. Stay caffeinated, stay curious!