Stocks To Watch, February 19: IT stocks, HUL, Bharat Forge, Cochin Shipyard, Dr Reddy's, Zydus Life, Jindal Saw

According to the NITI Aayog, the Indian technology services industry is estimated to grow from $265 billion this year to $750-850 billion by 2035.

After stepping down in December 2023, Gurnani founded AIONOS with the vision of building a next-generation services company powered by AI and platform-based models.

He believes India's IT industry can grow from its current $275-300 billion to $750 billion by 2035, but only through innovation, deep customer understanding, and outcome-driven business models.

Meanwhile, Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday said India is poised for an "extraordinary trajectory" in artificial intelligence and emphasised the company's commitment to partnering in the country's AI transformation.

"AI is the biggest platform shift of our lifetime," Pichai said, highlighting its potential to address challenges at scale, from improving healthcare diagnostics to supporting farmers with real-time alerts.

The board of the company on Wednesday approved the proposed investment, according to a regulatory filing from HUL.

"This investment will be done over a period of two years across multiple locations," said HUL, which owns popular brands such as Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Domex, Vim, Cif, and Comfort in the home care segment.

With the latest win, the company's total order book has reached around ₹23,000 crore.

Cochin Shipyard and the France-based shipping and logistics player signed a supply agreement in the national capital on Wednesday, in the presence of Shantanu Thakur, Minister of State at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.

Under the agreement, the parties intend to jointly pursue opportunities in next-generation technologies across the automotive, defence, AI, and data centre domains, the company said in a statement.

The strategic partnership is established to drive innovation and jointly develop the next generation of products for automotive, defence, and AI server platforms, leveraging their complementary strengths in engineering, manufacturing, and technology innovation, it added.

As per the order, the two were debarred from participating in any tender or bids issued by NHAI for a period of two years with effect from February 17, 2026, the Hyderabad-based firm said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Details of consideration paid in agreement: $32.15 million.

The acquisition strengthens Dr Reddy’s Gynaecology Portfolio in India through its foray into the Hormone Replacement Therapy segment.

Bosentan 32 mg tablets for oral suspension are indicated for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), specifically to improve exercise ability and reduce clinical worsening in children (aged 3 years and older) with idiopathic or congenital PAH.

It is a dual endothelin receptor antagonist that lowers high blood pressure in the lungs, typically administered based on body weight, the press release added.

The company is responding to the API and taking appropriate corrective measures to address the NCs and will update the stock exchanges on any material developments in due course.