Stocks to watch, March 23: L&T, IDBI Bank, Tata Capital, Vedanta, ONGC, Oil India, HPCL, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Manappuram Finance, Hindustan Zinc

Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group was in the race to acquire Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) through an insolvency process, but the lenders in November last year approved the resolution plan or bid of Adani Enterprises Ltd.

On March 17, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Allahabad bench, approved Adani Enterprises Ltd's ₹14,535 crore bid to acquire Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) through the insolvency process.

In a regulatory filing, JAL had informed that the NCLT, Allahabad bench, had "orally pronounced an order on March 17, 2026" approving the resolution plan submitted by Adani Enterprises Ltd.

Now, mining giant Vadanta has filed an appeal against the said NCLT order before the appellate insolvency tribunal NCLAT.

Besides, Vedanta will consider the third interim dividend of the current fiscal year today.

Currently, the public float in IDBI Bank is only 5.29%, which limits the scope for fair valuation.

The remaining shares are held by the insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which holds a controlling stake of 49.24%, while the Government of India's (GoI) holding stands at 45.48%.

The company, which gets over 35% of its revenue from the geography witnessing conflict after the US and Israel's attack on Iran and the subsequent retaliations, however, flagged logistics and supply chain as key challenges and noted revenue risks if the situation remains unchanged.

L&T does not see any immediate impact on revenues, as the 5% of projects where work has been stalled do not contribute significantly to the topline, Subramanian Sarma, its deputy managing director, told reporters over the weekend.

However, if the logistical issues do not get resolved in three months, there can be an impact through revenue deferment, he added.

The order, issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Mumbai, under the Income Tax Act and uploaded on March 20, 2026, pertains to Tata Capital Financial Services Ltd (TCFSL), which has since been merged with Tata Capital with effect from April 1, 2023.

The demand includes interest of ₹202.72 crore and primarily arises due to alleged short credit of taxes paid and certain disallowances, Tata Capital said in a stock exchange filing on Saturday.

According to an investor's presentation, Lodha Developers acquired 11 land parcels across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Delhi-NCR, Pune, and Bengaluru during the first nine months of this fiscal year to develop housing projects.

These 11 land parcels acquired by the Lodha Group have an estimated saleable area of 20.6 million sq ft and an expected sales value of ₹58,800 crore.

Similarly, Godrej Properties, too, is aggressively acquiring land parcels across Tier I and II cities for group housing and residential plotted development projects.

Godrej Properties has acquired nearly 20 land parcels so far this fiscal year to develop housing projects worth ₹42,000 crore.

Oil prices remained largely steady on Monday as investors balanced escalating tensions between the US and Iran, raising concerns over potential strikes on energy infrastructure, against the prospect of increased supply following Washington’s decision to ease sanctions, which could release millions of barrels of Iranian oil into global markets.

Brent crude futures traded around $112.11 a barrel after closing at their highest level since July 2022 in the previous session.

Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading around $98.55 a barrel, following a 2.27% gain earlier.

The airfare caps' removal will be effective from March 23, according to an order issued by the civil aviation ministry.

The removal also comes at a time when airlines are facing significant operational disruptions in international routes due to the West Asia conflict.

In the order, the ministry also said that airlines are required to exercise pricing discipline and act responsibly.

The white metal prices increased by ₹1,800, or nearly 1%, to ₹2,40,500 per kg (inclusive of all taxes) from Thursday's closing level of ₹2,38,700 per kg.

However, gold of 99.9% purity extended its losses for the third consecutive day, declining by ₹650, or 0.42%, to ₹1,52,650 per 10 grams (inclusive of all taxes). The yellow metal had settled at ₹1,53,300 per 10 grams in the previous session.

Analysts said gold prices remain under pressure due to macroeconomic uncertainties and global cues favouring the US dollar.

The Credit Guarantee Scheme for Microfinance Institutions 2.0 (CGSMFI-2.0) will cover loans disbursed by member lending institutions (MLIs), including banks and other lenders to non-banking finance company-MFIs and MFIs till end-June, the government-run National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) said in a circular.

It can be noted that the MFIs, which serve people at the bottom of the pyramid, have been facing challenging times due to a surge in non-performing assets (NPAs), which has, in turn, made their lenders wary of extending further exposure.