Stocks to watch, Oct 1: Auto stocks, Tech Mahindra, NCC, Aurobindo Pharma, Linde India, Mahindra Lifespace, Transrail Lighting

The domestic stock market is expected to open with a gap down on Thursday, October 1, with current levels of GIFT NIFTY futures indicating that the NIFTY50 could open around 108 points lower.

Passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and commercial vehicles are expected to report healthy year-on-year growth, while tractor volumes could remain under pressure. The September numbers will also offer cues on demand momentum, rural recovery and the pace of festive-season purchases across segments.

The government has reduced the export levy on diesel to ₹16 per litre from ₹20 and on ATF to ₹10.5 per litre from ₹15, which should lower the tax burden on refiners exporting these products and potentially support their export economics.

Reliance Industries, IOC, BPCL, HPCL, MRPL and CPCL could therefore remain in focus, particularly as refining margins and international fuel prices remain elevated amid supply disruptions in West Asia.

The duty on petrol exports has been retained at ₹0.5 per litre, while there is no change in duties on petrol and diesel sold in the domestic market.

With this expansion, the company’s Tower manufacturing capacity has increased from 172,400 MTPA to 184,400 MTPA. Also important to note is that apart from this current increase, the company is further in the process of enhancing its tower capacity as part of its phase 2 expansion, which, once achieved, will take the overall capacity of the Company beyond 200,000 MTPA.

The drug, a non-steroidal topical treatment for mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis in adults and pediatric patients aged two years and above, was originally discovered by Otsuka Pharmaceutical and licensed to Acrotech Biopharma for commercialisation in the United States, Aurobindo Pharma said in a regulatory filing.

To support the launch and expand this therapeutic segment, the company has set up a dedicated dermatology business unit, the filing said.

The product will compete in a market estimated at around USD 1.3 billion for the 12 months ending July 2026, according to IQVIA MAT data.

Business Excellence Trust III, a fund of Motilal Oswal Alternates, offloaded 23.28 lakh shares of Goa-based Molbio Diagnostics at an average price of ₹1,315.01 apiece, fetching ₹306.26 crore, according to BSE data.

Business Excellence Trust III held an 11.52% stake in Molbio as of August 2026.

HDFC Mutual Fund, meanwhile, bought 23 lakh shares, amounting to a 2% stake, at an average price of ₹1,315 apiece for ₹302.45 crore.

The exchange data did not identify the other buyers.

Molbio Diagnostics shares rose 4.07% to close at ₹1,309.45 on the BSE.

Following the acquisition, Taku's shareholding in the fintech firm has increased to 10.24% from 10.11% earlier, according to a regulatory filing.

Taku, who is also the Co-founder of MobiKwik, purchased 52,000 equity shares for ₹1.04 crore on September 28, followed by an additional 55,000 equity shares for ₹1.09 crore on September 29. Both transactions were executed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Following the purchases, her total holding in the company stands at 8,064,670 equity shares, up from 7,957,670 equity shares held prior to the transactions.

The scheme includes ₹1.36 lakh crore for intra-state transmission infrastructure and ₹50,000 crore for deploying 50 GWh of battery energy storage systems, creating potential opportunities for transmission equipment and infrastructure companies.

Power Grid Corporation of India, Adani Energy Solutions, Hitachi Energy India, GE Vernova T&D India, Transformers & Rectifiers India and CG Power and Industrial Solutions could therefore be watched for potential project and order-flow opportunities as the transmission build-out gathers pace.

Bhaskar Srinivasan, KBS Family Trust and BBS Family Trust sold 13.36 lakh shares each, representing a combined 6% stake in Chennai-based Avalon Technologies at prices ranging from ₹2,171.03 to ₹2,173.35 apiece, according to BSE data.

This transaction fetched ₹870.61 crore from the stake sale.

The sale reduced the combined holding of promoters and the promoter group to 38.4% from 44.39%.

Meanwhile, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund bought 24.01 lakh shares, or 3.59%, in electronic manufacturing services firm Avalon Technologies, at an average price of ₹2,171 per share, valuing the transaction at ₹521.38 crore.

The other buyers of the promoter-sold shares could not be identified from the exchange data.

Blue Dart reviews its pricing annually to account for changes in operating costs.

" The price increase across Blue Dart's domestic portfolio will range from 9-12%, depending on the product and customer shipping profile," the company said in a statement.

The revision reflects changes in operating costs and supports continued investment in service quality and network capabilities, it said.

Customers who sign up between October 1 and December 31, 2026, will be exempt from the upcoming price increase, Blue Dart said.

As India's economy grows and businesses expand into new markets, reliable logistics remains essential to their competitiveness.

STL Networks said it will handle the end-to-end design, deployment, and integration of the cloud infrastructure project across RailTel's Data Centre (DC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) sites in Gurugram and Secunderabad.

"STL Networks Limited has emerged as the L1 bidder for RailTel Corporation of India Limited for an approximately ₹250 crore integrated cloud infrastructure & data centre transformation project," the company said in a statement.

Under the order, STL Networks will build a secure, scalable, and highly available multi-tenant private cloud environment across RailTel's DC and DR sites.

Of the latest orders, ₹224.74 crore pertains to the Buildings Division and ₹275.48 crore to the Transportation Division. The company had earlier announced a major ₹1,076.71-crore order on September 28.

The commissioning takes the company’s total aluminium chloride capacity to 250 TPD, while the second 133 TPD calcium chloride line is expected to be commissioned in October.

The new facilities are part of the company’s downstream integration of chlorine and are aimed at adding flexibility to its chemicals business.

The company has also commenced supplying industrial gases to Tata Steel from the facility with effect from September 30. The acquisition strengthens Linde India’s production capacity and expands its industrial-gas supply operations at the Kalinganagar facility.