Crude Oil Import: Indian government company Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and private refiner HPCL Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL) have purchased 1 million barrels of crude oil from Venezuela. This is BPCL’s first purchase and HMEL’s first purchase in two years. This purchase has been done through trader company Vitol. Under the deal signed with the company for the purchase of oil, India’s oil import from Venezuela will reach at least 60 lakh barrels by April.

Adopted this strategy to reduce shipping cost

To reduce shipping costs, both companies planned to load heavy crude oil first on a single big ship. BPCL will split its share between its Kochi refinery in Kerala and Bina refinery in Gujarat, while HMEL will process its share at its Bathinda refinery in North India via Mundra Port.

Dependence on Russia is decreasing

This purchase of oil from Venezuela is taking place at a time when Indian refineries are turning to other sources for the supply of crude oil to reduce imports from Russia. Similarly, other Indian companies like Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corp and HPCL first bought Venezuelan crude oil at a price 6.5-7 dollars less than the Dubai crude benchmark.

In Venezuela, oil companies Vitol and Trafigura have been handling the sale of Venezuelan oil under a US license since January, which is part of an agreement between Venezuela and the US. Some time ago, a Reuters report also revealed that license was given to America’s Reliance Industries (RIL) for the supply of crude oil from Venezuela. Due to this, the company will be able to buy crude oil directly from Venezuela without any restriction. Just in the beginning of February, Reliance Industries purchased 20 lakh barrels of crude from Trader Vitol. Overall, the supply of oil from Venezuela to India is gradually increasing.

India is looking for other sources

Last Wednesday, at the Global Economic Cooperation Summit in Mumbai, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India wants to diversify its sources of crude oil and coking coal and the trade deal with the US will help in this effort.

He said, “India is dependent on 2-3 places for coking coal and the prices keep going up and down. We need American coking coal which is of high quality.

Let us tell you that under the trade deal between India and America, America has removed the 25 percent tariff imposed on India as a penalty for purchasing oil from Russia. Apart from this, the remaining 25 percent tariff has also been reduced to 18 percent. When the war in Ukraine started, India had increased the purchase of oil from Russia. Russia’s share in crude oil imports in April-December was 31 percent. America wanted India to stop buying oil from Russia so that pressure could be put on Russia for talks to end the war.

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Mukesh Ambani Announcement in AI Summit: Industrialist Mukesh Ambani announced at the ‘India AI Impact Summit 2026’ that his company will invest Rs 10 lakh crore in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector in the next seven years. He said that just as Jio made mobile data cheap and accessible, similarly AI will also be made affordable for common Indians.

Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said that Jio connected India to the Internet era and now it will connect the country to the “age of intelligence”. His emphasis was on the fact that India should not take the risk of foreign dependence (hiring intelligence) for technology like AI.

Jio and Reliance together will make this investment on three major pillars-

1. Gigawatt-scale AI data centers: AI-ready data centers will be set up in Jamnagar, which will utilize up to 10 GW of green energy.

2. Nationwide Edge-Compute Layer: An edge-compute infrastructure integrated with Jio’s telecom network will be built to provide low-latency AI services across the country.

3. Sovereign Compute Infrastructure: An indigenous and secure AI computing ecosystem will be developed for India, so that AI services can reach grocery stores, clinics, schools and farms.

Ambani called it a “patient and disciplined capital investment in nation building” and not just a move for commercial gains. He says that Jio will play a central role in India’s AI transformation and will connect every citizen, every sector and government services with intelligence.

This investment is being considered a big step towards making India self-reliant in the AI ​​sector and taking it towards the next phase of digital revolution.

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Stocks to watch: The Indian stock market managed to close on the green mark last Tuesday. However, due to the weekly expiry day, there was a lot of volatility in the market. In such a situation, investors balanced their bets by placing their bets wisely keeping in mind the initial weak trend. Now investors are eyeing the trading session of Wednesday, February 18. Today, shares of companies like Maruti Suzuki, Dabur, Info Edge, GR Infraprojects, Dilip Buildcon and many others are going to be in focus. Let’s take a look at these:-

Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday announced the price of its first electric car e VITARA. There was a lot of wait in the market regarding its price. The company has introduced this new car under the Battery as Service (BaaS) rental subscription plan. Under this, the starting price of e VITARA has been kept at Rs 10.99 lakh. Being based on BaaS model, you will not have to pay the initial price for the battery, instead you will have to pay EMI at the rate of Rs 3.99 per kilometer. Due to this, buying an electric car will become quite affordable for the common people.

Info Edge

Shares of Naukri.com’s parent company Info Edge can also be seen today as the company has agreed to invest about Rs 30 crore in its fully owned subsidiary company Startup Investments (Holding) in the meeting of the executive directors’ committee held on Tuesday.

Dabur

Dabur, a big company in the FMCG sector, has appointed Mohit Malhotra as its new global CEO. Also, to oversee the Indian business, Harjeet S. Bhalla, a big name in the confectionery sector, has been chosen as its CEO. He will lead the India business from April 15, 2026.

GR Infraprojects

GR Infraprojects has been entrusted with the work of building a rail cum road bridge over the river Ganga in Varanasi. The company will complete this project worth Rs 1,201.36 crore in joint venture with RVNL. GPT Infraprojects has 40 percent stake in the project, which is worth Rs 480.54 crore.

Dilip Buildcon

Construction company Dilip Buildcon has been declared L-1 bidder for the project of Narmada Water Resources Department. This project of Rs 668 crore is related to the construction of flood protection embankment on Narmada river in Bharuch district. It will be completed in the next 24 months on Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) basis.

Engineers India Limited

Government company Engineers India Ltd has informed about the meeting of the Board of Directors on Tuesday evening on February 26, 2026. In this, the second final dividend for the business year 2025-26 can be considered and approved. The company has set the record date for this as 6 March 2026. That means, the investors who hold shares of the company till this date will get the benefit of dividend.

Infosys

Leading IT company Infosys has launched AI First Value Framework, the aim of which is to capitalize on new AI service opportunities worth about $300 billion. According to the company, this framework will help organizations create business value and accelerate digital transformation by prioritizing AI. It will also prove helpful in adopting new AI-based services.

Disclaimer: (The information provided here is being given for information only. It is important to mention here that investment in the market is subject to market risks. Always take expert advice before investing money as an investor. ABPLive.com never advises anyone to invest money here.)

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How was the condition of the oil and gas segment?

In the December quarter, the revenue of the oil and gas segment has declined by 8.4 percent as compared to last year. Due to lower revenue and maintenance activities, there was higher expenditure in operating costs, due to which the EBITDA of the oil and gas segment declined by 12.7 percent on an annual basis.

Reliance Retail

In the retail business, the performance of Reliance Retail has also been excellent in the December quarter. During this period, EBITDA increased marginally to Rs 6915 crore. In this the EBITDA margin was 8.0 percent.

Jio Platforms

In the telecom segment, EBITDA of Jio Platforms has increased by 16.4 percent year-on-year. Due to this, there has been an increase in revenue and operating leverage, due to which the margin has increased by 170 bps.

Why is India’s trade deficit with China increasing? Will this hollow out the economy?

Mukesh Ambani: Mukesh Ambani’s company Reliance Industries is preparing for big investment in Gujarat. In the first Regional Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Rajkot, Gujarat, Mukesh Ambani has made a big announcement of new investment of Rs 7 lakh crore in Gujarat in the next five years. This not only reflects Reliance Industries’ long-standing commitment towards Gujarat, but this new investment will also help Gujarat emerge as a global hub for clean energy, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing in the future.

Mukesh Ambani praised PM Modi

Addressing the first Regional Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Rajkot, Mukesh Ambani praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that he has restored India’s ‘civilizational confidence’ and taken the country from ‘potential to performance’. Ambani said, “This is India’s decisive decade.” Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, India is not just preparing for the future – India is shaping it.” He also said that Gujarat remains the ‘body, heart and soul’ of Reliance.

Reliance’s huge investment in Gujarat

During this, Mukesh Ambani also said that Reliance has already invested more than Rs 3.5 lakh crore in Gujarat in the last five years and now by 2030 this figure will be doubled to Rs 7 lakh crore. He said that these investments will generate employment and livelihood on a large scale, and will also promote wealth creation. He said, “Reliance is already the largest investor in Gujarat and our commitment will be even stronger.”

What is Reliance’s plan on clean energy?

Talking about Reliance’s clean energy ambitions, Ambani said that Jamnagar is being developed as the world’s largest integrated clean-energy ecosystem, which includes solar energy, battery storage, green hydrogen, green fertilizer, sustainable aviation fuel, marine fuel and advanced materials. He said, “Jamnagar, which was once India’s largest hydrocarbon exporter, will now become the country’s largest exporter of green energy and green materials.”

During this, Ambani also mentioned his plan to turn Kutch into a global clean-energy hub through the world’s largest multi-gigawatt solar project, which will be supported by 24-hour storage and modern grid integration.

On the technological front, he said Reliance is building India’s largest AI-ready data center in Jamnagar and Jio will soon launch a ‘people-first’ artificial intelligence platform designed for Indians to create their own

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India’s big energy company Reliance Industries (RIL) has been accused of stealing gas from ONGC, which is worth about $1.55 billion. Bombay High Court has issued a notice in this case and is considering directing the CBI to conduct a complete investigation. According to the petition, from 2004 to 2013-14, RIL drilled in the KG-D6 block in such a way that gas moved sideways from ONGC’s Northern Block to RIL’s block. The estimated loss is ₹13,000–14,000 crore, plus interest of $174.9 million. Petitioners want criminal charges of theft, fraud and breach of trust to be imposed on RIL and its directors. RIL says that gas is naturally migratory and this is not a new criminal case, but an old civil-arbitration dispute. Energy consultancy D&M also said that gas extraction had taken place, but there is disagreement on the legal interpretation. The court notice does not decide whether RIL is guilty. This is just the initial step—the Court is asking: – Should the CBI conduct a full investigation? – Should FIR be registered? – Should contracts and drilling data be seized? If CBI investigation starts, it can become a big precedent for Corporate India. Market sentiment, RIL shares and policy-making may also be affected.

Reliance Industries Q2 Results: Mukesh Ambani-led oil-telecom-retail segment giant Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday announced the results of the second quarter of the financial year 2026. During this period, the company’s profit after tax (PAT) jumped by 15.9 percent to Rs 22,146 crore.

The company’s revenue from operations also increased

However, there was a decrease in it compared to the previous quarter. The company’s operational revenue in the second quarter of FY26 stood at Rs 283,548 crore, which shows an annual increase of 9.9 percent from Rs 258,027 crore recorded in the same period a year ago. The company’s operational revenue in the June quarter of this year stood at Rs 273,252 crore.

Jio also performed brilliantly

Reliance Jio’s performance was also excellent in the second quarter. Its revenue increased by 14.6 percent to Rs 36,332 crore compared to last year. Profit after tax also increased by 12.8 percent to Rs 7,379 crore. The company said that Jio’s ARPU increased to Rs 211.4 in the second quarter. This reflects the average revenue per user. Apart from this, the company also achieved this growth due to the increasing demand for Jio AirFiber.

Tremendous rise in shares

At the same time, before the announcement of the company’s second quarter results, the shares of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) regained the level of Rs 1,400 after 16 sessions. On Friday, the last trading day of the week, shares of Reliance Industries rose 1.5 percent to Rs 1,417.80 on NSE in early trade, up 27 percent from their 52-week low. The market cap of the company stood at Rs 19.17 lakh crore.

More than 20 percent increase in 2 years

RIL shares have increased by 4.38 percent in one year and 20.23 percent in two years. The stock’s beta is 1.2, which represents 20 percent more volatility than the market in a year. RIL shares had fallen to a 52-week low of Rs 1115.55 on April 7, 2025 and reached a record high of Rs 1551 on July 9 this year.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) of RIL stock stands at 57, which shows that it is neither trading in the oversold nor overbought zones. RIL shares are trading above 5 day, 10 day, 20 day, 30 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages. Brokerage Investec has given ‘Buy’ rating to the stock with a target price of Rs 1890. Brokerage firm Citi has kept a target price of Rs 1,690 for RIL shares.

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Reliance Industries Shares: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) shares are living in focus before the company’s 48th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, August 28, August 28. AGM is scheduled to be held on Friday, August 29, 2025, in which the company’s chairman Mukesh Ambani can address about 44 lakh shareholders.

America’s extra tariff has been implemented from today on the import of Indian goods for the purchase of crude oil from Russia. This increased tariff may be seen to have a direct impact on RIL shares as Reliance Industries is one of the biggest buyers of Russian crude oil in India. In such a situation, the company will keep a close watch on how the source will deal with the sourcing challenges of crude oil.

This is the specialty of Reliance shares

Despite all the geopolitical challenges, the price of Reliance’s stock has increased by about 14 percent in 2025. Which is much higher than the 4.5 percent lead of the Nifty 50. Apart from this, Reliance Industries is still the most valuable company in the country, which will keep it attractive to investors. JP Morgan has given Reliance a ‘overweight’ rating for September 2026 and has kept the target price of Rs 1,695 per share for the share. Earlier, on Tuesday, Reliance shares on BSE closed down 1.95 percent at a price of 1,385.30.

Alok Industries also shares in focus

Since Trump’s tariff is expected to have a bad effect on the textile industry, the shares of Mukesh Ambani’s company Alok Industries are also going to be in focus these days. For the past few days, it has already seen a decline. On Tuesday too, the price of its share fell to Rs 17.61 on Tuesday. Alok Industries is a textile manufacturing company, which was bought by Reliance Industries and JM Financial under NCLT process.

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Loan fraud case: Amidst the ongoing investigation of CBI and ED in the loan fraud case, the shares of two companies of Anil Ambani have fallen by about 19 percent in the last six business days. Today i.e. on 6 August 2025, the process of decline in the shares of Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power continued. On Wednesday, while Reliance Infra declined by 0.84 percent, Reliance Power’s stock fell to 0.88 percent.

Anil Ambani’s companies fell

Significantly, a day before in the loan fraud case, on Tuesday, the ED questioned Anil Ambani at his headquarters. Also, they have been given seven days time so that they can submit documents related to the questions asked during the investigation. According to reports, now other senior members of Reliance Group are also being questioned by ED.

On Tuesday, the ED questioned Anil Ambani for about 10 hours. According to news agency PTI, his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). During this, about a dozen questions were asked to Anil Ambani. It is believed that during interrogation, he denied any disturbance. Also, Anil Ambani also said that his companies have informed the regulator SEBI from time to time.

What is the whole matter?

This action is related to the alleged financial irregularities by several companies of Anil Ambani, including Reliance Infrastructure (R Infra) and manipulation of the amount of collective loan of more than Rs 17,000 crore. The first charge is related to the misuse of the “illegal” loan of about Rs 3,000 crore given by Yes Bank to the companies of Ambani Group between 2017 and 2019. The ED suspects that just before the loan was given, the promoters of Yes Bank had “received” funds in their companies. The agency is investigating the “bribe” and the nexus of the loan in this entire network.

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Stocks to watch on 21st July 2025: The Indian stock market closed down on Friday, the last trading day of the previous week, on Friday, the third consecutive week declined as the investors were cautious about the uncertainty over the trade deal between the US-India and the quarter results of the companies. Investors will keep an eye on the shares of many other companies like UltraTech Cement, Eater, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Geo Financial on Monday, 21 July.

Their results will come

Investors will be eyeing the shares of Eternal, IDBI Bank, UltraTech Cement and PNB Housing Finance today as today these companies are going to announce the results for the first (April-June) quarter of FY 2026.

Icici bank

The bank’s performance was good in the first quarter. The income from interest also reached Rs 21,635 crore with a jump of 10.6 percent. While the net profit increased by 15.4 percent to Rs 12,768 crore.

Hdfc bank

The income of HDFC Bank, the largest bank in private sector in the country, also reached Rs 31,438 crore with an increase of 5.4 percent from interest. Due to good profits in the first quarter, the bank has also announced a bonus share and a special dividend of Rs 5 for the first time.

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