The Nifty gained for a third straight session on Friday, closing at 23,346.40, but the index still ended the week lower for a sixth week in a row.

The Sensex ended at 74,294.96, down 19.63 points.

For the week, the Sensex fell 0.65 percent and the Nifty fell 0.22 percent.

A large NSE IPO drew liquidity away from the market during the week.

Crude oil and West Asia tensions continued to weigh on sentiment.

Crude oil remained a key factor, with Brent crude trading above the 100 dollar a barrel mark and easing to about 103 dollars on Friday.

Geopolitical concerns in West Asia continued to weigh on sentiment through the week.

Foreign institutional investor selling and elevated US bond yields were also cited among the pressures on the market.

A large NSE IPO worth about Rs 22,569 crore drew capital away from the secondary market during the week and constrained liquidity.

Technology stocks were among the laggards, and Tata Group shares including TCS and Titan fell sharply, with some of the declines running up to about 4 percent.

Banking, energy and life insurance stocks, including HDFC Life and SBI Life, were among the gainers.

The divergence between a falling Sensex and a rising Nifty on Friday reflected differences in the two indices’ constituents and bargain buying in some Nifty stocks.

On Thursday, September 17, the Sensex had closed at 74,314.59 and the Nifty at 23,270.60.

The Nifty 50 has now advanced for three sessions in a row, even though the weekly figures remain negative.

Market participants are watching crude oil prices, foreign fund flows and corporate earnings for cues on direction in the coming week.

Trading resumes on Monday, September 21, after the weekend.

On Friday, September 18, the 30-share Sensex fell 19.63 points, or 0.03 percent, to settle at 74,294.96.

Bombay Stock Exchange building, Mumbai (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

The Hyderabad venture is developing a single destination for the complete vehicle care journey

Vehicle ownership involves far more than buying fuel and scheduling an annual service. There are washes, minor faults, accidental damage, specialised upgrades and, occasionally, the sudden breakdown that brings everything to a halt.

BlueWheel combines roadside rescue, car repair services, vehicle washing and custom automotive work within a single platform for Hyderabad vehicle owners.

BlueWheel wants to make those separate requirements easier to manage through one platform. I learned about the model from Rohit Paul of the Founder’s Office during a recent business meetup in Hyderabad.

Roadside assistance as the urgent entry point

Rohit Paul began with the most stressful use case. Although manufacturers including Maruti, Mahindra and Hyundai provide roadside assistance plans, customers can still face unanswered calls, handoffs and long delays.

BlueWheel’s answer is to attend breakdown requests in under 20 minutes. The promise puts urgency at the centre of the experience and gives the customer a simple expectation at a moment when clarity matters.

The infrastructure beneath the app

A smooth interface cannot repair a vehicle by itself. BlueWheel’s operating model is supported by more than 400 vetted service centres and over 100 expert technicians, whom it calls Advisors.

This network allows the company to route different requirements to relevant professionals. A roadside fault, an accident repair and a custom modification may demand very different capabilities, making provider selection an important part of the platform’s value.

Making vehicle services easier to navigate

Customers can choose the service they need, select a preferred centre and leave the coordination to BlueWheel. Available categories range from car washing to accident work and complex custom jobs.

The approach removes some of the research and follow-up that vehicle owners normally perform themselves. Instead of keeping multiple phone numbers and negotiating independently with each provider, the user interacts with a single organised layer.

What stayed with me

The broader service mix was the part of our conversation that changed my understanding of the company. I had initially assumed BlueWheel was mainly a roadside rescue operation. Rohit Paul described something closer to a continuing vehicle-care relationship, with urgent assistance at one end and planned work at the other.

That distinction matters. Most drivers do not want to discover a new provider every time the car needs attention. They want a dependable route from problem to solution, whether the requirement is a wash, body repair or a complicated custom job. Familiarity can remove much of the hesitation that usually accompanies automotive service.

There is also a sensible business logic in serving customers more often than emergencies allow. Breakdowns may introduce the platform, but routine needs can make it part of regular ownership. If both experiences are handled well, each strengthens confidence in the other.

For an owner, that continuity could make caring for a vehicle feel less like a series of disconnected negotiations and more like one manageable relationship.

A platform preparing to travel

BlueWheel is currently active throughout Hyderabad, including the Outer Ring Road and areas around 10 to 15 kilometres outside it. The company plans to move next into Bengaluru and Chennai.

Its future will depend on maintaining service quality across a larger network. But the underlying idea is strong: vehicle care should not feel like a collection of unrelated errands. By combining emergency response with regular maintenance and repairs, BlueWheel is working to turn it into one connected customer experience.

https://www.bluewheel.app/download/ | www.bluewheel.app | https://www.instagram.com/bluewheelthevehicleapp?stkn=MWFmMWFpdzNsem03

Jharkhand has unveiled a policy push to draw Rs 1 lakh crore in investment through new industrial and textile policies.

The drafts, released by the Industries Department, are open for public consultation on the state’s Single Window Portal.

The state expects more than 25,000 jobs to result from the two policies.

MSMEs would be eligible for 20 percent of fixed capital investment up to Rs 15 crore, with non-MSME units receiving 25 percent up to Rs 30 crore.

The final versions are expected within a fortnight after stakeholder feedback is considered.

Non-MSME units would receive 25 percent of fixed capital investment, capped at Rs 30 crore, under the same draft.

Entrepreneurs from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women and differently-abled entrepreneurs would get an additional 5 percent benefit.

The textile draft proposes a 20 percent subsidy on fixed capital investment, with a cap of Rs 50 crore.

The textile draft also offers 100 percent reimbursement of net SGST for seven years, followed by 40 percent for the next three years.

Wage support of Rs 5,000 per month for male workers and Rs 6,000 per month for female workers is proposed for textile units.

Training assistance of up to Rs 13,000 per trainee is part of the proposed incentive package.

The drafts also propose electricity tariff and duty reimbursements, along with reimbursement of stamp duty and registration charges.

The state expects the combined policy push to generate more than 25,000 employment opportunities across manufacturing and textiles.

The two drafts are the Jharkhand Industrial Investment Promotion Policy 2026 and the Jharkhand Textile, Apparel and Footwear Policy 2026.

The Directorate of Industries has uploaded both drafts on the Jharkhand Single Window Portal to invite comments from industry bodies, businesses and the public.

Officials have said the final frameworks are expected to be completed within the next fortnight, after stakeholder feedback is reviewed.

Steel plant, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0