Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL), a Vedanta group firm, reported a sharp 47.3% rise in its consolidated net profit for the March 2025 quarter, reaching Rs 3,003 crore, driven by higher income and steady operational performance.This marks the company’s best-ever fourth-quarter profit, up from Rs 2,038 crore in the same period last year.
The company’s income for the January-March quarter rose to Rs 9,314 crore, compared to Rs 7,822 crore in the year-ago period, HZL said in a stock exchange filing on Friday.
The company said in a statement that it was its “best-ever fourth quarter profit after tax of Rs 3,003 crore, up 47 per cent Y-o-Y”.
Arun Misra, chief executive officer of HZL, attributed the strong performance to the company’s efficient operations and strategic focus. “As the world’s largest integrated zinc producer, we aim to meet rising domestic demand while maintaining our position as one of the lowest-cost producers globally and most resilient producers in the industry,” he said.
Chief financial officer Sandeep Modi added that the company remains confident despite global uncertainties. “With a strong balance sheet, structurally leaner cost base and clear strategic direction, Hindustan Zinc is well-positioned to navigate external headwinds and continue delivering consistent, industry-leading returns,” he noted.
Hindustan Zinc is a leading player in the global zinc market and ranks among the top five silver producers worldwide. It commands around 75% of India’s primary zinc market and supplies its products to over 40 countries.

The 30-share BSE benchmark gauge climbed 329.23 points to 80,130.66 in early trade. The NSE Nifty rallied 118.75 points to 24,365.45. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded in early trade on Friday (April 25, 2025) amid continuous foreign fund inflows and a rally in global markets, but failed to carry forward the winning momentum and were later trading lower dragged lower by Axis Bank.

The 30-share BSE benchmark gauge climbed 329.23 points to 80,130.66 in early trade. The NSE Nifty rallied 118.75 points to 24,365.45.

However, later both the benchmark indices gave up early gains and were trading lower. The BSE benchmark traded 174.24 points lower at 79,627.19, and the Nifty quoted 94.35 points down at 24,152.35.

From the Sensex firms, Axis Bank declined 3.50% after the country’s third largest private sector lender reported a marginal decline in March quarter profit to ₹7,117 crore from ₹7,130 crore in the year-ago period.

Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra and Eternal were also among the laggards.

However, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were the biggest gainers.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi index, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were trading in the positive territory.

U.S. markets ended significantly higher on Thursday (April 24, 2025). Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.74%, S&P 500 surged 2.03% and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.23%.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹8,250.53 crore on Thursday (April 24, 2025), according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.53% to $66.90 a barrel.

The 30-share BSE benchmark declined 315.06 points or 0.39% to settle at 79,801.43 on Thursday (April 24, 2025). The Nifty went down by 82.25 points or 0.34% to 24,246.70.

Novo Nordisk has stated that its flagship insulin brand Mixtard will continue to be available in India in vial form, even as the company phases out other delivery formats such as Penfill cartridges. The announcement comes amid widespread concern over the discontinuation of some of the country’s most-used insulin products.
Responding to TOI reports that it was withdrawing Mixtard—India’s top-selling insulin brand with annual sales of over Rs 800 crore, Novo Nordisk said in a statement. “In order to meet increasing patient demand and ensure a stable supply of our medicines, we have decided to consolidate our insulin portfolio. This will create space needed in our global manufacturing network,” “Hence, in this process, we are phasing out the Penfill.We acknowledge that this will be disruptive to people living with diabetes who rely on our treatments. However, by doing this now, we will increase the number of patients we reach with our insulin portfolio by many millions in the next decade,” it added.
This comes after reports that the Danish drugmaker was discontinuing Human Mixtard—India’s largest-selling insulin brand—and other older-generation insulins from the market. The TOI report noted that Human Mixtard, a Rs 800 crore brand despite being under price control, along with products like Actrapid, Insulatard, Insulin Detemir, Levemir, and Xultophy, would no longer be available in popular delivery formats such as pre-filled pens and cartridges (Penfill and FlexPen).
Read report: Novo Nordisk to phase out country’s largest insulin brand
The Danish pharmaceutical giant reassured patients that the insulin, along with other human insulins like Actrapid and Insulatard, will still be accessible in vials across India. These vials are administered through traditional syringes.
According to documents cited in the earlier report, Novo Nordisk had informed its marketing partner Abbott India that the products would be withdrawn once current stocks were exhausted, a process expected to take around six months. The move is reportedly part of the company’s global strategy to shift focus toward newer, more profitable treatments such as Ozempic and Wegovy, which it plans to introduce in the Indian market this year. As part of this shift, earlier-generation insulin products are being gradually phased out worldwide.