Conversations with those within the private aerospace and defence sector in India suggest that it is still early. While some joint ventures have been formed and work has started, manufacturing, especially on a large-scale, is some distance away.

The barometer opened higher, but quickly slipped into the red zone after profit-booking in recent gainers kicked in. A decisively weak trend overseas after the explosions at the Brussels airport and a local metro station dragged the broader index further down.

B. Malla Reddy, Managing Director of Hyderabaded-based Astra Microwave Products, explains the growth drivers for his company, and plans for the future.

The third edition of Business Today's Emerging Companies survey has found a dazzling array of companies rocketing up the growth curve, in sectors as diverse as hybrid seeds to feed for shrimps.

Until 10 years ago - its revenue then was around Rs 65 crore against Rs 634.34 crore in 2014/15 - a sizeable portion of its business came from the telecom sector, both government and private makers of wireless communication equipment.

Stocks of Bharat Electronics surged 7.62 per cent while Astra Microwave Products rose by 7 per cent. Shares of BEML gained 4.99 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Moving ahead with the economic reforms, the Cabinet on Wednesday night cleared the long-delayed proposal for raising FDI limit in defence to 49 per cent.

Bucking the overall weak trend, shares of companies related to railways saw buying interest after the government on Wednesday approved FDI liberalisation in the sector.

A few wholly-owned subsidiaries of Larsen & Toubro have been quietly mopping up chunky stakes in businesses that are related to those of the group.

Even before Chandrayaan's launch, while India and the world were worrying over the global financial meltdown, ISRO subsidiary Antrix had crossed a milestone unnoticed and unheralded. It delivered a communications satellite, the W2M, to the Paris-based Eutelstat, a leading telecom operator. Can India beat its cryogenic blues to get into big launches? K.R. Balasubramanyam and N. Madhavan probe the answer.