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Adani Group and Italian major Leonardo have announced a strategic partnership to establish an integrated helicopter manufacturing ecosystem in India.

Adani Defence & Aerospace and Leonardo on Tuesday inked a Memorandum of Understanding for the partnership in Delhi, marking a major boost for Make In India efforts.

The partnership will target the Indian Armed Forces' requirements, particularly for Leonardo's advanced AW169M and AW109 TrekkerM helicopters.

“The collaboration will deliver phased indigenization, robust maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capabilities, and comprehensive pilot training,” a release said.

India has a low helicopter penetration density of less than 250 helicopters for the country’s population, and the country will need around 100 helicopters annually for the next 10 years.

Adani Defence & Aerospace Director Jeet Adani said it was laying the foundation for an aviation ecosystem that serves the nation across civil and defence needs.

The announcement comes a week after Adani Defence & Aerospace and Brazilian major Embraer announced a strategic collaboration that aims to set up a regional aircraft manufacturing facility in India.

Moody’s Ratings has said the reduction of the US tariff rate on most Indian goods is credit-positive for labour-intensive sectors such as gems, jewellery, textiles and apparel, which are the top export sectors.

However, pharmaceuticals and consumer electronics, the other two major export sectors, had been exempt from the 50 per cent high tariffs imposed by the US and therefore are unlikely to be affected by the reduction.

Moody’s in a statement said the trade deal will reinvigorate India’s goods export growth to the US, which remains the country’s largest goods export market, accounting for about 21 per cent of India’s total goods exports for the first 11 months of 2025.

Moody’s said even though India has reduced its purchase of crude oil from Russia in recent months, it is unlikely to cease all purchases immediately which could be disruptive to India's economic growth.

“A complete shift towards non-Russian oil could also tighten supply elsewhere, raise prices and pass through to higher inflation given that India is one of the world’s largest oil importers,” Moody’s said.

Three passengers, including two women, were killed and around seven sustained serious injuries when a bus fell into a deep gorge in the Kalsi area on Tuesday (February 3), officials said.

According to the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the accident occurred near Kuanu on the Meenak Road.

Rescue and relief operations were launched immediately after the incident, with teams from the SDRF and police rushing to the spot, officials said.

The SDRF said three passengers -- two women and a man -- died on the spot, while seven were seriously injured and have been hospitalised.

The bus belonged to Himachal Roadways and was carrying more than 30 passengers at the time of the accident, officials said.

Upon receiving information about the incident, SDRF teams stationed at Dakpathar, Chakrata, Mori, and Tiuni were dispatched to the accident site to carry out rescue and relief operations.

The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, they said.

The agreed-upon 18 per cent duty rate on exports from India to the US maintains India’s attractiveness as a global manufacturing and export hub, mobile industry body ICEA has said.

“This is a positive and competitive outcome for India. At the agreed 18 per cent rate, India remains well placed relative to key manufacturing peers, and retains its attractiveness as a global manufacturing and export hub.

“While we await the finer details of the deal, the direction clearly supports India’s strategy of scaling manufacturing and integrating deeper into the US-led global value chains, particularly in electronics,” ICEA chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said in a statement.

According to sources cited by news agency PTI, electronics products, including mobile phones, semiconductors continue to remain exempted from tariffs.

iPhone exports from India hit Rs 2.03 lakh crore in 2025, almost double that of Rs 1.1 lakh crore Apple exported in the calendar year 2024. Most of the iPhones from India are exported to the US.

Mobile phone production in the country is expected to reach about Rs 6.76 lakh crore, comprising exports over USD 30 billion, or about Rs 2.7 lakh crore, by the end of the current fiscal year.

As per the initial agreement, all imports in India from the US will be at zero per cent duty.

Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were trading nearly 3 per cent higher during afternoon session on Tuesday (February 3) after India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington will cut the reciprocal tariff on Indian goods to 18 per cent.

After starting the trade on a buoyant note, the 30-share BSE Sensex later jumped 4,205.27 points or 5.14 per cent to hit the day's high of 85,871.73. The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 1,252.8 points or 4.99 per cent to 26,341.20.

During the afternoon trade, the BSE benchmark traded 2,411.07 points or 2.95 per cent higher at 84,065.30. The Nifty quoted 742.30 points or 2.96 per cent up at 25,828.35.

All the 30-Sensex firms were trading higher. Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, Eternal and InterGlobe Aviation were trading sharply higher in the range of 8-4 per cent.