Centrum Institutional Broking, which hosted the Nakshatra Investor Conference on May 20-22, talked to managements of 90 corporates, across 1,600 meetings, including HFCL, BSE, Hindustan Zinc Ltd and Tata Power Company Ltd, among others. It called the corporates as its 'Shining Stars,' believing they are best positioned to deliver through-cycle growth, as India's structural runway extends. The brokerage captured key takeaways from the interactions, covering strategy, demand commentary, capex plans, margin trajectory, and the FY27 outlook, summaries of a handful of those companies are below:- 

ACME Solar
Centrum said ACME Solar is increasingly focusing on hybrid and FDRE projects, which offer higher realisation and better return profiles versus standalone solar assets. The company aims to scale its operational and contracted portfolio significantly through a mix of solar, wind, hybrid, and storage assets.
The management, Centrum said, highlighted strong execution capabilities through in-house EPC and project management expertise, helping improve timelines. 

"The Rajasthan and other high-irradiation projects are expected to support superior CUF (Capacity Utilization Factor) and operating efficiency. ACME is positioning itself as an integrated clean-energy platform with exposure not only to renewable generation but also to modules, green hydrogen, and
green ammonia opportunities," it said.

BSE
Centrum Broking noted that index derivatives has continued to be the key structural growth driver for BSE. The exchange management emphasized that the current derivatives franchise, despite being only three years old, has witnessed structural rather than incentive-led growth, with no major
liquidity enhancement subsidies currently driving volumes.

BSE highlighted that liquidity is becoming increasingly self-sustaining, with market share gains now driven more by ecosystem depth and broader participant adoption rather than pricing incentives.

"BSE is increasingly positioning itself as a product innovator through differentiated offerings such as IT Index derivatives, Bankex and upcoming Midcap/Next 30 products. Premium turnover nearly doubled YoY, while the transition to Thursday expiry has worked favorably for BSE. Overall market share remains consistently strong at 30 per cent, with expiry-day market share often reaching 60–65 per cent," Centrum said.

Centrum said FPI contribution to index option turnover increased from 2–3per cent earlier to 5.5 per cent currently, indicating rising institutional participation.

BSE believes India’s derivatives ecosystem remains underpenetrated relative to its long-term potential, particularly across monthly expiries, institutional hedging, sectoral indices and commodity/energy derivatives.

"Key focus areas going forward include increasing participation beyond weekly expiries, deepening monthly and quarterly contracts, increasing institutional/FPI participation, building liquidity in stock derivatives and expanding the member ecosystem from ~600 to ~800+ participants," Centrum said.

HFCL
A leading manufacturer of optical fiber cable, HFCL expects FY27 revenue growth of roughly 20–25 per cent, supported by a strong order book, export momentum, and new product scaling. HFCL’s order book has expanded materially to around Rs 21,200 crore, providing strong execution visibility over the next several years, Centrum said.

"The company is increasingly shifting toward a higher-margin products-led business model instead of low-margin turnkey contracts. Export business is becoming a major growth driver, with management targeting exports to become significant part of revenue over time. HFCL is expanding aggressively into defence, aerospace, surveillance, and advanced telecom electronics to diversify beyond optical fiber," Centrum said.

The company expects working capital intensity to improve as the revenue mix shifts toward private customers and export. The management guided for further Ebitda margin improvement driven by better product mix, higher exports, and operating leverage.

Hindustan Zinc
Centrum Broking said Hindustan Zinc has reiterated its long-term growth strategy, targeting 2 million tonnes metal production by 2030, including 1.6mn tonnes zinc and 0.4mn tonnes lead capacity. The management guided for FY27 mined metal production of 1.2 million tonnes and finished metal production of 1.1 million tonnes.

"Silver production is expected to inch towards ~700 tonnes in FY27, with further growth to 800 tonnes by FY29. The 250,000 tonnes zinc smelter project is progressing ahead of schedule, with commissioning expected around FY29. HZL is diversifying into fertilizer manufacturing via phosphoric acid integration, leveraging higher sulphuric acid output from expanded smelting operations," Centrum said.

HZ is setting up India’s first zinc tailings recycling project at Agucha (Rajasthan), with 10 million tonnes reprocessing capacity. 

The management indicated technology interventions could potentially contribute Rs 2,000 crore annually to profitability over time.

Tata Power
Centrum Broking said Tata Power is aggressively transitioning toward a clean-energy-led portfolio and targets 30 GW generation capacity by FY30, with nearly two-thirds expected from green energy sources.

"The management plans cumulative capex of nearly Rs 1.25 lakh crore between FY26–FY30, with around 65 per cent allocated toward clean and green energy. The company continues to scale across the entire renewable ecosystem including utility-scale renewables, rooftop solar, storage, EV charging,
transmission, and solar manufacturing," Centrum said.

Centrum said the Tata group company is increasingly positioning itself as an integrated energy-transition platform spanning generation, transmission, distribution, storage, manufacturing, and consumer energy solutions.

"The management highlighted strong growth momentum in rooftop solar, solar manufacturing, transmission & distribution, and renewable EPC businesses," Centrum said.