Buy the dip in banks, autos, and defence, says Aditya Kondawar; here’s exactly what he is watching – News Air Insight

As Indian equity markets endured a prolonged correction through March, one investor has been doing the opposite of panicking. Aditya Kondawar, Partner and Vice President at Complete Circle Capital, says his firm has been continuously buying into three broad themes — BFSI, automobiles, and defence — and has no intention of stopping.

Banks and NBFCs: Cleaner balance sheets, a wave of deal-making

Kondawar points to a clear divergence in the BFSI sector over the past 12 to 18 months. Balance sheets have become leaner and cleaner across banks, NBFCs, and niche lenders, and a wave of high-profile deal-making has followed. He cites Emirates NBD’s investment in RBL Bank, Bain Capital’s entry into Manappuram Finance, and IHC’s stake in Sammaan Capital as recent examples of record-breaking transactions validating the sector’s fundamentals.

The one near-term concern he acknowledges is the credit-deposit gap: advances growth is running at around 14% over the past three months while deposit growth lags at 10 to 11%. Kondawar, however, dismisses it as a short-term issue rather than a structural problem.

Autos: Not a two-quarter trade, a decadal one

Despite concerns about a below-expectation monsoon potentially hurting two-wheelers and farm equipment in the near term, Kondawar is unmoved. FY26 auto numbers have already come in strong — passenger vehicles up 8%, commercial vehicles, two-wheelers, and farm equipment clocking 12 to 14% growth.

He also flags a striking data point: the price gap between a premium Royal Enfield motorcycle and Maruti’s entry-level S-Presso car has narrowed to just Rs 25,000–30,000, making the aspiration to upgrade from two-wheels to four more achievable than ever. Ancillaries like Uno Minda, which has seen its per-vehicle kit value rise steadily, are among the names he is watching closely.

Defence: A structural shift in modern warfare

Kondawar is particularly bullish on niche defence manufacturers, naming Solar Industries as a stock worth studying. He points to the company’s defence revenue compounding at 40 to 45% annually over the past four to five years, driven by products including Pinaka missile systems, the Nagastra and Brahmastra munitions, and increasingly, counter-drone systems — a segment he believes is strategically critical given the rising use of Kamikaze drones in modern conflicts globally.

The total addressable market for these products, he argues, remains enormous. Solar Industries is simultaneously developing systems that neutralise drone attacks and offensive Kamikaze drones of its own — a dual-sided position in what Kondawar calls the defining technology of contemporary warfare.