BEL To HAL: Antique Bullish On These Defence Stocks As Centre Clears Rs 79,000-Crore Arms Acquisition

Brokerage firm Antique has reiterated its positive stance on Indian defence stocks following the Defence Acquisition Council’s (DAC) approval of capital procurement proposals worth Rs 79,000 crore.

The approvals, aimed at enhancing the operational capabilities of the Indian Navy and Air Force, are part of a broader push to promote domestic manufacturing. Antique maintains a ‘Buy’ rating on key players including Mazagon Dock Ltd., Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd., Bharat Dynamics Ltd., Zen Technologies Ltd., Solar Industries Ltd., and PTC Industries Ltd.

In fiscal year 2026 so far, DAC has accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for proposals worth approximately Rs 2,50,000 crore under various categories of capital procurement. “Thus, it has already surpassed the FY25 approvals of Rs 2,20,000. The total share of domestic procurement has seen a phenomenal improvement from 54% in FY19 to 92% in FY25,” Antique said.

DAC has approved proposals to enhance operational capabilities of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. These include procurement of Landing Platform Dock, Advanced Light Weight Torpedoes, Collaborative Long Range Target Saturation/ Destruction System, Nag Missile System (Tracked) Mk-II; and Ground Based Mobile ELINT System.

“In our view, the LPDs could be the largest in terms of value and the contenders for this order could be MDL, CSL, L&T Shipbuilding, and GRSE. BEL and BDL can expect orders for ELINT System and Mag Missiles, respectively,” the brokerage said in its note.