Bharat Forge Expects ‘Qualitatively Better’ 2026 Following Record Defence Win

After signing its largest small arms contract to date, Bharat Forge Ltd. management is positive about its prospects for 2026, with the company anticipating a strong volume of domestic defence wins and infrastructure growth.

Speaking to NDTV Profit, Joint Managing Director Amit Kalyani said the coming year will be "qualitatively better" than 2025, with the largely expected to come from the maturation of the company's defence portfolio.

This comes on the back of Bharat Forge securing a Rs 1,661.9 crore contract from the Ministry of Defence to supply 255,128 Close Quarter Battle (CQB) Carbines over five years.

"These are deeply and fundamentally Indian products, Indian designed, developed and manufactured with complete Indian IP," Kalyani said, referring to the CQB carbines and the ATAGS artillery guns developed with the DRDO. "This is a factor that should give a lot of confidence to the forces."

The recent win pushes the company's defence order book to approximately Rs 11,000 crore. Looking ahead, Kalyani expects naval systems and unmanned platforms to be the next growth frontiers.

"India is dramatically increasing its shipbuilding capacity," Kalyani said. "That's an area where we have a significant opportunity."

This optimism comes despite headwinds in the North American truck market, which impacted Bharat Forge's standalone revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2026. Kalyani, though, downplayed the segment's influence on the broader group.

"I'd just like to deflate this bogey of the US truck market," Kalyani said. "It is approximately... just about a double-digit percentage of our total revenue."

Instead of relying on the Class 8 trucky market in the US, the Bharat Forge JMD said it is india's domestic manufacturing push spanning airports, ports, and railways, that will drive the leg next of growth, as he compared India's growth infra to China.

Regarding the transfer of the defense business to a wholly-owned subsidiary, Kalyani clarified the move was designed to improve operational focus rather than to raise capital immediately.

"This business has a different cadence, it has different DNA," he said. "We need to give it that kind of scaffolding and support."