Defence Stocks Surge On Import Curbs
India’s defence stocks surged after the nation announced curbs on the import of 101 weapons and military platforms.
India's defence stocks surged after the nation announced curbs on the import of 101 weapons and military platforms, including light combat helicopters, transport aircraft, conventional submarines and cruise missiles by 2024 — a moved aimed at safeguarding the domestic manufacturers.
- Bharat Electronics: Shares rose as much as 10% — the most in five months — to Rs 109.1 apiece.
- Bharat Dynamics: Shares rose as much as 10.9% to an all-time high of Rs 465.1 apiece.
- Hindustan Aeronautics: The stock gained as much as 9.6% to Rs 1,041 a share — the highest since May 2018.
- BEML: The stock rose as much as 5.3% to Rs 691.8 apiece — the highest in five months.
- Cochin Shipyard: Shares gained as much as 3.8% to Rs 344.65 a share. The company is also set to report its earnings for the quarter ended June on Monday.
The import restrictions, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said, are expected to offer contracts worth almost Rs 4 lakh crore to the domestic defence industry within the next five to seven years. The "big push" is to boost the indigenous defence manufacturing in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative.
Almost 260 schemes of such items were contracted by the Tri-Services at an approximate cost of Rs 3.5 lakh crore between April 2015 and August 2020. It is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs 4 lakh crore will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next 6 to 7 years.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 9, 2020
The ministry has also bifurcated the capital procurement budget for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore for capital procurement in the current financial year, Singh said.