Midhani Anticipates Rs 500 Crore In New Orders By March, Says Chairman SK Jha

Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd. or Midhani expects orders from new avenues worth Rs 500 crore through March 2023, according to Chairman SK Jha. This is over and above the current order flow of Rs 1,500 crore, he said.

"A lot of armour requirements have come up recently, especially for bulletproof vehicles... requirements for bulletproof jackets, including other accessories in the ballistic area," Jha, who is also the managing director at Midhani, told BQ Prime's Niraj Shah.

"The market position [of all these] is around Rs 250-300 crore... and that's what Midhani stands to capture."

The Hyderabad-based PSU under the Ministry of Defence manufactures specialised steels and alloys, catering to the defence, space, and other critical industries.

Jha anticipates an increased order flow for the state-run company's strategic products as demand from the missile, nuclear energy, and space segments picks up. 

Order inflow is expected to grow in the missile segment, with more trials being approved, Jha said. Demand from the nuclear energy segment would also increase as new projects pick up pace, he said.

"ISRO has started moving very quickly, and India has a good number of satellites lined up for launch. Their launch vehicles are going to take off very fast," he said. "Certainly, I am expecting some momentum in orders from there in the next 12 to 18 months."

Orderbook will also stand to gain from the company's recent foray into stainless steel wide plate production as the segment has huge potential, the CMD said.

"Today our margins are good because we are operating in a niche segment. As volumes increase, we definitely cannot operate with the same margin," Jha said. "The second quarter was very tough for us as the raw material prices had gone up and our orders had a firm price."

But now it's up to us to see how much resilience we can muster, he said.

In the next three years, the target is to make exports 20% of the company's turnover, which is also going to increase. These targets have been laid down by the defence ministry, and all defence PSUs are working towards them.

Watch the full conversation here: