Defence Stocks Rally On Govt Import Curbs

Shares in companies that cater to the Defence forces surged, after the government imposed import curbs on 101 defence items.

Shares in Bharat Electronics surged as much as 13 per cent to Rs 112 per share, while shares in Bharat Dynamics scaled to an all time record high of Rs 465, before some selling pressure saw the stock trade at Rs 444, still up around 5 per cent over Friday's close.

Hindustan Aeronautics too saw its share price jump by 7.5 per cent at Rs 1020, while BEML rose 5 per cent in trade.

In a major push to promote the domestic defence industry, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday announced restrictions on import of 101 weapons and military platforms including light combat helicopters, transport aircraft, conventional submarines and cruise missiles by 2024. This is what led to a surge in the stock prices of companies that cater to the defence forces.

The defence minister has estimated that the domestic defence industry would receive contracts worth almost Rs four lakh crore within the next five to seven years as a result of the decision to prune the import list.