Walchandnagar Industries shares jump 20% on Rs 77.20 crore order from ISRO

Shares of Walchandnagar Industries Ltd were locked in 20 percent upper circuit, quoting at Rs 72.15 per share on Thursday, after the engineering firm won an order worth over Rs 77.20 crore from the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. The stock has risen 34.5 percent in the period.

Walchandnagar, the maker of industrial equipment, will manufacture and supply 'Head, Middle and Nozzle End Segments' (a total number of 30) for the GSLV M KIII launch vehicle. It is the company's second-largest single order from ISRO and the largest as far as the GSLV-M KIII launch vehicle is concerned.

Additionally, Walchandnagar Industries is expecting defence orders for Akash Missiles

to the tune of more than Rs 100 crore in the next couple of months, said GK Pillai, managing director and CEO of the company.

Pillai said there have been delays in the finalisation of defence orders and the overall order book from the segment stands at Rs 150 crore. "Order inflows from that segment till date (this year) have been only to the extent of Rs 10-12 crore which could be due to non-clearance of the budget for the defence expenditure," said Pillai in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Established in 1908, Walchandnagar Industries is a heavy engineering company with presence in sectors like defence, nuclear & aerospace and industrial products like gears, centrifugals, castings and cauges, as per the company's website.

Walchandnagar has supplied critical components for India's first Moon mission 'Chandrayaan-I' and India's first Mars mission 'Mangalyaan', as per the website.

The S&P BSE SmallCap index, where the stock is listed, traded a little over half a percent higher.