Shipbuilding stocks rally up to 14%, MDL hits record high; here's why

Business Standard

29-04-2025

Share price of shipbuilding companies today: Shares price of listed state-owned shipbuilding companies moved higher by up to 14 per cent on the BSE in Tuesday's intra-day trade amid heavy volumes in an otherwise subdued market. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was up 0.13 per cent at 80,420 at 12:48 PM.
Share price of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDL) hit a record high of ₹ 3,035, soaring 9 per cent in intra-day trade on the back of over two-fold jump in trading volumes. The stock surpassed its previous high of ₹ 2,929.98 touched on July 5, 2024.
Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) shares rallied 14 per cent to ₹ 1,9,90 on the back of four-fold jump in average trading volumes. A combined 11.31 million equity shares of GRSE changed hands on the NSE and BSE.
Shares of Cochin Shipyard surged 11 per cent to ₹ 1,667.85. The average trading volumes on the counter rose nearly five-fold with a combined 7.63 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE.
What's fuelling the rally in GRSE stock price?
In the past two trading days, the stock price of GRSE has zoomed 23 per cent after the company announced it will enter into a thirty-year lease agreement (non-renewable) with Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata (SMPK) for a land parcel at Timber Pond, Howrah.
The proposed leased land, with its valuable waterfront access, will support GRSE's initiatives in shipbuilding, ship repair and other engineering activities. Further this step would align with GRSE's long-term vision to strengthen its infrastructure in line with the growing domestic and export demand, ICICI Securities said in a note.
Meanwhile, GRSE marked a major milestone with the keel laying of Yard 3040, the fourth Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessel (NGOPV) under construction at the shipyard. The contracts for indigenous design and construction of eleven NGOPV were concluded with GRSE, and Goa Shipyard (GSL) with seven ships to be constructed by Lead Shipyard GSL and four ships by Follow Shipyard GRSE.
Share price of MDL zooms 58% from February low
Share price of MDL has zoomed 58 per cent from its February month low of ₹ 1,917.95. MDL is the only public sector defence shipyard constructing destroyers & submarines. Currently, MDL has a capacity of building 11 submarines & 10 warships (including destroyers, frigates & other vessels) concurrently.
MDL is well positioned to benefit significantly from an already strong order backlog and robust orders pipeline. Execution is expected to remain strong, led by increasing indigenisation levels, according to analysts.
In April 2025, the government of India had sold 14.56 million equity shares representing 3.61 per cent stake in MDL via offer-for-sale (OFS) route. The government had the fixed floor price of ₹ 2,525 per share.
Opportunities for shipbuilding sector
Provisions in the Union Budget of 2025-26 for establishment of a ₹ 25,000 maritime fund, introduction of Revamped Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy with an outlay of ₹ 18,090 crore, classification of large ships as infrastructure assets etc are expected to boost shipbuilding industry's growth over the long term.
Large ships are classified as infrastructure assets to facilitate long-term, low-cost financing. Exemption of Basic Customs Duty on raw materials, components, consumables or parts for the manufacture of ships for another 10 years.
Make in India/Indigenization: The Indigenization Plan of the Indian Navy up to 2015-2030 states that the industry, including the private sector, can play a vital role in parts to meet the sophisticated needs of the armed forces through cost-effective utilization of its know-how and existing infrastructure, in pursuance of the Government of India's (GoI) vision of Make in India.
Sagarmala Project: As per this project, coastal and inland waterways traffic is expected to shoot up 15 times over the next 20 years. Similarly, capacity augmentation is expected to result in a five times rise in traffic capacity, from the existing 350 million tonnes. This is expected to bring in additional ship repair business.
ICRA's view on shipbuilding sector
India has the potential to develop as a shipbuilding hub due to its expertise in heavy engineering, its long coastline, proximity to major trading routes and low-cost labour. Several bills have been introduced in the Parliament such as The Coastal Shipping Bill 2024, The Merchant Shipping Bill 2024 etc. to revitalise the shipbuilding sector.
These laws enacted recently and provisions in Budget 2025-26 are expected to boost the shipbuilding industry's growth and provide impetus to ship ownership in India. Despite these GoI initiatives – a lot more needs to be done such as higher financial assistance in line with what the other nations provide and tax breaks.