L&T shares rise as firm partners with BEL for Indian Air Force next-gen tech; all you need to know

The consortium will participate in the Expression of Interest notice issued by the Government of India’s (GoI) Aeronautical Development Agency by way of submitting a response in the coming weeks, L&T said in a filing.

"The partnership will leverage L&T’s expertise in developing strategic defence and aerospace platforms, along with BEL’s experience in defence electronics and systems, to jointly contribute to India’s 5th-generation fighter aircraft," the infrastructure major said.

By combining the strengths of the two leading defence technology providers, the partnership seeks to deliver a cutting-edge, high-quality solution, it further stated.

In the past, L&T and the Navratna PSU have played pivotal roles in India’s indigenous Light Combat Aircraft programme by supplying major aerostructure modules and developing mission-critical avionics and electronic systems.

Commenting on the development, S N Subrahmanyan, Chairman & Managing Director, L&T, said, “The collaboration with BEL marks a significant leap in our commitment to the modernisation of India's defence capabilities. We are honoured to be working with BEL to deliver next-generation technologies for the Indian Air Force. Both the organisations are leaders in our respective domains, and our combined efforts will play a crucial role in bolstering national security and advancing self-reliance in defence technologies.”

Following the development, shares of L&T surged on Wednesday. At 12:09 PM, the stock was trading at ₹3,688.20 per share on the National Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, shares of Bharat Electronics were trading lower. It had slipped 2% to an intraday low of ₹396.20 apiece. At the time of writing the article, BEL shares were trading at ₹397.95 apiece, losing 1.61% on NSE.