HAL's stock drops 6% as it exits AMCA program
HAL's stock dropped over 6% on Wednesday after news broke that the state-run giant won't be part of India's Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program.
For the first time, a major defense project is moving forward without HAL, which has long been at the heart of India's aerospace scene.
Stock dip and year-on-year gains
This move prompted a stock fall and coincided with reports of leveraged positions of close to ₹1,500 crore in the MTF book.
The sudden stock dip was a setback, but the stock has gained about 12% over the past year, raising eyebrows for anyone tracking India's biggest aerospace player.
Private players in the race for AMCA
Instead of sticking with HAL, three private contenders—Tata Advanced Systems, an L&T-led group, and a Bharat Forge-BEML-Data Patterns alliance—are now in the running.
The government wants more competition and efficiency by opening up big defense projects to private players.
The program has an estimated development budget of about ₹15,000 crore and involves building five prototypes; timelines for test flights and development completion have not been specified.