Mazagon Dock delivers 6th Scorpene submarine to Indian Navy; stock up 3%

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd on Thursday said it delivered the sixth Scorpene submarine 'VAGHSHEER' to the Indian Navy, subsequently to be commissioned as INS Vaghsheer. "Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd continues its saga of 'self-reliance' 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' and 'Make in India' initiative of the government, with the delivery of the sixth Scorpene submarine 'VAGHSHEER' of Project P-75 on January 9, 2025, to the Indian Navy, subsequently to be commissioned into Indian Navy as INS Vaghsheer," the defence PSU stated in a BSE filing.

Sanjeev Singhal, Chairman & Managing Director at Mazagon Doc, said, "The delivery of six submarines namely, Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj, Vela, Vagir and now Vaghsheer, reaffirmed India's membership in the exclusive group of submarine building nations."

"Vaghsheer can undertake multifarious types of missions i.e. Anti-Surface warfare, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Intelligence Gathering, Area Surveillance etc. It is designed to — operate in all theatres of operation, showcasing interoperability with other components of a Naval Task Force. It is another Potent Platform, making a transformational shift in submarine Operations," the company release said.

"Vaghsheer is different from the previous five boats wherein the Submarine is fitted with indigenously developed Air Conditioning Plant and Internal Communication & Broadcast System in addition to Main Batteries and Ku-Band SATCOM (Rukmini)," it added.

The announcement came post-market hours today. On the stock-specific front, Mazagon Dock settled 3.46 per cent higher at Rs 2,231 today. At this price, the multibagger counter has rallied 100.12 per cent in the past one year.

The stock has a price-to-equity (P/E) ratio of 18.18 against a price-to-book (P/B) value of 6.87. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at 122.74 with a return on equity (RoE) of 37.77.

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders is among the leading shipbuilding yards in India. It offers services to the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. As of September 2024, the government held an 84.83 per cent stake in the defence PSU.

Separately, the state-run firm bagged an order worth Rs 1,990 crore from the government to construct an air-independent propulsion (AIP) plug for submarines in December-end last year.

"Ministry of Defence has signed two contracts, worth Rs 2,867 crore, for the construction of Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) Plug for DRDO-AIP system & its integration onboard Indian Submarines, and the integration of Electronic Heavy Weight Torpedo (EHWT) onboard the Kalvari-Class submarines. The contract for construction of AIP Plug and its integration was inked with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai worth around Rs 1,990 crore," it said.