RVNL, IRFC, Ircon International: Railway stocks fall up to 3% amid Israel-Hamas war. Here's why

Railways-linked stocks such as Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd (IRFC), Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) and IRCON International Ltd fell up to 3 per cent in Monday's trade, as attacks on Israel by Iran-backed militant group Hamas raised fears of whether the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) project, a cross-border ship-to-rail transit network, would take off. The project was supposed to pass through Saudi Arabia and Israel but Saudi's voicing support for Hamas may hurt any peace talks between the two key players in the project.

At 10.40 am, shares of IRFC, which is tasked with raising of resources to meet Indian Railways' developmental needs, were trading 2.98 per cent lower Rs 72.58. RVNL, which executes, finances and implements projects that related to rail infrastructure, declined 3.32 per cent to Rs 164.30. IRCON International tanked 3.46 per cent to Rs 136.75. Shares of RITES, which is engineering and consultancy organisation under the Ministry of Railways, fell 1.61 per cent to 473.95. Titagarh Rail Systems declined 2.69 per cent to Rs 749.85.

India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Israel were among countries in need of greater infrastructure, analysts noted, as the Middle-Eastern nations looked to evolve beyond being oil-based economies. IMEC, they noted, also included proposals on green hydrogen.

Jefferies had in an October 4 note suggested India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) linking India with the Gulf and Europe would have been seen as a counterpart to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. "Modi and India still have a foot in both camps given India’s membership of BRICS. Such a stance of strategic autonomy makes total sense from a New Delhi perspective," it had suggested.

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