Punj Lloyd rallies 10% on fund raising plans, defence deals

NEW DELHI: Punj Lloyd Ltd rallied as much as 10.05 per cent in trade on Wednesday after media reports suggested that the engineering firm plans to divest assets that aren't key to its main business by the end of October.

Punj Lloyd seeks to raise upwards of Rs.1,000 crore to pare debt and make new investments. The company may sell its 17% stake in Medanta Medicity Hospitals and some of its offshore barges, added the report.

At 09:20 a.m.; Punj Lloyd was trading 7.8 per cent higher at Rs 38.60. It hit a low of Rs 37.60 and a high of Rs 39.40 in trade today.

In a bid to boost domestic defence manufacturing, the commerce ministry Tuesday said it has cleared 33 proposals in the sector. Of the 33 proposals, Punj Lloyd managed to bag licences that they had been waiting for.

"Similarly, the promoters of Punj Lloyd together have a 37 per cent stake, which restricted a wholly owned subsidiary's ability to bag licences to manufacture torpedoes, rocket launchers and combat vehicle," TOI reported.