India's moon mission-linked companies gain ahead of landing attempt

Mishra Dhatu Nigam

23/08/2023 12:31

BENGALURU, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Larsen & Toubro (L&T)
 LART.NS  and other companies that supplied equipment and
materials for India's mission to the moon jumped on Wednesday,
hours before the country attempts to land a spacecraft on the
lunar south pole.
    The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO)
Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft will attempt to land on the lunar south
pole at 6:04 p.m. IST (1234 GMT) on Wednesday, in a mission seen
as crucial to lunar exploration and the country's standing as a
space power.
    The mission has received heightened attention after Russia's
Luna-25 mission failed less than a week earlier.
    Industrial conglomerate L&T, which manufactured some
segments of the booster that launched the spacecraft, ended 1.5%
on the day.
    India's space center in Sriharikota also uses L&T's tracking
radar used to monitor launch vehicles.
    Alloy maker Mishra Dhatu Nigam  MISR.NS , which supplied
cobalt and nickel base alloys for the launch vehicle, jumped
3.4%, while Indo National  INNL.NS , which supplied four
electronics components for the launch vehicle, jumped 5%.
    Precision engineering firm MTAR Technologies  MTAR.NS ,
which counts ISRO among its clients, jumped nearly 5%, while
Paras Defence and Space Technologies  PRAF.NS  added 5.4%.
    Industrial gas firm Linde India  LIND.NS  climbed 3.2% and
is up nearly 19% so far this week, while Centum Electronics
 CENT.NS , which supplied modules for the mission, surged 14.2%.

 (Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio
D'Souza)
 ((chris.thomas@thomsonreuters.com; +91 80 6210 0487;))