Solar Industries rides defence tailwinds. Sustaining growth is the real test
West Asia conflict, which is expected to tighten global ammunition supplies and push up defence spending.The company’s defence business has scaled rapidly, with revenue growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 82% between FY21 and FY25, according to an Elara Securities report dated 24 March. Its share of total sales rose from just 5% in FY21 to 18% in FY25.“We see this segment driving the next phase of superior growth,” the report said, citing India’s ₹2.2 trillion defence capex (FY27 BE), rising geopolitical tensions and a global uptick in military spending.
Elara expects the segment’s contribution to expand further to 42% by FY28E from about 24% currently. Revenues from the high-margin defence vertical, spanning both domestic and export markets, are already up 76% in 9MFY26.Solar Industries has steadily transformed, diversifying from being an industrial explosives franchise into a vertically integrated defence manufacturer with presence in high-entry-barriers segments such as propellants, warheads, among others.
Also, indigenization is expected to help sustain its growth momentum.As per Nuvama Research, Solar Industries has comparatively lower import intensity, at about 9% of FY25 revenue, compared with peers such as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd, with dependence largely restricted to select specialized chemicals and energetic material inputs within its explosives and ammunition portfolio.A robust order book of ₹18,000 crore as of Q3FY26 for the defence segment of the total ₹21,000 crore, roughly nine times trailing twelve-month segment revenue, underpins visibility. Among the big-ticket orders are supply of ammunition for Nagastra (an indigenously developed loitering munition),
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