Defence stocks surge up to 7% on FDI reforms

Shares of companies related to defence space surged up to 7 per cent today after the government launched a second wave of FDI reforms easing norms in the sector.
Reliance Defence soared 7.39 per cent, Walchandnagar Industries went up by 5.56 per cent and BEML rose by 3.96 per cent on BSE.
Among others, Astra Microwave Products climbed 3.62 per cent, Bharat Electronics Ltd rose by 2.02 per cent.
In the defence sector, the policy has been tweaked to allow 100 per cent FDI by doing away with the condition of access to "state of the art" technology. It has now been modified to "modern or for other reasons", a move that will widen the scope of investment by foreign players.

The new norms have also been made applicable to manufacturing of small arms and ammunitions covered under Arms Act 1959. Under the current policy, FDI up to 49 per cent was allowed under automatic route and beyond that under the approval route.