Mumbai: Shares of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) on Thursday surged over 10%, its biggest gains in one year, on reports that the company will make rolling stock for bullet trains. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone of India’s first bullet train project, a high-speed rail link to Mumbai, in Ahmedabad earlier on Thursday.
The stock touched a high of Rs145.80 a share and gained as much as 10.1%, its maximum advance since 7 September 2016. At 11.11am, BHEL was trading at Rs143.75 on the BSE, up 8.5% from its previous close. The stock gained for the fourth session and rose 15% in this period. Year to date, it has gained nearly 20%.
“Bharat Heavy and Kawasaki Heavy Industries to collaborate for making rolling stock for bullet train project,” Bloomberg reported, quoting Abe in Ahmedabad.
The 534-km Rs1 trillion high-speed rail project that will operate trains with average speeds of 200-250kmph will be a game-changer in terms of inter-urban connectivity and establish India as a market for such technologies. The bullet train, which has a capacity to accommodate 750 people, is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities from seven to three hours.
At 11.32am, BHEL shares were trading 7.28% higher at Rs142.20, while Sensex was up by 12 points, or 0.04%, at 32,199.