Walchandnagar Industries — profile, milestones and news

Walchandnagar Industries is a heavy-engineering company founded in 1908 by Walchand Hirachand Doshi, listed on the BSE as 507410 and the NSE as WALCHANNAG, and registered since 2026 at Kothrud in Pune. Its work for the Indian Space Research Organisation began in 1973 with motor cases for the SLV-3, and it has since supplied booster motor casings, nozzles, tankages and end rings across the ASLV, PSLV, GSLV Mk II and GSLV Mk III programmes. The company's own count is 141 strap-on boosters and 134 core boosters for PSLV and GSLV Mk II, plus 16 core boosters for GSLV Mk III, fabricated in aerospace-grade materials including 15CDV6, high-strength maraging steel, titanium and aluminium alloys.

Its largest launch-vehicle hardware is the S200 solid strap-on booster flown on the LVM3, built as three segments — head end, middle and nozzle end — of 3.2 metre diameter and about 20 metres total length. For the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme the company built a hydraulic proof pressure testing facility, completed in 15 months, which fills segments with oil and raises the internal pressure to simulate functional parameters; it describes the facility as the first in the country, and S. Somanath, then director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, praised the association at the virtual inauguration reported in December 2020. In an interview with Modern Manufacturing India, managing director Chirag Doshi said over 40 percent of the company's resources are dedicated exclusively to supporting India's space programme, and that its S139 and S200 booster hardware went into Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3 and Mangalyaan.

Its space orders since have been smaller than the 2019 peak. In September 2019 the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre placed an order worth Rs 77.20 crore plus escalation for 30 head, middle and nozzle end segments for the GSLV Mk III, which the company called its second-largest single order from ISRO. In March 2025 it won a Rs 30.75 crore VSSC contract for five units each of S139 head end, middle and nozzle end segments in maraging steel of 2.8 metre nominal diameter, valid for five years from 28 March 2025, with up to three further units available on the same terms; managing director Chirag Doshi said the company had already delivered over 200 such segments for PSLV and GSLV Mk II missions. In a May 2025 press release the company said it had joined a consortium bidding for the privatisation of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle programme.

Space sits inside a defence, nuclear and aerospace portfolio that the company calls its DNA, and the wider business has been loss-making. Labour unrest at the Satara foundry in March 2025 produced a lockout that the company blamed for weak foundry revenue, and it booked a one-time provision of Rs 43.62 crore on cost overruns in its legacy TNEB project the same year. The lockout was withdrawn on 24 November 2025 and manufacturing there resumed from 20 December 2025. Losses then narrowed: a net loss of Rs 11.90 crore in the second quarter of FY26 on revenue of Rs 51.78 crore gave way to a third-quarter profit of Rs 466 lakh, and the year to 31 March 2026 closed with revenue of Rs 296.26 crore, EBITDA of Rs 35.49 crore against negative Rs 35.61 crore a year earlier, a net loss of Rs 14.68 crore against Rs 86.03 crore, and orders on hand of Rs 871.77 crore. Chief financial officer Nishant Saigal resigned on 30 July 2026, effective 19 October 2026.

What they build and operate

S200 booster segments · Component · Operational
Head end, middle and nozzle end segments of the LVM3 S200 solid strap-on booster, 3.2 metres in diameter and about 20 metres long assembled, proof-pressure tested in-house.^[6][7]
S139 segment hardware · Component · Operational
Maraging steel head end, middle and nozzle end segments of the 2.8 metre S139 stage used on PSLV and GSLV Mk II; the company says it has delivered over 200 and is the sole producer of the head end and nozzle end components.^[8][4]
Flex nozzle control tankages · Component · Operational
Tankages and hardware for the flex nozzle control system of ISRO launch vehicles, supplied alongside the booster casings.^[7]
Proof pressure testing facility · Facility · Operational
Hydraulic test facility built in 15 months for large solid booster segments, which the company describes as the first of its kind in the country.^[6]

Milestones

1973
Began supplying ISRO with motor cases for the SLV-3, opening a five-decade run of launch-vehicle hardware work.^[1][7]
2001
United States sanctions imposed after the Pokhran-II nuclear tests over the company's role in India's nuclear and space programmes were dropped.^[15]
12 September 2019
Won an order worth Rs 77.20 crore plus escalation from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre for 30 head, middle and nozzle end segments for the GSLV Mk III, described as the company's second-largest single ISRO order; the shares hit a 20 percent upper circuit at Rs 72.15.^[5]
December 2020
Inaugurated a proof pressure testing facility for S200 booster segments destined for the Gaganyaan launch vehicle, with VSSC director S. Somanath attending virtually.^[6]
March 2025
Labour unrest at the Satara foundry led to a lockout of the plant, which the company said cut revenue for the year to March 2025.^[4]
28 March 2025
Secured a Rs 30.75 crore VSSC contract for five units each of S139 head end, middle and nozzle end segment hardware, valid five years from 28 March 2025.^[8][4]
22 May 2025
Reported an executable order book of Rs 580 crore as on 31 March 2025 and a one-time provision of Rs 43.62 crore on the loss-making legacy TNEB project, and said it had joined a consortium bidding for privatisation of the SSLV programme.^[4]
15 November 2025
Second-quarter FY26 results showed a net loss of Rs 11.90 crore on revenue of Rs 51.78 crore, down 23.70 percent year on year.^[9]
24 November 2025
Withdrew the lockout at the Satara foundry; manufacturing operations there resumed from 20 December 2025.^[10][12]
29 January 2026
Board approved moving the registered office from Tardeo Road in Mumbai to Kothrud in Pune and re-appointed Chirag C. Doshi as managing director and chief executive for three years from 1 April 2026, subject to shareholder approval.^[11]
July 2026
Full-year results to 31 March 2026 showed a narrowed net loss of Rs 14.68 crore against Rs 86.03 crore, revenue of Rs 296.26 crore, positive EBITDA of Rs 35.49 crore, and orders on hand of Rs 871.77 crore.^[12][13]
30 July 2026
Chief financial officer Nishant Saigal resigned citing better future prospects, with effect from 19 October 2026 and no successor named.^[14]

Facilities

Heavy Engineering Division · Walchandnagar, Pune district, Maharashtra
Mother plant about 130 km from Pune, where launch-vehicle motor casings and booster segments are fabricated.^[2][7]
Foundry Division · Satara Road, Koregaon taluka, Satara district, Maharashtra
Foundry plant locked out after labour unrest in March 2025; the lockout was withdrawn on 24 November 2025 and manufacturing resumed from 20 December 2025.^[2][4][10]
Instrumentation Division · Attikola, Dharwad, Karnataka
Instrumentation manufacturing plant, one of the company's three works.^[2]

Leadership

Chirag C. Doshi
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (as of 29 January 2026)^[11][3]
Chakor L. Doshi
Chairman (as of 30 January 2026)^[11][3]
G. S. Agrawal
Whole-Time Director and Company Secretary (as of 30 July 2026)^[14][3]

Sources

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