HMT shares soar nearly 15% on revival plan

Mumbai: Shares of HMT zoomed nearly 15 percent today after reports said that the government was targeting revival of HMT Machine Tools.

The stock jumped 13.84 percent to settle at Rs 47.70 on BSE. Intra-day, it gained 18.61 percent to Rs 49.70 .

At NSE, shares of the company advanced by 14.64 percent to close at Rs 47.75.

The company added Rs 429.95 crore to Rs 3,614.95 crore in market valuation.

In terms of volume, 3.45 lakh shares of the company changed hands at BSE and over 18 lakh shares were traded at NSE during the day.

"Having closed down three of its subsidiaries, we are now looking to revive HMT Machine Tools as it is in the strategic sector," a senior official of Department of Heavy Industry told PTI.

The government had decided to close three unviable units of HMT including the once popular HMT Watches, along with HMT Chinar Watches and HMT Bearings, by offering a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to employees.

HMT Machine Tools Limited was carved out as a subsidiary of HMT Ltd (having 100 percent shareholding) in the year 2000 with its head office in Bengaluru.

The company has facilities for manufacturing various types of machine tools and printing machines in its units located at Bengaluru, Pinjore, Kalamassery, Hyderabad and Ajmer.