Former Congress Party President Rahul Gandhi is well known for spouting falsehoods against India and the incumbent government led by PM Narendra Modi, not only on Indian soil but multiple times on foreign land too. In his desperate attempt to discredit Modi, the top leader of the Congress, among other things, has frequently woven a cacophony of lies about the state-run aerospace company- Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
In 2019, he went as far as to forecast the impending doom of HAL and blamed the Modi administration for it. However, whether the Gandhi scion likes it or not, the truth is that not only have HAL shares jumped five times its price in the last five years, but the market capitalisation of the state-owned aerospace company has also crossed the Rs 1.30 trillion mark with the stock hitting a new high of Rs 3894 (at the time of publishing this report) on the NSE.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister for Electronics and Technology, shared a chart showing the share price of HAL over the previous five years on July 24. The share price of HAL was Rs. 789.30 on July 27, 2018. Meanwhile, as of Monday (July 24, 2023), the share price of HAL was trending at Rs 3908. Thus, during the course of five years, HAL’s share price has increased 4.95 times. This is unique because the rise has been consistent in these five years.
Under PM @narendramodi ji's govt Public Sector Units, Banks etc grow , expand n become competitive. Eg @HALHQBLR shares have grown 5 times
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) July 24, 2023
Under Rahuls Cong, Public sector units n Banks were piggy banks for loot n imports were encouraged – Just look at companies like BSNL,… pic.twitter.com/JdJTwsZgqh
HAL is a defence public sector undertaking (DPSU) which is engaged in the business to undertake design, development, manufacturing, maintenance, repair, overhaul, and servicing of products like aircraft, helicopters, engines and other related systems like avionics, instruments, and accessories. In addition to this, the corporation uses homegrown technology to produce combat planes and missiles. It also engages with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to contribute to the space programmes of the country.
Recently, on July 20, Argentina’s Ministry of Defence and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) inked a Letter of Intent (LoI) pledging their commitment to a productive partnership and the purchase of Light and Medium Utility Helicopters for Argentina’s armed services. Prior to this, the US company, GE Aerospace announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force. After this deal of $ 716 million (Rs 5868.58 crore), high-tech engines will be manufactured in India.
For the fiscal year 2022–2023 (FY23), HAL reported its highest-ever revenue from operations, amounting to around Rs 26,500 crore (provisional and unaudited), compared to Rs 24,620 crore the year before. In comparison to FY22, the company’s sales increased by 8% throughout the year.
After the shipments from FY23 were liquidated, the company’s order book was around Rs 82,000 crore at the end of March 2023. Fresh contracts worth over Rs 26,000 crore were obtained throughout the year, including those for the production of 70 HTT -40, 6 Do-228 aircraft, and PSL V launch vehicles. Additionally, HAL stated in a media statement that the ROH front saw new orders of Rs 16,600 crore throughout the year.
With payments of over Rs 25,000 crore received from various Defence Customers during FY23, the company’s cash flow has also improved significantly.
In light of the state-run aircraft company’s constant growth over the previous five years, it is important to remember Rahul Gandhi’s predictions from 2019 and how they might now be coming back to haunt him.
In January 2019, Rahul Gandhi, who was the president of the grand old party then, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “weakening” the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to help his “suit-boot” friend.
His allegation came after media published reports that said the company, struggling with low finances has been forced to borrow money to pay salaries to its employees. On January 6th, the Times of India published a report that said not a single rupee had accrued to HAL of the Rs. 1 lakh crores that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had spoken about in the parliament. Rahul Gandhi proceeded to use that report to target the Modi government.
When you tell one lie, you need to keep spinning out more lies, to cover up the first one.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 6, 2019
In her eagerness to defend the PM's Rafale lie, the RM lied to Parliament.
Tomorrow, RM must place before Parliament documents showing 1 Lakh crore of Govt orders to HAL.
Or resign. pic.twitter.com/dYafyklH9o
Rahul asserted that the Raksha Mantri had lied in Parliament to “defend PM’s Rafale lie”. However, in this regard, Nirmala Sitharaman came all guns blazing with documentary proof.
Nirmala Sitharaman retaliated to Rahul’s tweet by tweeting that he should “start from ABCs” and read the complete report before commenting on it. She furthered “It’s a shame that the president of @INCIndia is spreading lies and misleading the country. HAL has signed contracts worth Rs 73,000 crore are in the pipeline. Will @RahulGandhi apologise to the country… and resign?”
In order to back her claims, Sitharaman also put out details of the contract awarded to HAL since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.
Similarly, in 2018, Rahul Gandhi tried to instigate workers of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to create unrest in the organisation, thereby affecting production in the crucial plant. The party’s Twitter handle also went into overdrive mode while covering Rahul Gandhi’s misadventure. He declared that the company was in danger. Rahul Gandhi went a set ahead and planned an interaction event with employees and former employees of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited today at Cubbon Park in October 2018.
Congress party and Rahul Gandhi had aimed the event to launch fresh attacks at the government over their claim that the government has ‘cheated’ HAL in the Rafale deal and ‘gifted it to Anil Ambani’, but the HAL employees association has reportedly officially distanced itself from the meeting.
Given that the company’s financial situation is skyrocketing and it has taken the 52nd slot in the total market cap list, the Gandhi scion must not be too thrilled right now.
