With preparations underway for the ‘pran pratishtha’ or the consecration ceremony of the idol of Lord Ram in Ayodhya on January 22, stocks with a so-called "Ayodhya connection" have grabbed investors' attention. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is one such stock that has touched multiple record highs ahead of highly-anticipated Ram Mandir's inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22.
Ever since November 2020, when L&T bagged the ‘Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple’ project for the construction of the temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, the stock of the engineering and construction major has seen a strong uptrend. The share price of the infrastructure major has turned multibagger in three years, rallying 233% during this period, from ₹1,080 on November 17, 2020, to ₹3,605 on January 15, 2024.
On Monday, shares of L&T hit a new all-time high of ₹3,605.55 in intraday trade, while the market capitalisation climbed to ₹4.92 lakh crore. The stock has risen 74% against its 52-week low of ₹2,073.85 touched on January 31, 2023.
L&T was among the top three gainers in terms of m-cap under the largecap space in 2023. Its market cap rose 65% in a year from ₹2.93 lakh crore as of December 2022 to ₹4.84 lakh crore as of December 29, 2023.
As per the exchange data, the engineering-to-construction conglomerate was the 20th most valued company with m-cap of ₹1.86 lakh crore on the BSE by the end of December 2020. It moved up to 19th rank in terms of m-cap by December 2022, further to 12th spot by the end of 2023. As of date, L&T is the 11th most valued firm on the BSE.
On November 16, 2020, the temple construction committee set up by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust appointed L&T along with Tata Consultancy Engineers as design & build contractor and project manager consultant for the development of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Apart from Ram Mandir, the ‘Statue of Unity’ in Gujarat has also been built by L&T. The company was awarded a contract to build the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which is called the ‘Statue of Unity’. It also built the Lotus Temple in Delhi in 1986.
Set up in 1938 by HH Larsen and SK Toubro, L&T was incorporated in 1946 and reconstituted as a public limited company in 1950. It is one of Asia’s largest vertically integrated EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) conglomerates, with a strong market position across segments such as infrastructure, power, hydrocarbons, heavy engineering, defense engineering, electrical and automation, IT, IT&TS, metallurgical and material handling, and machinery and industrial products. L&T undertakes infrastructure development projects (roads, metro rail, power and transmission lines) through its SPVs.
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