Shares of Paras Defence and Space Technologies (Paras Defence) rose 5% in early trade on March 15 after the company announced it had reached an agreement with Israel-based CONTROP Precision Technologies.

On Wednesday, the defence company informed the exchange that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with CONTROP Precision Technologies on March 14, 2023, to create new opportunities and expand both parties’ businesses in India and the global defence sector.

Under the agreement, Paras Defence said in a regulatory filing that the two parties intend to form a joint venture in India to manufacture electro-optical systems for various applications in line with the Government of India’s “Make in India” programme.

Shares of Paras Defence were trading 3.7% higher at Rs 498.15 on the BSE at 10:43 am. After hitting a high of Rs 785.90 per share in September 2022, the stock has declined as investors took profits.

The government’s focus on Atmanirbhar Bharat has encouraged investors to focus on defence stocks. Some market participants believe that public defenders may be a risky bet.

Paras Defence is a leading player in the Indian defence and aerospace industry and one of the few Indian companies with specialised technical capabilities such as optical and EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) protection.

According to Nuvama, it provides products and services to five key product verticals – Defence and Space Optics (51% of FY22 revenue), Defence Electronics and EMP Solutions (26%), Heavy Engineering (23%) And through the subsidiary UAV and Counter-Drone Systems Fortune Research.