India’s nuclear enlargement is opening up a distinct segment alternative in an unlikely nook of the capital items business: specialised pumps.
These pumps could not entice the identical consideration as reactors, generators or transmission gear do. However they’re crucial to a nuclear plant’s operational security. A main coolant pump, as an example, circulates coolant by way of the reactor core to forestall overheating.
That makes nuclear pumps very totally different from typical industrial pumps. Suppliers want specialised engineering capabilities, in depth testing and approvals earlier than they’ll take part within the nuclear provide chain. As soon as certified, nevertheless, these necessities additionally create a major barrier to entry.
That is turning into more and more related as India prepares for a a lot bigger nuclear build-out. India’s nuclear capability is at present round 8.8 GW, with the government targeting to achieve 22 GW by 2032 and 100 GW over the subsequent 20 years.
As these ambitions translate into precise tasks, the chance for specialised gear suppliers might be vital. Two listed corporations, KSB Ltd. and Kirloskar Brothers Ltd., are positioning themselves to profit from this chance.
#1. KSB Restricted: The Incumbent Powerhouse in India’s Nuclear Power
KSB’s nuclear story shouldn’t be a current guess on India’s 100 GW ambition. It goes again practically 5 many years. The corporate entered India’s nuclear gear ecosystem in 1977, when KSB Germany, KSB India and the Division of Atomic Power signed an settlement to develop pumps for India’s 220 MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs).
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Since then, the corporate has provided and localised pumps throughout a number of reactor tasks and achieved 100% indigenous localisation for some pumps. It has provided the first coolant pump packages for Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana (GHAVP) and Kaiga Atomic Energy Station. Through the years, KSB has developed pumps for each nuclear utility.
Sizeable Order E book That Is But to Totally Present Up in Income
The most important attraction of KSB’s nuclear business is the visibility already sitting in its order e book. As of June 2026, the corporate had a nuclear order e book of round ₹1,235 crore, masking tasks together with GHAVP, Kaiga and Kudankulam.
Nevertheless, order-to-revenue translation has been sluggish due to prolonged testing and commissioning cycles. In 2025, KSB generated solely round ₹30-50 crore in nuclear income.
That’s anticipated to vary from CY26, as two to 4 reactor coolant pumps are anticipated to be invoiced throughout CY26, producing round ₹100-200 crore in income in CY26.
The prevailing ₹1,200-crore-plus nuclear order e book is predicted to be executed progressively by way of CY26-CY28. KSB’s nuclear alternative shouldn’t be restricted to India. It’s supplying gear to a European nuclear energy plant, giving its nuclear enterprise an export alternative.
Nuclear is an Overlay, Not the Total Funding Case
KSB shouldn’t be, nevertheless, a pure nuclear play. The corporate has a much wider industrial enterprise, with commonplace industrial and water/wastewater pumps accounting for roughly half of home order consumption. Its vitality and petrochemical companies add publicity to areas comparable to supercritical boiler feed pumps, firefighting methods and data-centre cooling.
KSB Restricted: Monetary Efficiency
| Interval | CY2025 | CY2026 | H1CY25 | H1CY26 |
| Income (₹ crore) | 2533 | 2696 | 1262 | 1292 |
| YoY Progress (%) | – | 6.4% | – | 2.3% |
| EBITDA (₹ crore) | 350 | 387 | 171 | 146 |
| EBITDA Margin (%) | 13.8 | 14.3% | 13.5% | 11.3% |
| Web Revenue (₹ crore) | 241 | 264 | 122 | 97 |
Within the first half of 2026, KSB reported 2.3% YoY development in income to ₹1,292 crore, whereas Earnings Earlier than Curiosity, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) margins got here in at 11.3%, under 13.5% recorded in H1CY25. The modest income development throughout the present yr is attributed to execution delays and income slippages in nuclear tasks.
Administration is focusing on 15-20% income development within the core pump section in CY26, with an working margin of 13-16%. If nuclear deliveries speed up alongside the core enterprise, the mixture might present a stronger earnings trajectory.
#2. Kirloskar Brothers Ltd: The Challenger Betting on Indigenous Expertise
Kirloskar Brothers (KBL) is taking a special route from KSB. As an alternative of beginning with a big nuclear order e book, it’s investing in its personal expertise to change into a professional second provider.
KBL has been working with the Division of Atomic Power and NPCIL to develop indigenous pump designs for India’s nuclear programme. It has obtained a coolant-pump growth order and is funding the event of extra pump sorts for future reactor tasks.
The important thing milestone got here in Q3 FY26, when KBL’s prototype coolant pump accomplished hydraulic and mechanical testing, with the efficiency exceeding NPCIL’s expectations.
From Expertise to Business Orders
Not like KSB, KBL doesn’t publish a standalone nuclear order e book. On the finish of June 2026, KBL’s standalone pending order e book is ₹2,375 crore, of which the ability sector, together with nuclear, stands at practically ₹600 crore.
Kirloskar Brothers: Monetary Efficiency
| Interval | FY25 | FY26 | Q1FY26 | Q1FY27 |
| Income (₹ crore) | 4,492 | 4,538 | 979 | 1,105 |
| YoY Progress (%) | – | 1% | – | 12.9% |
| EBITDA Margin (%) | 15.2% | 13.7% | 13% | 11.8% |
| Web Revenue (₹ crore) | 418.7 | 377.2 | 68.5 | 67.6 |
The sturdy order e book is translating into wholesome income development in current quarters. In Q1FY27, KBL reported practically 13% YoY development in income to ₹1,105 crore. It has maintained the working margin within the vary of 12%.
Alongside its nuclear alternative, KBL additionally has a worldwide manufacturing footprint by way of its KBIBV group, which incorporates SPP Pumps within the UK and SyncroFlo within the US. These subsidiaries give KBL publicity to higher-value infrastructure markets, together with data centres. Round 25% of SPP Inc.’s US enterprise comes from modular cooling and hearth packages for hyperscale knowledge centres, including one other development driver past nuclear.
Administration is focusing on double-digit income development in each home and worldwide operations for FY27, backed by a document order e book, and is anticipating working margins to develop to fifteen%.
KSB and KBL are at Two Completely different Levels of Nuclear Alternative
Whereas each corporations are positioned to profit from India’s nuclear enlargement, the funding circumstances are essentially totally different.
The Execution vs. Optionality Commerce-off: KSB and KBL In contrast
| KSB | Kirloskar Brothers | |
| Place | Established nuclear provider | Rising Home Provider |
| Nuclear order e book | ₹1,235 crore as of June 2026 | Early-stage alternative |
| Main coolant pumps | Established provider | Growing functionality |
| Key set off | Execution and income conversion | New approvals and orders |
| Funding case | Visibility | Optionality |
For KSB, the query is essentially how briskly the present order e book turns into income and revenue, and wins orders once more. For KBL, the query is whether or not profitable product growth interprets into industrial orders.
KSB vs KBL: What Are Buyers Paying For?
KSB and KBL are each diversified pump and engineering corporations, with nuclear being one development alternative amongst a number of.
KSB vs KBL: Valuation Comparability
| Metrics | Trailing P/E | 5-yr Median PE |
| KSB | 53.3 | 49.6 |
| KBL | 37.4 | 28.4 |
KSB and KBL are usually not pure nuclear plays, so their valuations replicate their broader pump and industrial companies as effectively. Nonetheless, the comparability reveals an essential distinction. KSB trades at 53.3 instances trailing earnings, solely modestly above its five-year median P/E of 49.6 instances. KBL, at 37.4 instances, is buying and selling at a a lot bigger premium to its five-year median of 28.4 instances.
This implies the market is already assigning a better development premium to KBL, regardless that its nuclear alternative remains to be at an earlier stage. For KSB, the valuation must be supported by execution of its current enterprise and nuclear order e book.
Extra Than a Nuclear Wager
The larger story right here shouldn’t be nuclear alone. Pump makers are sitting on the intersection of a number of capital-spending cycles: nuclear, solar, industrial enlargement, water infrastructure and data-centre cooling. That broad publicity might make the class a beneficiary of India’s rising demand for energy and infrastructure, even when the nuclear build-out takes longer than anticipated.
Navigating the Commercialization Threat
However the alternative comes with two essential caveats. Nuclear tasks have lengthy gestation durations, so order bulletins could take years to translate into significant earnings. And for corporations buying and selling at elevated earnings multiples, any delay within the capex cycle can result in a pointy reset in expectations.
There may be additionally a distinction in what can go fallacious. KSB’s danger is essentially execution: delays in changing its nuclear pipeline and wider order e book into earnings. KBL carries higher commercialisation danger, as its newer nuclear capabilities nonetheless must translate right into a significant order pipeline.
On this section, the winners would be the pump corporations that may convert India’s multi-sector capex growth into sustained earnings development with out requiring buyers to pay an excessive amount of upfront for it. Add these stocks to your watchlist and monitor how they execute their development plans.
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Deepan Datta has spent over a decade learning shares and mutual funds. His ardour is to uncover fascinating tales within the monetary markets and share them by way of his writings with buyers at massive. He’s centered on delivering clear, simple to grasp and research-backed insights. Deepan started his profession as a Analysis Affiliate at S&P World, the place he developed a robust basis in monetary analysis and knowledge evaluation.
Disclosure: The author and his dependents don’t maintain the shares mentioned on this article.
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