India’s nuclear expansion is opening up a niche opportunity in an unlikely corner of the capital goods industry: specialised pumps.
These pumps may not attract the same attention as reactors, turbines or transmission equipment do. But they are critical to a nuclear plant’s operational safety. A primary coolant pump, for instance, circulates coolant through the reactor core to prevent overheating.
That makes nuclear pumps very different from conventional industrial pumps. Suppliers need specialised engineering capabilities, extensive testing and approvals before they can participate in the nuclear supply chain. Once qualified, however, those requirements also create a significant barrier to entry.
This is becoming increasingly relevant as India prepares for a much larger nuclear build-out. India’s nuclear capacity is currently around 8.8 GW, with the government targeting to reach 22 GW by 2032 and 100 GW over the next 20 years.
As these ambitions translate into actual projects, the opportunity for specialised equipment suppliers could be significant. Two listed companies, KSB Ltd. and Kirloskar Brothers Ltd., are positioning themselves to benefit from this opportunity.
#1. KSB Limited: The Incumbent Powerhouse in India’s Nuclear Energy
KSB’s nuclear story is not a recent bet on India’s 100 GW ambition. It goes back nearly five decades. The company entered India’s nuclear equipment ecosystem in 1977, when KSB Germany, KSB India and the Department of Atomic Energy signed an agreement to develop pumps for India’s 220 MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs).
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Since then, the company has supplied and localised pumps across multiple reactor projects and achieved 100% indigenous localisation for some pumps. It has supplied the primary coolant pump packages for Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana (GHAVP) and Kaiga Atomic Power Station. Over the years, KSB has developed pumps for every nuclear application.
Sizeable Order Book That Is Yet to Fully Show Up in Revenue
The biggest attraction of KSB’s nuclear business is the visibility already sitting in its order book. As of June 2026, the company had a nuclear order book of around ₹1,235 crore, covering projects including GHAVP, Kaiga and Kudankulam.
However, order-to-revenue translation has been slow because of lengthy testing and commissioning cycles. In 2025, KSB generated only around ₹30-50 crore in nuclear revenue.
That is expected to change from CY26, as two to four reactor coolant pumps are expected to be invoiced during CY26, generating around ₹100-200 crore in revenue in CY26.
The existing ₹1,200-crore-plus nuclear order book is expected to be executed progressively through CY26-CY28. KSB’s nuclear opportunity is not limited to India. It is supplying equipment to a European nuclear power plant, giving its nuclear business an export opportunity.
Nuclear is an Overlay, Not the Entire Investment Case
KSB is not, however, a pure nuclear play. The company has a much broader industrial business, with standard industrial and water/wastewater pumps accounting for roughly half of domestic order intake. Its energy and petrochemical businesses add exposure to areas such as supercritical boiler feed pumps, firefighting systems and data-centre cooling.
KSB Limited: Financial Performance
| Period | CY2025 | CY2026 | H1CY25 | H1CY26 |
| Revenue (₹ crore) | 2533 | 2696 | 1262 | 1292 |
| YoY Growth (%) | – | 6.4% | – | 2.3% |
| EBITDA (₹ crore) | 350 | 387 | 171 | 146 |
| EBITDA Margin (%) | 13.8 | 14.3% | 13.5% | 11.3% |
| Net Profit (₹ crore) | 241 | 264 | 122 | 97 |
In the first half of 2026, KSB reported 2.3% YoY growth in revenue to ₹1,292 crore, while Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) margins came in at 11.3%, below 13.5% recorded in H1CY25. The modest revenue growth during the current year is attributed to execution delays and revenue slippages in nuclear projects.
Management is targeting 15-20% revenue growth in the core pump segment in CY26, with an operating margin of 13-16%. If nuclear deliveries accelerate alongside the core business, the combination could provide a stronger earnings trajectory.
#2. Kirloskar Brothers Ltd: The Challenger Betting on Indigenous Technology
Kirloskar Brothers (KBL) is taking a different route from KSB. Instead of starting with a large nuclear order book, it is investing in its own technology to become a qualified second supplier.
KBL has been working with the Department of Atomic Energy and NPCIL to develop indigenous pump designs for India’s nuclear programme. It has received a coolant-pump development order and is funding the development of additional pump types for future reactor projects.
The key milestone came in Q3 FY26, when KBL’s prototype coolant pump completed hydraulic and mechanical testing, with the performance exceeding NPCIL’s expectations.
From Technology to Commercial Orders
Unlike KSB, KBL doesn’t publish a standalone nuclear order book. At the end of June 2026, KBL’s standalone pending order book is ₹2,375 crore, of which the power sector, including nuclear, stands at nearly ₹600 crore.
Kirloskar Brothers: Financial Performance
| Period | FY25 | FY26 | Q1FY26 | Q1FY27 |
| Revenue (₹ crore) | 4,492 | 4,538 | 979 | 1,105 |
| YoY Growth (%) | – | 1% | – | 12.9% |
| EBITDA Margin (%) | 15.2% | 13.7% | 13% | 11.8% |
| Net Profit (₹ crore) | 418.7 | 377.2 | 68.5 | 67.6 |
The strong order book is translating into healthy revenue growth in recent quarters. In Q1FY27, KBL reported nearly 13% YoY growth in revenue to ₹1,105 crore. It has maintained the operating margin in the range of 12%.
Alongside its nuclear opportunity, KBL also has a global manufacturing footprint through its KBIBV group, which includes SPP Pumps in the UK and SyncroFlo in the US. These subsidiaries give KBL exposure to higher-value infrastructure markets, including data centres. Around 25% of SPP Inc.’s US business comes from modular cooling and fire packages for hyperscale data centres, adding another growth driver beyond nuclear.
Management is targeting double-digit revenue growth in both domestic and international operations for FY27, backed by a record order book, and is expecting operating margins to expand to 15%.
KSB and KBL are at Two Different Stages of Nuclear Opportunity
While both companies are positioned to benefit from India’s nuclear expansion, the investment cases are fundamentally different.
The Execution vs. Optionality Trade-off: KSB and KBL Compared
| KSB | Kirloskar Brothers | |
| Position | Established nuclear supplier | Emerging Domestic Supplier |
| Nuclear order book | ₹1,235 crore as of June 2026 | Early-stage opportunity |
| Primary coolant pumps | Established supplier | Developing capability |
| Key trigger | Execution and revenue conversion | New approvals and orders |
| Investment case | Visibility | Optionality |
For KSB, the question is largely how fast the existing order book turns into revenue and profit, and wins orders again. For KBL, the question is whether successful product development translates into commercial orders.
KSB vs KBL: What Are Investors Paying For?
KSB and KBL are both diversified pump and engineering companies, with nuclear being one growth opportunity among several.
KSB vs KBL: Valuation Comparison
| Metrics | Trailing P/E | 5-yr Median PE |
| KSB | 53.3 | 49.6 |
| KBL | 37.4 | 28.4 |
KSB and KBL are not pure nuclear plays, so their valuations reflect their broader pump and industrial businesses as well. Still, the comparison shows an important difference. KSB trades at 53.3 times trailing earnings, only modestly above its five-year median P/E of 49.6 times. KBL, at 37.4 times, is trading at a much larger premium to its five-year median of 28.4 times.
This suggests the market is already assigning a higher growth premium to KBL, even though its nuclear opportunity is still at an earlier stage. For KSB, the valuation has to be supported by execution of its existing business and nuclear order book.
More Than a Nuclear Bet
The bigger story here is not nuclear alone. Pump makers are sitting at the intersection of several capital-spending cycles: nuclear, solar, industrial expansion, water infrastructure and data-centre cooling. That broad exposure could make the category a beneficiary of India’s rising demand for power and infrastructure, even if the nuclear build-out takes longer than expected.
Navigating the Commercialization Risk
But the opportunity comes with two important caveats. Nuclear projects have long gestation periods, so order announcements may take years to translate into meaningful earnings. And for companies trading at elevated earnings multiples, any delay in the capex cycle can lead to a sharp reset in expectations.
There is also a difference in what can go wrong. KSB’s risk is largely execution: delays in converting its nuclear pipeline and wider order book into earnings. KBL carries greater commercialisation risk, as its newer nuclear capabilities still need to translate into a meaningful order pipeline.
In this segment, the winners will be the pump companies that can convert India’s multi-sector capex boom into sustained earnings growth without requiring investors to pay too much upfront for it. Add these stocks to your watchlist and monitor how they execute their growth plans.
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Deepan Datta has spent over a decade studying stocks and mutual funds. His passion is to uncover interesting stories in the financial markets and share them through his writings with investors at large. He is focused on delivering clear, easy to understand and research-backed insights. Deepan began his career as a Research Associate at S&P Global, where he developed a strong foundation in financial research and data analysis.
Disclosure: The writer and his dependents do not hold the stocks discussed in this article.
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