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The star-spangled realm of outer space, long the exploratory domain of the United States and Russia, has seen a new player increasingly making its presence known among its constellations.
With the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) this year marking its 100th launch and Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla becoming the first Indian astronaut to set foot on the International Space Station, India’s space industry is rapidly emerging as a global powerhouse. These stellar achievements reach far beyond ISRO to those who have assisted its ascent.
And companies like Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI), the country’s leading producer of high-performance alloys, are behind the scenes making these ambitious dreams a reality.
MIDHANI Chairman and Managing Director SVS Narayana Murty, who assumed his role in April, understands this relationship on a profound level, having most recently served as General Manager in the Materials Development and Production Group at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of ISRO – rounding out a 32-year career with the agency.
“ISRO is an organization that has been built by stalwarts, right from Vikram Sarabhai to the current generation of leaders,” Murty tells The CEO Magazine. “I have picked up so many good ideas there.”
Most important among these is ISRO’s strong culture of reviews and planning.
“You are always working toward a well-defined goal,” he explains.
He plans to bring this mindset to MIDHANI and is already making clear strides.
“Since the system has already been known to me for several years, it has not taken much time to settle into the group,” he says.
“As the only titanium alloy manufacturer in India, MIDHANI provides very niche products.”
With the strength of the organization lying in its human capital, he points out that MIDHANI’s capabilities are very specialized.
“As the only titanium alloy manufacturer in India, MIDHANI provides very niche products,” he points out.
Combined with his deep knowledge of metallurgy and long-standing collaboration with MIDHANI, he aims to align the company’s strengths with national initiatives while ensuring it is the preferred source for new materials.
With India’s space potential fast becoming clear, Murty sees abundant opportunities on the horizon for the company and is enacting a plan to ensure the company effectively capitalizes.
“We are taking a multi-pronged approach,” he says, outlining key initiatives to drive growth and resilience.
The first focus is modernization, with much of the company’s equipment up to 40 years old.
“Some of the equipment is from a time when technology was more primitive and operations were more manual,” he admits. “Now, the current generation machines are more automated and automatically operated.”
Upgrading these facilities will help MIDHANI improve productivity and meet growing demand.
“In the kind of facilities that we have, like open-die forging, the yields are a little lower,” he explains. “We need some augmentation of certain facilities to adopt more advanced technologies and improve efficiency.”
The second priority is capital expenditure.
“We have identified some areas where we can put some money to boost performance and output,” Murty adds.
A third focus addresses raw material security, impacted by geopolitical situations and supply chain bottlenecks. As a result, MIDHANI is attempting to bring that manufacturing sector home to India, particularly around previously imported items like the master alloys used for titanium alloy manufacturing.
“It may look very trivial, but qualifying the local vendor against an imported source itself is a very exhaustive procedure for aeronautical grades,” Murty explains.
MIDHANI’s commitment to these key areas demonstrates its commitment to the Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, translated as ‘Self-Reliant India.’ The national government initiative has been devised to make India more self-sufficient across a number of sectors, such as manufacturing, technology and defense.
But the path is scattered with challenges, with Murty highlighting the securing of assured sources of raw materials as one of the biggest, with many critical metals like nickel, cobalt, molybdenum and tungsten not produced domestically in India.
“Our core strength is melting – we can make any alloy. But we are looking at different areas where MIDHANI can grow over the next three-to-five years.”
“To manufacture these critical alloys, we need a certain quality of ingredients,” he says, highlighting the importance of raw material purity for obtaining mechanical strength and high-temperature resistance.
In order to ensure stability, MIDHANI is also considering expanding into new technologies like additive manufacturing and hot isostatic pressing.
“Our core strength is melting – we can make any strategic alloy,” he says. “But we are looking at different areas where MIDHANI can grow over the next three-to-five years.”
MIDHANI’s portfolio currently includes approximately 500 grades of different alloys, many of which are crucial for aerospace applications. The company aims to leverage this expertise to enter the additive manufacturing market by producing specialized powders for superalloys, titanium and refractory metals.
Meanwhile, Murty recently led a discussion with the entire MIDHANI team around its short-term strategy, with its efforts to meet customer demand for new material grades at the fore. Despite the company’s capabilities, millions of dollars worth of steels, superalloys and titanium alloys are still being imported.
“These are very much in the portfolio of MIDHANI,” Murty stresses. “That means that there is enough business opportunity and we want to capture those.”
“There is enough business opportunity and we want to capture those.”
In line with this, MIDHANI is actively identifying importers and pursuing ‘type certification’ and validation by foreign companies, which will help drive it forward.
“Currently, we have achieved revenue of INR10.75 billion [US$123.95 million] for the 2025 financial year,” he reveals. “We are targeting INR15 billion [US$172.95 million] of revenue in the coming one or two years.”
Looking ahead, Murty sees the company playing a critical role in India’s critical space and defense activities.
“There are a number of ambitious programs of the Government of India – strategic programs,” he stresses.
“There is the Next Generation Launch Vehicle of ISRO and the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft program of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited,” he says.
“Many, many different projects are there. We are looking at what kind of new materials they need, how MIDHANI can be the preferred source and how our expertise can be used. All these things will be my primary goals.”
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