Largest-Ever Dredging Order: Ashish Kacholia’s Multibagger Stock Wins Big Order; Know the Details

Knowledge Marine & Engineering Works Limited (KMEW) has been scaling its dredging business alongside marine asset operations and shipbuilding. Its consolidated dredging and ancillary services revenue rose to Rs 193.50 crore in financial year 2025-26, and the company has now secured its largest-ever dredging order, a Rs 303.17 crore maintenance dredging contract from New Mangalore Port Authority.

The three-year contract, including Taxes, covers financial years 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29. It carries an annual base value of about Rs 101.07 crore and was awarded after KMEW emerged as the lowest bidder. The company said its bid was around 10.16 per cent below that submitted by the competing bidder.

The assignment involves post-monsoon maintenance dredging of 15.9 million cubic metres over three years, or an average of 5.3 million cubic metres annually. The first-year campaign is scheduled to start on November 15, 2026, with the annual dredging programme required to be completed within 150 days.

KMEW will undertake work across the outer approach channel, lagoon, dock areas, turning circle, berth faces and pump-house areas. The 7.5-km outer approach channel will be dredged to depths of up to 15.40 metres below Chart Datum. The company plans to deploy a trailing suction hopper dredger, a vessel that dredges and stores material in its hopper, along with specialised equipment for berth-face and pump-house work.

The contract also includes 180,000 cubic metres of berth-face dredging and 18,000 cubic metres of pump-house dredging during the three-year period. KMEW said the award marks its move towards larger-volume assignments and gives it responsibility for maintenance dredging across the complete port premises. The order should add multi-year revenue visibility, although the eventual financial contribution will depend on vessel deployment, execution costs and timely completion of each annual campaign.

Ace investor Ashish Kacholia held 5,74,721 equity shares of Knowledge Marine & Engineering Works Ltd, representing a 2.27 per cent stake in the company as of the quarter ended September 2026, according to the company's shareholding data.

At 12:22 pm on October 30, 2026, KMEW shares were trading at Rs 3,140.10, up 1.8 per cent from the previous close. The stock was about 6.2 per cent below its 52-week high of Rs 3,347.50. Over the past year, the shares have gained 172.68 per cent as a result, the stock has delivered multibagger returns. 

What This Means for Investors

The award gives KMEW a three-year operating platform at a major port and supports its strategy of moving towards larger-volume dredging work. The contract should strengthen fleet deployment visibility after work begins in November 2026. The fixed 150-day annual execution window makes vessel mobilisation, equipment availability and post-monsoon scheduling central to delivery. It also extends the company’s execution record from partial port-area assignments to a wider maintenance programme.

The development is potentially supportive for the business case because it adds a sizeable, multi-year domestic assignment to a dredging business that generated Rs 193.50 crore in revenue in financial year 2025-26. However, the lowest-bid nature of the award, with KMEW quoting 10.16 per cent below the competing bid, means cost control and asset utilisation will be important for protecting profitability. Shares trade at 60.39 times trailing earnings, which leaves the market focused on sustained order execution and durable margins rather than contract wins alone.

Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.