1. At a Glance – The Offshore Soap Opera Nobody Asked For
Jindal Drilling is what happens when crude oil, jack-up rigs, ONGC contracts, and Supreme Court footnotes all decide to party in one P&L. Market cap sits around ₹1,386 Cr, the stock is trading near ₹478, and the P/E is a suspiciously low 5.86—the kind that makes value investors feel smart and nervous at the same time.
Operationally, things look dreamy: 36.6% operating margins, ROCE ~16%, debt-to-equity just 0.07, and rigs locked into higher charter rates that would make FY19 look like a budget airline ticket. Financially, FY25 (TTM) shows ₹979 Cr revenue and ₹237 Cr PAT, but Q3 FY26 decided to ruin the mood with a ₹33 Cr loss, courtesy a reversed ONGC income due to—surprise—ongoing litigation.
Three-month returns are negative, one-year returns are uglier, and five-year returns still flex. This stock looks like a bodybuilder who skipped leg day in the last quarter. Curious yet?
2. Introduction – Same Rigs, Higher Rates, New Drama
Jindal Drilling & Industries Ltd (JDIL), part of the Dharam Pal Jindal Group, lives in the offshore drilling ecosystem, where contracts are long, capex is brutal, and cash flows swing harder than a Mumbai local during peak hours.
The company operates five offshore rigs, all deployed with ONGC, which is both a blessing and a recurring plot twist. The good part? Long-term contracts, dollar-linked rates, and improved economics. The bad part? Disputes, arbitration, Supreme Court appeals, and accounting reversals that show up uninvited in quarterly results.
FY24 and FY25 were supposed to be the comeback seasons—higher day rates, improving utilization, debt reduction,
