New Delhi, Oct. 24 -- Defence stocks rallied in early trade on Friday after the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, approved capital acquisition proposals worth Rs.79,000 crore for the Armed Forces.

Shares of Bharat Dynamics, BEML, Cochin Shipyard, and Paras Defence and Space Technologies rose over 2% each, lifting the Nifty India Defence Index by more than 1%.

Other major gainers in the index included Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Unimech Aerospace and Manufacturing, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, and Data Patterns (India), which gained between 1-2%.

The rally followed the government's approval of several key procurement proposals, including the Nag Missile System (Tracked) Mk-II (NAMIS),...