Here are the stocks likely to benefit from India’s budget

Here are the stocks likely to benefit from India’s budget

Bloomberg

Infrastructure, rural development and health-care stocks are among analysts’ top picks as India’s government is set to step up spending in a budget aimed at kickstarting investment to boost growth.

Construction spending, including on roads and ports, as well as incentives for electric mobility and renewable energy are likely going to be a focus in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech on Tuesday, as policy makers seek ways to help the economy out of the malaise left by the pandemic.

With India’s equity benchmark tumbling amid the recent global selloff spurred by concerns over the Federal Reserve’s imminent rate hikes, and foreign funds fleeing the market, investors are hoping budget announcements will bring some reprieve.

That said, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex has climbed in the month following the budget day in only three of the past eight years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. It fell or traded rangebound on the other five occasions.

“The overall focus of the budget is likely to be on job creation and investment-driven growth, implying encouraging thrust to infrastructure development,” Neeraj Chadawar, head of quantitative equity research at Axis Securities Ltd., wrote in a note. “This will include public