Gaining ahead of the Union Budget the infrastructure sector was hopeful that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would announce a slew of measures to help the sector to beat the current slump. Although the Finance Minister allocated Rs 1.7 lakh crore for transportation infrastructure projects across the country, stocks from the sector showed mixed reactions.
Shares of infrastructure companies were trading in the green on Saturday morning ahead of the budget but the same showed volatility as the finance minister went on with her speech.
GAIL was up 1.78 per cent, MEP infrastructure developers limited was up by 1.34 per cent to trade at Rs 37.75, Ramky Infrastructure Limited gained 4.08 per cent ar 33.20. Gammon Infrastructure Projects Limited was up 14.29 per cent and J.Kumar Infraprojects Limited jumped by 1.68 per cent.
The Ramco Cements Limited gained 2.51 per cent ahead of the budget but soon shed gain to trade up by just 0.39 per cent.
Infra industry major GMR Infrastructure Limited slid down 0.66 per cent. GVK infrastructure was down by 4.60 per cent, while Bharat Road Network Limited down was down by 0.79 per cent. Supreme Infrastructure India Limited was down 4.98 per cent.
However, Tatapower which was down 2.32 per cent failed to impress along with Powergrid down 1.74 per cent and others like NTPC and ONGC.
Sectors such as infrastructure had been hoping that the Finance Minister will come up with a plan to boost investment in infrastructure projects and help the economy grow. Although Sitharaman’s speech announced plans that would see major investment in the infrastructure sector stocks failed to gain. Analysts saw the move as a positive step, “Government continuing to provide impetus to the manufacturing and infrastructure sector,” said Chirag Nangia, of Nangia Andersen Consulting.
At around 1 PM, S&P BSE Sensex was trading 137 points or 0.34 per cent down at 40,586 points while the broader Nifty 50 index eas ruling at 11,901, down 60.75 points or 0.51 per cent.