Five sectors to watch out for on the Budget Day

The day has finally dawned on which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will announce one of the major emerging economy’s budget in the Parliament. There are sectors such as Banking & Finance, Oil& Gas, Infrastructure, Transport & Logistics, Agriculture & Irrigation to  be focused on throughout the day.

Banking & Finance: This is the most damaged and overwhelming sector of the country which is injured since long. The government may infuse more capital to handle bad loans. The public sector banks are exposed more to Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) as compared to private banks. Banking stocks like State Bank of India (SBI); (Punjab National Bank (PNB); ICICI Bank; HDFC Bank will be in the limelight.

Oil& Gas: The crude oil prices dropped almost to a 12 year low and is hovering around USD 30 per barrel. Oil & Gas sector will be under a watch throughout the day. There would be positive announcement such as direct benefit transfer for cooking gas, and implementation of the Food Security Act. These announcements will boost the oil marketing companies from Oil & Gas industry.However, the custom duty hike may hamper the oil marketing companies. On the other hand hike in excise duty will be helpful for oil extraction companies.

Infrastructure:  Government may increase rural infrastructure spending for the upcoming financial year. The Finance Minister may announce more schemes for rural infrastructure. Cabinet may impose funding towards development of roads and highways. ‘Housing for all’ scheme may receive more funding to reach government’s goal of housing for all by 2022. The increment of tax exemption limit may also boost housing sector companies in the long run.

Transport & Logistics: The major economy reforms like Goods and Service Tax (GST) will figure out GDP of the country.  The announcement for GST may decide the future guideline for rolling out the scheme throughout the country.  The government may set up three new dedicated free corridors across the country. These positive announcements will witness improvement in logistics companies like Gati, Gateway Distriparks, and Container Corporation of India.

Agriculture & Irrigation: India has already witnessed two successive monsoon failures, lower global grain prices, and lower overall economic growth.The government is likely to focus on agricultural sector to drive country’s economy. The Prime Minister already gave intimation of crop insurance which will decide the fate of insurance and irrigation companies. The micro irrigation scheme may boost the sector.