Budget 2018: Key takeaways from the FM speech
Here are the hits and misses from the Budget speech
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Last Updated: Feb 01, 2018, 11:17 IST2 min
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The Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley unveiled the India government’s last full budget before the general elections of 2019.Here are the key highlights the hits and misses.- Higher allocation to infra capital expenditure in the Budget can be a boost to rural roads construction - Agri infra fund will boost the logistics sector and facilitate development of cold chains and other hard infrastructure - Increase in MSP to further boost tractor sales, currently growing at 16%- Of 2,000 APMCs, those connected to E-NAM is 470, which is less than the target of 585 for last fiscal- Liberalisation of agri exports to benefit the pulses sector- Out of a production of 22 MT in 2016, exports were just 1.3 MT- LPG demand growth to rise to over 10% next 2 years given 8 crore new BPL connections targeted- Power, LPG via Ujala and Saubhagya remains area of concern for discoms, OMCs because of lack of recovery- Dedicated fund for affordable housing to improve formal finance penetration- Focus on rural housing, rural roads and rural infra spend will push up employment- Rs 10,000 cr for fisheries to boost seafood exports- India already world’s largest shrimp exporter- Rising rural income to improve demand for cement- Rural demand is 33% of total cement demand- Massive health insurance plan a boost for hospitals, health insurers- Huge health insurance plan could cost govt around Rs 50,000 crore annually- Ragi, jowar, moong, maize, paddy to benefit the most- Increase in MSP by 1.5 times cost of production- 3.7 lakh km rural roads plan huge boost for construction cos- Rail University in Vadodara to boost R&D initiatives, help improve railway operations- Micropension, insurance via Jan Dhan to boost financial inclusion- 23% growth in Mudra target will help micro-entrepreneurs- Agri-commodity exports limited now- Liberalisation is a big boost to sector- 1 cr houses under PMAY augurs well for lenders- Growth in affordable housing loans to remain strong- Govt’s 12% contribution to EPF for new employees - Will encourage formal sector coverage- Textiles subsidy under TUFs up 18% at Rs 7,140 cr- 14% increase in railways outlay from Rs 1.3 trillion to Rs 1.48 trillion- Monetising road assets, using innovations like Roads SPV, InVITs a positive step- Monetising road assets, using innovations like Roads SPV, InVITs a positive step- Iconic status for 10 locales will boost tourism- Bharatmala to be funded via NHAI’s TOT model & infra fund- Implementation key after 10% jump in cap development infra for Railways- Recognition of investments in ‘A’ rating category bonds- Big boost for corporate bond markets - Asking large cos to raise 25% of funding needs via bonds- Another big boost for corporate bond market- Agri-rural push kicker for 2-wheeler and tractor sales- Encouraging corp bond market expansion will alter bank-centric financial system- 10% of total highways in India (9,000 km) built in a single year- Roads leading the way in infra development - Unified stamp duty across states will make bond issuances cost-effective, efficient- 25% bond borrowing + ‘A’ category leeway - Will bridge demand-supply gap in financing- Investments in ‘A’ category bonds win-win for investors, issuers- Risk-adjusted returns key to investment- Divestment target of Rs 80,000 cr will boost ETFs- InvITs to monetise infra assets will attract long-term investors- Infra financing: Partial Credit Guarantee scheme, well capitalised bond guarantee fund needed next- Asset monetisation will get fast-tracked because extra budgetary resources would be funding infra
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First Published: Feb 01, 2018, 11:17
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