Budget FY'20 brings cheer for infra players

Hailing the Union Budget 2019-20, infrastructure players Friday said the government's focus on infrastructure development will act as a stimulus for the core sector.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman outlined a host of measures to boost infrastructure, digital economy and job creation to become a USD 5 trillion economy and said a massive push to all forms of physical connectivity is helping bridge the rural-urban divide.

According to Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys (IMFA), the thrust on 'Make in India' for sunrise and high-tech sectors emphasises the importance given to increasing share of manufacturing in GDP.

"IMFA welcomes the focus on infrastructure development which will act as a stimulus for the core sector thereby also benefiting the ferro chrome industry," Subhrakant Panda, Managing Director, IMFA said in a statement.

According to Deloitte, the budget duly emphasised the importance of infrastructure and connectivity to the Indian economy in terms of enhancing and taking forward programmes across various key infrastructure sub-sectors.

"Budget's focus on comprehensive plans and blueprints for various infrastructure plans/ grids is welcome - especially in the context of considering systemic tradeoffs and development of economic and efficient infrastructure, and involving private sector in this area in a bigger way on long-term basis," Peeyush Naidu, Partner, Deloitte said.

Appreciating the government's intention to make big-ticket investments in the infrastructure space in the next five years, Tata Projects said this will ensure long-term growth for the sector and spur national development, including improving people's lives through better amenities and facilities.

"The budget has paid attention to the issue of funding for long-term infrastructure projects through setting up of an expert committee thereby spurring expectation that it can be resolved in the near future.

"Increased focus on railway network, especially modernisation of stations is a much needed initiative. Intent to upgrade 1.25 lakh km of rural roads at an estimated cost of Rs 80,250 crore will provide fillip to the rural economy, provide jobs and ensure development," Tata Projects Chief Strategy Officer Himanshu Chaturvedi said.

Emphasis on other transportation initiatives such as Bharatmala, Sagarmala and UDAN can ease people's lives and provide stimulus to businesses, he added.

One Nation One Grid and other power sector initiatives such as tariff reforms can potentially rejuvenate the sector, Chaturvedi said.

"Building of homes in both rural and urban areas, and additional tax benefits for home loans will give a boost to realty sector. Usage of Universal Services Obligation Fund corpus for augmenting Bharatnet, especially in rural areas is a noteworthy action," he noted.

Presenting the budget, Sitharaman said infrastructure financing needs have been estimated at around Rs 20 lakh crore a year and proposed to enhance the sources of capital for infrastructure financing including setting up a Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation for which regulations have been notified by the RBI.