Healthcare stocks gain on Budget announcement

Healthcare stocks today rose by as much as 5 per cent following government's initiatives such as Rs 1,200-crore allocation for Ayushman Bharat programme and providing Rs 5 lakh annual cover to 10 crore families for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
Shares of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise went up by 4.66 per cent, HealthCare Global Enterprises 4.44 per cent, Narayana Hrudayalaya 2.95 per cent, Thyrocare Technologies 1.25 per cent and Shalby Ltd 0.06 per cent on BSE.
The Centre today announced the world's largest government funded health care programme, aimed at benefiting 10 crore poor families by providing coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

Reacting to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's proposals in Budget 2018-19, Apollo Hospitals Group Chairman Prathap C Reddy said: "My heartiest congratulations to this government for investing in creating a Swasth Bharat by launching the Ayushman Bharat programme."
Such ambitious out-of-the box thinking was a burning need of the hour and the government has not disappointed, he added.
"The initiative to cover 10 crore families with Rs 5 lakh per family/per year with insurance cover for secondary and tertiary healthcare will be a game changer," Reddy added.