Hospital stocks rally up to 7% post FM's 10,000 new medical seats plan

Hospital stocks rally post Budget 2025: Hospital stocks saw a sharp rally on Saturday, February 1, 2025, as these stocks surged up to 7 per cent in intraday deals on BSE following Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2025 speech. The Nifty Healthcare index, too, rose up to 0.98 per cent to an intraday high of 13,923.45.

 

The uptick in hospital stocks came after the Finance Minister announced the government’s plan to increase the number of medical colleges and hospital seats by 10,000 in the coming year, as part of a larger goal to add 75,000 new seats over the next five years.

 

The announcement highlighted that the government had already added nearly 1.1 lakh undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats over the past decade, a 130 per cent increase.   Also Read: Insurance stocks zoom after Budget 2025; Star Health, SBI Life gain upto 7%

 

“Our Government has added almost 1.1 lakh UG and PG medical education seats in ten years, an increase of 130 per cent. In the next year, 10,000 additional seats will be added in medical colleges and hospitals, towards the goal of adding 75,000 seats in the next 5 years,” FM Nirmala Sitharama said, in the Budget 2025 speech.

 

Additionally, the government committed to setting up 200 Day Care Cancer Centres in district hospitals by 2025-26, with a vision to boost healthcare access across the country.

 

Among individual stocks, Max Healthcare surged 4.01 per cent, hitting an intraday high of Rs 1,104.95. Apollo Hospitals saw a 1.80 per cent rise to Rs 6,937.90, while Lotus Eye Hospital increased 2.37 per cent, touching Rs 67.78. Dr. Agarwals Eye Hospital led the way with a 6.7 per cent jump to Rs 4,898.90. KIMS also saw a rise of about 1 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 613.90.

 

Despite the rally in healthcare stocks, the benchmark indices remained in the negative territory, with the BSE Sensex trading 0.28 per cent lower at 77,280.02. On the other hand, Nifty50 was trading 0.48 per cent lower at 23,396.35 levels.