Shares of infrastructure companies continue to hog the limelight consecutively for the second day after the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh emphasised on boosting investment in this sector.
Prime Minster Manmohan Singh has chosen to boost infrastructure spending in the country to deal with concerns over domestic economic growth. Investors in the sector, who have not had much to cheer about, are likely to get some relief as stocks of many infrastructure companies rallied on hopes of better days ahead.
A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said the government would award 9,500 km of road projects in the financial year, an increase of 18.7 per cent over last year. Another 4,360 km of roads will be awarded for maintenance under the OMT (Operate, Maintain, Transfer) system for the first time.
Other initiatives include two new major ports in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, an addition of 18,000-Mw power capacity, three to four international airports, an airline hub policy, an elevated freight corridor in Mumbai and a bullet train from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
The meeting was attended by ministers and secretaries of key infrastructure ministries: power, railways, roads, shipping, civil aviation and coal.
Reliance Infrstructure, Larsen & Toubro, IL&FS Transportation Network, Gammon India, Valecha Engineering, HCC, and Nagarjuna Constructions extended yesterday's gains and were trading higher by 1-3% each.
The BSE capital goods index was also in the positive territory in an otherwise weak market. The index was up 0.2% or 18 points at 9,337 levels compared to a 0.7% fall in the BSE benchmark index- Sensex.
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