Budget 2024: ₹26k crore for Bihar highways may boost cement, infra stocks, say analysts

Budget 2024: Aiming at boosting the road infrastructure in Bihar, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2024 speech, announced an investment of ₹26,000 crore in highway development in Bihar. Experts believe this will significantly benefit highway construction companies and cement companies.

"We will support the development of road connectivity projects, namely (1) Patna-Purnea Expressway, (2) Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway, (3) Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali and Darbhanga spurs, and (4) additional 2-lane bridge over river Ganga at Buxar at a total cost of ₹26,000 crore. Power projects, including the setting up of a new 2400 MW power plant at Pirpainti, will be taken up at a cost of ₹21,400 crore. New airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure in Bihar will be constructed," said the FM.

Experts said the announcement could benefit highway construction and cement companies.

"The Finance Minister's allocation of ₹26,000 crore for highway development in Bihar will greatly benefit highway construction companies such as GR Infraprojects, KNR Construction, and PNC Infratech. This development will also boost cement demand, benefiting producers like Ultratech, Adani cement companies, India Cement, and JK Cement," said Divyam Mour, a research analyst at SAMCO Securities.

Shares of G R Infraprojects ended with a healthy gain of 3.18 per cent, while those of PNC Infratech ended 0.51 per cent higher.

Shares of KNR Construction, however, fell 1.65 per cent.

Cement stocks Ambuja Cement (0.66 per cent), ACC (up 0.54 per cent), UltraTech Cement (up 0.34 per cent) and JK Cement (up 0.10 per cent) ended in the green.

In her budget speech, Sitharaman highlighted the government's nine priority areas: agriculture, employment, inclusive development, manufacturing and services, urban development, energy, infrastructure, innovation and R&D, and next-generation reforms.

She also lowered the fiscal deficit target for FY25 to 4.9 per cent of GDP from 5.1 per cent target announced during the interim budget in February.

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