A patriotic play on words, this portfolio is a bet on the big bucks being spent by the nation for the nation in an attempt to participate in the Indian growth story across the coming decade. Certain key sectors and industries directly benefit from the schemes employed by the government’s attempts at fuelling growth, and this portfolio aims to ride that wave!
Over the past 5 years, there has been a discernible uptick in the amount of spending towards a few key sectors in the Union Budget, as you can see below:
| Sector | 2018-19 | 2023-2024 | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defence | Rs. 4 lakh crore | Rs. 5.9 lakh crore | 48% |
| Roads and Highways | Rs. 71,000 crore | Rs. 2.7 lakh crore | 280% |
| Railways | Rs. 55,088 crore | Rs. 2.4 lakh crore | 336% |
Coupled with a Rs. 10 lakh crore capex for the infrastructure segment in the latest Union Budget (a 33% YoY increase and 3x that of the 2019 allocation), and the fact that these key sectors make up more than a quarter of the Union Budget consistently, the case stands firm that government expenditure for these sectors is immense.
In tandem with the capex alloted, the PLI schemes released to indigenise manufacturing and promote the Make In India spiel for various sectors like phone manufacturing, pharma and renewable energy are making strides. To prove its success rate, the Ministry of Electronics via the PLI scheme has managed to produce 97% of the phones sold in India!
Long story short, the fiscal and regulatory support being given to the vital sectors in the India growth story are definitely panning out to be solid growth investments.
This year’s budget is an interesting one as well, with a much larger capex outlay of Rs. 10 lakh crore, which is 33.4% higher than the previous year, and 3x that of what was denoted in 2019!
The 2023 budget is especially important as it is the last one before the much-awaited General Elections of 2024, making this possibly the final chance for the ruling party to make a tangible mark on the country and in the minds of the voters.
Here are some interesting numbers:
Clearly, this is a heavy budget and sectors like infrastructure, railways, cement, steel, green energy, hotels, agricultural inputs, defence and manufacturing are set to grow and improve. Wouldn’t you want your money in those strategic locations?