Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Increased Allocation Towards Upskilling
Ahead of the Union Budget, Tata Technologies Ltd. on Monday called for increased allocation toward upskilling initiatives aligned with Industry 4.0 to create a future-ready workforce.
In order to achieve India's ambitious goals outlined in the roadmap for a $5 trillion economy, the budget should prioritise innovation-driven policies, investments in emerging technologies, and the development of products in India, for India and the world, Tata Technologies' Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Warren Harris said in a statement.
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Budget 2025 Expectations Live: MakeMyTrip Co-founder Bats For Hospitality Sector's 'Industry' Status
Ahead of the Union Budget, MakeMyTrip Co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer Rajesh Magow on Monday said the hospitality sector's long-pending demand for an "industry” status and continued focus on infrastructure development to ensure last-mile connectivity are crucial to realising its full potential.
"The hope is that it should be a growth-oriented budget, which effectively should set the tone for pretty much every sector, including travel and tourism sector for us as well," Magow told PTI.
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Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Morgan Stanley Predicts Robust Capital Spending
However, the government's thrust on capex is expected to continue in FY26. "We expect robust capital spending to remain a key theme in the Budget, both at the centre and state level, notwithstanding the weak trend in the current fiscal year," Morgan Stanley analysts stated in a note.
Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Policies To Stabilise Raw Material Supply
We advocate for policies that stabilise raw material supply, encourage R&D through tax benefits, and provide subsidies for technological upgrades, shared Kuldip Raina, director-Sales and Marketing at Shalimar Paints. "These steps will reduce production costs, lower energy expenses, and enable greater industry participation," he said.
"The budget has the potential to be a turning point for the paint industry. With heightened investments in construction, including housing, cement, and steel, along with targeted fiscal policies, the industry looks for robust growth. These measures will not only support fiscal deficit reduction goals but also significantly contribute to India's economic development," said Raina.
Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Increase In Fintech Funding
Shams Tabrej, CEO at Ezeepay expects a further boost to fintech funding, especially for rural regions, which might lead to an investment growth upward of 20-25% at best.
"The Union Budget will build upon the prodigious leap that India witnessed concerning digital payments with over 12 billion UPI transactions monthly and a transaction volume of over Rs 15 trillion in 2024," Tabrej shared.
"Fintech innovation funding and sops for tax are likely to dominate. The startups trying to make advances and progress towards making AI the standard in AI for fraud detection and secured payment systems may garner 10-15% R&D budget enhancement. Furthermore, it is also expected that merchant onboarding benefits may be included in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, thereby accelerating wider adoption by this sector in the digital payments field," he said.
Subsidies for real-time payment solutions such as the UPI, which now governs more than 75% of the retail digital transactions, could be furthered with the intent to expand their scale and interoperability. Likewise, any expansion of schemes for bringing in 100 million more digital payment users from rural areas will be viewed with much interest.
Tabrej highlighted that the budget will harness a $350 billion digital economy as India beings going through inclusive growth, innovation, and secure digital payment systems to promote financial inclusion and economic advancement.
Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Infrastructure And Manufacturing Sectors Investments
We at Finolex Cables look forward to policies that bolster India’s infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, which are key growth drivers for our industry, shared Mahesh Viswanathan, deputy CEO and CFO, Finolex Cables Ltd.
"With the construction sector contributing significantly to the demand for electrical wires and cables, targeted investments in affordable housing and urban development will have a cascading impact on the industry’s growth, Viswanathan said.
He also anticipate incentives for emerging technologies such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, and 5G rollout. These segments will not only boost demand for specialised products like solar and automotive cables but also accelerate the deployment of optic fiber networks, addressing India's underpenetration in digital infrastructure.
"Given rising raw material costs, we hope for measures to ease import duties and stabilise input pricing, ensuring the competitiveness of domestic manufacturers. Furthermore, a supportive capex framework will enable companies to enhance production capabilities, especially in high-growth areas like solar energy and automotive sectors,” he said.
Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Gold Sector Policies
Sachin Jain, Regional CEO, India, World Gold Council, shared that similar to last decade, we expect progressive, people friendly and industry supportive policy announcements.
"The gold industry contributes 1.3% to India's GDP and employs approximately 2-3 million people. The government's decision last July to reduce import duties on gold has significantly had a positive impact on the gold industry. It has reduced unofficial imports, stabilised official channels, and encouraged domestic purchasing of gold. The reduction in taxes on gold has led to a more organised and transparent industry, resulting in a stronger gold market," he said.
Jain said that any increase in import duties in upcoming budget may have adverse effects, potentially leading to an increase in smuggling, higher domestic gold prices, and pushing the industry backwards. "It is imperative that stakeholders, including government bodies, industry players, and financial institutions, collaborate to sustain this positive momentum. By fostering a synergetic environment, we can ensure that the gold industry continues to thrive, innovate and contribute significantly to the India’s economic development and prosperity," he noted.
Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Raise Basic Customs Duty On Stainless Steel Products To 15% For All Non-FTA Countries
Jindal Stainless, MD, Abhyuday Jindal, urges the government to raise the basic customs duty on stainless steel products to 15% for all non-Free Trade Agreement countries to safeguard the domestic industry from distortion caused by low-priced imports. "These steps will further strengthen the domestic stainless-steel sector and position it as a vital driver of India’s Viksit Bharat@2047 vision," he further said.
"To boost stainless steel demand, we encourage the government to continue prioritising infrastructure spending, with a strong focus on developing mobility infrastructure like inland waterways, rail infrastructure, and coastal shipping. Securing access to key raw materials is another pressing need," Jindal said.
"We recommend reducing import duties to zero on critical raw materials unavailable in India, such as molybdenum ore, and continuing with zero duties on pure nickel, ferro-nickel, stainless steel scrap, and mild steel scrap. To promote sustainability, we propose making life cycle costing a mandatory criterion for material selection in public procurement," he said.
Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Tax Benefits To Be In Focus, Says Nitesh Kumar MD &CEO Emami Realty
The real estate sector broadly expects a rise in the price cap for affordable housing, extended home loan tax benefits, and reduced corporate tax rates for affordable housing projects, according to Nitesh Kumar MD &CEO Emami Realty.
"We anticipate rationalisation of GST rates for affordable housing to stimulate demand and make homeownership more accessible. Enhanced tax benefits for developers, increased infrastructure spending, and expanded affordable housing initiatives under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) are also on our agenda," Kumar said.
Kumar further said, that we support green building incentives and measures to digitize land records, streamline property transactions, and create an interest-free fund for R&D in real estate.
"The sector also seeks expanded credit guarantee schemes and tax incentives for sustainable materials and technologies. Specifically for Eastern India and West Bengal, increased infrastructure allocation, development of affordable housing projects, tax incentives for developers, and rental housing initiatives are anticipated. Recognising real estate as an industry to facilitate access to cheaper loans is also a key expectation," Kumar further added.
Budget 2025 Expectations Live: 'Tough Trilemma' For Capex
The Narendra Modi government will face a "tough" task of balancing a trilemma — fiscal consolidation, capex-led growth and boosting consumption and jobs — as the world's fastest-growing major economy gears up for its annual budget this week, according to analysts at CLSA.
The upcoming budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's eighth, comes at a crucial time when global economic growth and domestic inflation are top focus.
Amid calls for higher capex push, CLSA says that the government will stick to its commitment of a 4.9% fiscal deficit in fiscal 2025 and 4.5% next year. This fiscal deficit commitment will require the government to curtail growth in capex spend in both fiscal 2025 and 2026. CLSA says that this may be seen as a disappointment versus the high expectations baked into capex-linked stocks.
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Budget 2025 Expectations Live: A Quiet Budget For Equities
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is unlikely to stray from the pre-announced consolidation path in the upcoming Budget 2025, according to Emkay Research which expects it to be "relatively quiet with a focus on continuity rather than dramatic change".
The brokerage remains cautious on Indian equities as it sees vulnerability in the Jan-March quarter due to sustained FPI selling and weak earnings support. Its Nifty target for 2025 implies an upside of 8%.
"We are, however, more optimistic on the longer-term outlook," it said. "We expect a discretionary consumption rebound in 2HCY25, driven by easier credit and a hiring bounce-back."
The brokerage is 'overweight' on consumer discretionary and healthcare, while being 'underweight' on financials and staples.
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Budget 2025 Expectation Live: What Experts See For Gold
The commodities space had seen quite a change in the previous Budget. Customs duty on the yellow metal was cut by 9%. The price of the commodity had fallen to Rs 67,800 shortly after the rate cut, according to the India Bullion Association.
Prices of the yellow metal saw an upward climb in January with rates crossing Rs 82,330 earlier last week. Prices have risen based on various geopolitical changes, supported by strong demand from the domestic markets. With the Budget being the major upcoming cue for gold price movement in the markets, here is what commodity experts anticipate.
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Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Saurabh Mukherjea's Bets
As India heads toward the Union Budget 2025, market expert Saurabh Mukherjea highlights several key areas poised for growth, from export-oriented sectors to companies catering to lower-income groups.
In his analysis, the chief investment officer at Marcellus Investment Managers Pvt. underscores the importance of focusing on broader economic shifts rather than individual stock picks, while also cautioning about sectors that may struggle due to government spending constraints.
One of the standout sectors is exports, Mukherjea told NDTV Profit. With the US economy performing well and the Indian rupee weakening, export-oriented sectors like IT and pharma are benefiting, and Mukherjea expects this trend to continue. Both sectors, supported by robust global demand and a favourable exchange rate, are well-positioned for the coming years.
Another area to watch, Mukherjea suggests, is the consumer segment of people earning less than Rs 5 lakh annually. As political parties, both at the state and central levels, focus on appeasing lower-income groups to secure votes, there could be increased government spending aimed at this demographic. Companies catering to this income segment are likely to see growth in the next two to three years.
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Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Railway Capex Focus
Union Budget 2025 will likely sustain the healthy growth in Railway capital expenditure with priority on passenger mobility and safety systems, according to industry executives.
"I feel this budget will have more focus on passenger mobility because the Railways is committed to improving travel experiences," Indrajit Mookerjee, vice chairman of Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd., told NDTV Profit.
"There are reports that 400 Vande Bharat trains will be ordered. The target is 70,000 km of new tracks, which requires safety systems, signalling system, etc. There will be a lot for the Railway industry, maybe not all for rolling stock," he said.
"There would be focus on more efficient wagons that can carry higher load which reduce carbon emissions and promote technological advancement," he added.
Mookerjee also said the government may keep its focus on increasing the Railway freight's share in the logistics market, vis-a-vis roads.
Texmaco Rail's orderbook as of September 2024 was Rs 8,194 crore.
Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Sitharaman's Eighth Budget
The Budget 2025 faces uneven growth, sluggish consumption, and weak private capex, with fiscal consolidation targeting a fiscal deficit of 4.5%. Ex-interest revenue expenditure may drop to 7.7% of GDP, while capex remains steady at 3.1-3.2%, said Madhavi Arora, economist at Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd.
Gross taxes are projected to grow 9%, with gross tax-to-GDP at 11.7%. Personal tax reliefs and incentives for manufacturing hubs/FDIs are expected, while RBI dividends remain strong. Net borrowing is set to drop to Rs 11.15 lakh, with small savings funding 24% of fiscal deficit. The focus may shift to debt/GDP management, leveraging asset sales, disinvestment, and strategic sales for fiscal consolidation.
Budget 2025 Expectations Live: Sitharaman's Eighth Budget
The Union Budget 2025 will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Feb. 1. This will be her eighth budget since assuming office in 2019.
On Friday, the customary halwa ceremony was held at the Ministry of Finance.
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