In Pics | Winners and losers in the 'amrit kaal' Budget

Narendra Modi’s government laid out the Budget for the financial year starting April 1, months after a devastating second Covid-19 wave that crippled small businesses and deepened the country’s already vast inequalities. With five states, including the politically significant Uttar Pradesh, heading to the polls later this month, there were expectations that the budget would address issues of high unemployment. The state elections will be a mid-term assessment of Modi’s popularity ahead of national elections in 2024. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday presented a Budget that calls for a bigger spend to fire up growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, as it stages a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. Sitharaman proposed increasing the size of the economy’s annual spending to Rs 39.5 lakh crore to support growth plans. Here’s a list of winners and losers from the federal budget announcements:

FM Sitharaman on Tuesday presented a Budget that calls for a bigger spend to fire up growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, as it stages a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. Here’s a list of winners and losers from the budget announcements:

Winner | EV Battery Makers: Crucial for plans to expand India’s ambitions to promote clean transport technology, battery makers will gain from a new swapping policy for electric vehicles announced by Sitharaman. Credit: Reuters Photo

Winner | Transport, Infrastructure: Plans for investments in remote roads, mass transit in cities and 400 new “Vande Bharat” trains in three years will benefit key infrastructure players. Credit: PTI Photo

Winner | Solar: Production-linked incentives worth 195 billion rupees for solar modules to boost local manufacturing will turn the focus on growth at leading panel manufacturers. Credit: DH File Photo

Winner | Metal: The government’s 600 billion rupee allocation for piped water to 38 million homes and spending on logistics will benefit India’s metals producers. Credit: Getty Images

Winner | Cement, construction: The government’s plan to build more homes for low-income earners across cities will mean more contracts for cement and construction majors. Credit: AFP Photo

Winner | Telecom, Data Centres: The launch of 5G auctions in 2022 will help boost telco sector and the classification of data storage as infrastructure spending will benefit companies including Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance Industries, etc. Credit: AFP Photo

Winner | Digital Finance: Digital financial services providers in India are set to gain after Tuesday’s budget focused on expanding such services. Credit: AFP Photo

Winner | Defense manufacturers: Companies manufacturing defense equipment look to benefit from Sitharaman’s plan to earmark 68% of the sector capex for local companies in the annual budget. Credit: PTI Photo

Loser | State-run banks: India plans to start a digital currency, shifting the rules for traditional banking in the country as it tries to keep pace with the global move toward virtual financial instruments. The move will affect India’s archaic lenders State Bank of India Ltd., Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Punjab National Bank. Credit: PTI Photo

Loser | Crypto players: The decision to levy 30% tax on profits from digital asset transactions, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, may rule out a blanket ban on such tokens for now but it will make trading in them less profitable. Credit: Reuters Photo

Loser | Coal and Thermal Power: The companies to watch after India’s incentives for solar power and plans to use biomass pellets in thermal power plants in a bid to rely less on coal include Coal India Ltd. Singareni Collieries Co., Adani Enterprises Ltd. These companies are suppliers of imported coal. Credit: iStock Photo

Loser | Stainless Steel: India has made plans to revoke some anti-dumping and countervailing duties on stainless steel, coated steel flat products, bars of alloy steel and high-speed steel, given the rise in metal prices. Credit: iStock Photo

Loser | Automobile Makers: Car manufacturers, which received little attention from the finance minister, continue to reel under a global semiconductor crunch. The S&P BSE Auto Index was the worst performer among 19 sectoral gauges after Tuesday’s budget announcement. Credit: iStock Photo