Duggal believes Indian Budget will boost infrastructure/consumption

HSBC GIF Indian Equity fund manager Sanjiv Duggal says the country's recent Budget has benefited infrastructure and consumption stocks but an rise in excise duty could make markets jittery.

The $5.6bn fund’s weighting to industrials and basic materials has increased since the turn of the year, while the manager has kept a level weighting in consumer goods. Duggal says the fund, which outperformed the IFCI India benchmark by 36.4% in 2009, has been positioned to take advantage of buoyant consumption and infrastructure spend and the revival in corporate capital expenditure. “The Budget has provided impetus for consumption by increasing disposable income in the hand of consumers,” Duggal says. “While it remains a key priority for the Government to implement key reforms such...