IRB Infra gains as the budget favours road network expansion

The Union Budget 2022 continued its focus on infrastructure and road construction.

The Union Budget 2022-23 has certainly powered the bulls of the market. The infrastructure space remained a priority for the government as it has been for the past several years now. The Finance Minister talked about expanding the road connectivity in the nation which has led road construction stocks to rally. IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd went up by 3.25% today on the BSE. The stock is trading at Rs 262.30.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the budget presentation that the Union Government would focus on growing highway networks in the country by 25,000 km in FY23. The FM had said that the PM Gati Shakti programme would boost the project developments with Rs 20,000 crore allocation for the same.

The government aims for an expansion of about 15% in networks of National Highways. This announcement has been taken positively by the road construction companies like IRB Infra. The government had been executing national highway projects before too. The current budget will further help the cause.

The stock had recently been trending for its Ganga Expressway project. Its wholly-owned subsidiary had executed a concession pact with Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority and the project cost is estimated to be at Rs 6,555 crore.

IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd is engaged in the construction and development of mainly roads and highways. It also operates in other segments such as maintenance, airport development and real estate. The stock has been the multibagger in the year. The stock price has gone up from Rs 110.6 to Rs 254 in just the trailing twelve months. There has been a lot of buzz in the market regarding the state infrastructure spending which might have made the stock attractive for many investors. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 346.95 and a 52-week low of Rs 100.70.