New Delhi, May 23
Markets gained more than 300 points to close at a new closing high continuing their buoyancy on the Modi government aided by good results of State Bank of India (SBI) and a rally in power stocks.

The benchmark Sensex surged 319 points, clocking its biggest rise in over a week, to end at a new closing peak of 24,693 points.

Similarly, wide-based 50-issue CNX Nifty of NSE flared up by 90.70 points, or 1.25 per cent, to end at new closing peak of 7,367.10. It crossed previous peak of 7,276.40 (May 22). Shares of SBI, the country’s largest bank, hit a three-year high and closed about 10% higher after posting better-than-expected results.

The day, however, belonged to power stocks, including NTPC and Tata Power, which rallied on buzz that the Modi-led NDA government is likely to harness solar power and give a fillip to development of offshore wind energy. Adani Power, Reliance Power, Power Grid and JP Power also rose in the day’s trade.

Dipen Shah, Head of Private Client Group Research, Kotak Securities, said the markets continued to remain buoyant during the week, following the clear political mandate in favour of the NDA.

Market sentiment was boosted by a report from leading FII, Goldman Sachs which said a clear mandate for the BJP has rekindled hope for structural reforms and better investment climate and the country’s growth is likely to accelerate to 6.5% in FY 2016.

Gold, however, continued its downward slide for the fourth straight day. Gold prices lost another Rs 300 to trade at a fresh 10-month low of Rs 28,250 per 10 gram.

New Delhi, May 23
As the Narendra Modi-led NDA government gets set to take over the reins of economy, there are great expectations in the infrastructure sector, especially in the road transport sector, which suffered the most in the past five years under the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.

With the rate of road construction down to the lowest ever in the past few years, Dr Singh had been laying stress on the sector, but it failed to take off due to the lack of clearances from other ministries involved in the process.

While the sector is looking at the Centre emulating the Gujarat model of single-window clearances, industry watchers said the Modi government would have to work hard to resolve issues concerning not only the infrastructure sector but also the coal and mining sector to boost the sagging manufacturing sector.

Officials at the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways feel that among the first tasks Prime Minister-designate will have to do after taking over is to not only restructure the ministry on the whole but would focus on improving the road, rail and port infrastructure as the industry is suffering from bottlenecks in these areas for both domestic and overseas movements.

Experts point out that the country needs to get back on the path of rapid development if it has to emerge as an economic powerhouse like China.

They say the key to the revival of economic growth would depend on renewed investment, particularly in the infrastructure space.

Over the past few years, foreign direct investment (FDI) took a back seat, thanks to the flip-flop on economic policies, clogging up of the approval process for large projects and confrontational tax policies. The first task of the new government would be to deal with these three issues.

They also say that the Modi-led government must revive Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the roads sector. There is great expectation that the new government would initiate reforms in sectors such as roads and power and attract investments in this space.

Chandigarh, May 23
Swedish luxury carmarker, Volvo Auto India will expand its footprint across India that will help it increase its sales by over 60% this year. The company is looking at opening dealerships in all important tier 1 and tier 2 towns during this year.

The company will open dealerships at Surat, Kolkata, Madurai and a second dealership in Mumbai shortly. Other than the new dealership (Krishna Automobiles) opened by the company in Chandigarh yesterday, it is also looking at opening dealerships in Ludhiana and Jalandhar next year.

Tomas Ernberg, managing director of Volvo Auto India, said the company has set a target to sell 1,500 cars during this year as compared to 913 units it sold last year.

Ernberg said last year the company had launched three new models and this year, too, they would launch a new car. Though the MD declines to share the details of the new launch, the car market is abuzz that the new car to be launched is Volvo XC 40, in September. It is expected to be priced at Rs 20 lakh. As of now, the five models available in India are S60, V40, XC60, S 80 and XC 90. “Next year, we will also have the global launch of the world’s most luxurious SUV,” he added.

BRIEFLY

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BHEL commissions hydro power project in Himachal
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HSIIDC woos investors with loans
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