The Budget has not been so positive for the oil & gas sector. Although, the Budget proposes to reinstate the tax holiday on production of natural gas, the benefit of the same is restricted only for blocks proposed to be offered under the NELP - VIII round.

Overall, while the Budget did not stand true to all of market expectations, we expect that the government’s efforts will continue outside the Budget also and will help improve India Inc’s earnings.

In some ways, this is an understated budget; it delivers more than what is apparent. The talk of 9 per cent growth is a big theme. But somehow the markets got lost in the details and did not read this bold big picture.

Genuine loans and advances, which are repaid during the year, should be excluded from the scope of deemed dividend as they are not a subterfuge for payment of dividend.

Today, with the indirect tax regime poised at possibly its biggest structural reform since Independence, viz: the move towards GST, the various concerns and challenges within the present service tax structure needs to be addressed prior to introduction of GST.

This is a budget which appears to be a case of old wine in old bottle! There are several announcements made in the budget which have been spoken about for the last few years. There is nothing new about these announcements.

The hospitality sector is looking for rationalisation and uniformity on taxes and other levies, in different facilities that the hotels offer – across all states and union territories. The government must extend tax holiday from five years to ten years.

To promote the growth of the telecom sector and to encourage the flow of investment in the sector, the existing tax benefits should also be extended to new players and to certain other segments, which are basic to the provision of telecom services.

The government should accord “infrastructure status” to the housing sector and appoint a regulator to act as a single window for overseeing and monitoring the affordable housing agenda.

Momentum indicators turned positive last week on daily charts and the Nifty is likely to test 4,450 this week. Investors can go long in gold with a stoploss of 14,600. Dollar-rupee pair can slide to 47.60 where it has some support from its 20 DMA.