Investors back India on infrastructure drive

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first annual budget granted India's biggest money managers their wish: a boost for manufacturing and an increase in funding for roads, ports and power plants.

Spending on infrastructure will increase by 700 billion rupees ($11.3 billion), while the nation's railways, roads and irrigation companies will be encouraged to raise money by selling tax-free bonds, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told lawmakers on Saturday. He also announced a cut in corporate tax and a reduction in levies on raw materials for local manufacturing as part of a package of measures to bolster Asia's third-biggest economy.

ICICI Prudential Asset Management, HDFC Asset Management Co and Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd welcomed the effort to shift funding toward growth-boosting steps as India's benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose in a special budget-day trading session on Saturday.