HUDCO shares hit 52-week high as FM announces 2 cr more homes under PMAY

New Delhi: Shares of state-owned HUDCO jumped 6 per cent in the mid-session trade on Thursday after Finance Minister Sitharaman announced building 2 crore more houses for the rural poor in the next five years.

The state-run Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) provides financial assistance for housing and urban infrastructure development projects.

The scrip of housing finance and infrastructure company climbed 6.14 per cent to trade at Rs 183.10 apiece on the BSE.

On the NSE, shares of HUDCO rose 6.12 per cent to trade at Rs 182.90 per piece.

The stock hit its 52-week high of Rs 189.65 apiece on BSE and Rs 189.70 per share on the NSE.

Post the Budget announcements, shares of construction company NBCC (India) advanced 4.98 per cent to trade at Rs 135.85 apiece on the BSE. The scrip gained 3.59 per cent to trade at Rs 134.10 per piece on the NSE.

During the intra-day trade, NBCC shares also hit a 52-week of Rs 139 apiece on the BSE and the NSE each.

In the mid-session trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 25.46 points or 0.04 per cent to trade at 71,726.65, while NSE Nifty slipped 0.02 per cent to trade at 21,720.95.

In her interim budget speech on Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a scheme to help those living in rented accommodation or slums to acquire a house.

Parallely, she also announced building of 2 crore more houses for the rural poor in next five years under the continuing PM Awas Yojana (Grameen).

"Our Government will launch a scheme to help deserving sections of the middle class 'living in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorized colonies' to buy or build their own houses," Sitharaman said.

"Despite the challenges due to COVID, implementation of PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) continued and we are close to achieving the target of three crore houses. Two crore more houses will be taken up in the next five years to meet the requirement arising from increase in the number of families," she said.

The overall target is to construct 2.95 crore pucca houses with basic amenities by March 2024.