With an aim to boost consumption, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced changes to the New Tax Regime, putting more cash in the hands of the middle class during her eighth Union Budget Speech on Saturday, February 1. Here is a look at the sectors which were the big winners and losers post the budget announcements. Starting off with the winners:

Consumption

The income tax announcements sent consumption-oriented stocks soaring, with stocks like Radico Khaitan, Trent and Blue Star seeing gains of up to 10% during the session. The Nifty FMCG index also saw its biggest single-day gain in seven months. Shares of Trent, which were the worst Nifty 50 performers in January, ended as the top gainer on the index.

Insurance

The sector had a very volatile session, but announcements were largely positive for them. At one point, stocks were up over 4% each after the government approved increasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the insurance sector to 100% from 74%. However, they sold off soon after as the new tax regime push, which does not allow any exemption for insurance. HDFC Life MD & CEO Vibha Padalkar told CNBC-TV18 that less than 2% of their customer base buys insurance for tax purposes. The documents further disclosed that the government has not done away with the ULIP investment threshold of ₹2.5 lakh. Returns from ULIP policies, which have a premium in excess of ₹2.5 lakh paid will have capital gains taxation of 12.5%.

Agriculture

The government announced that it will facilitate credit for over 1.7 crore farmers, announced a six-year mission on atmanirbharta in Pulses. The Finance Minister also announced a National Mission on high yielding seeds with over 100 climate-resistant varieties. Shares of Kaveri Seeds surged 7% after an initial 12% pop. Shares of Godrej Agrovet gained as well.

Footwear

Footwear stocks saw a sharp surge post the budget announcements, where the minister announced a focus scheme for India’s footwear and leather sector. This was likely to employ 22 lakh people, generate ₹4 lakh crore in investment and ₹1.1 lakh crore worth of exports. Mirza International shares ended 20% higher post this announcement as majority of its revenue is derived from exports. Shares of Bata India ended with gains of 6.5%, while those of Liberty Shoes gained 7%.

While these were the outperformers, there were some big drags as well post the Budget announcements:

Railways & Defence

Railway stocks like IRFC, RVNL, IRCON, fell up to 10% after the Budget announcements left capex for the Railways unchanged at ₹2.51 lakh crore, whereas these stocks had rallied over the last few days in anticipation of a higher allocation. Most of these railway stocks were staging a bounce after a 35% to 45% drop from their 2024 peaks before the sell-off resumed on Saturday. Shares of Defence companies also sold-off despite an increase in allocation.

Oil Marketing Companies

Shares of India’s state-run refiners, HPCL, BPCL and IOC sold off post the budget due to a lower LPG subsidy figure. Budget documents revealed that the LPG subsidy for financial year 2025 was kept at ₹14,700 crore and for financial year 2026, the figure stood at ₹12,100 crore. For the first nine-months of 2025, the LPG under-recoveries for these Oil Marketing Companies, stood at ₹30,000 crore. The budget document also had no compensation for the OMCs to account for the LPG losses.

Fertiliser Stocks

Fertiliser stocks fell after the government cut its fertiliser subsidy to ₹1.68 lakh crore for financial year 2026, lower than the revised estimates of ₹1.71 lakh crore. Fertiliser stocks, which fell as much as 6%, recovered from the lows but ended the session lower.

No specific announcements for state-discoms or power distribution companies also sent shares of REC and PFC lower by up to 5% each.