I did not get any takeaway to look at a particular kind of stock or vertical: Porinju Veliyath

Porinju Veliyath, Founder & CEO, Equity Intelligence India, says “more than stocks, the formation of tourism hubs is a very important idea, even though we may underplay that theme, now India has a huge scope for that kind of hubs and even religious tourism or pilgrimage tourism with international airports and a lot of sufficient infrastructure. A proper tourism development can add 1% to our GDP in the long run.”

Any new themes which emerged given the current market construct and given the intent which was put forth by the finance minister today?
Porinju Veliyath: To be frank, from the Budget, I did not get any takeaway to look at a particular kind of stock or vertical.

Yes, but she always builds your conviction, right? She talked about tourism, affordable housing. If you own those stocks already in your portfolio, you know you have taken a good call and maybe on corrections, I will add more.
Porinju Veliyath: More than stocks, the formation of tourism hubs is a very important idea, even though we may underplay that theme, now India has a huge scope for that kind of hubs and even religious tourism or pilgrimage tourism with international airports and a lot of sufficient infrastructure. A proper tourism development can add 1% to our GDP in the long run.


And who would know it better than you? You belong to God's own country, Kerala. Yes, you would know the importance of tourism.
Porinju Veliyath: I think it is very important for the investors. There could be many stocks. I do not want to name anything. Nothing comes to my mind. We have everything starting with Indian Hotels and Oberoi and many small ones are coming up smartly. There could be multibaggers….

Your idea?
Porinju Veliyath: EIH looks like a very good bet. I am not owning it. They have not been expanding rapidly in the past, but now with the new things opening up, why not something in Ayodhya?

That is luxury tourism.
Porinju Veliyath: So, there could be a hub and that circuit of tourism places in India, we have very big potential to grow in that area. It will have an overall impact on the economy.

And that is your expectation for ONGC as well, isn’t it?
Porinju Veliyath: Yes, those stocks in the next one-two years will be leading the PSU pack because of the low valuation.

You only own ONGC, not any other PSU stock?
Porinju Veliyath: We have had BEML since the last three-four years in PMS.