1,926 new projects announced in Q1-FY18

Fresh investment increased by 32 percent on Q-o-Q basis in Q1-FY18. The quarter saw announcement of 1,926 new projects worth Rs 2,90,426.1 crore.

The quarter witnessed announcement of 44 mega projects with each entailing an investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more.

The dominance of the public sector in the projex arena continued in this quarter too, with public sector units accounting for 67.25 percent of the fresh investment fructified during the three months ended June 2017.

Fresh investment commitments by the private sector increased by six percent on Q-o-Q basis. In all, private companies announced 494 new projects worth Rs 95,117.41 crore.
 

Sectoral Distribution

Among the major sectors, mining, infrastructure and irrigation sectors attracted increased investments. While the mining sector attracted four percent more fresh investment on Q-o-Q basis, Infrastructure attracted 45 percent more.

With 182 new projects worth Rs 70,280 crore, the manufacturing sector saw a fall of four percent vis-a-vis the preceding quarter.

Of the 15 mega projects announced in this sector, six were in the steel sector. JSW Steel, which completed a six million tpa capacity steel mill at a cost of Rs 33,000 crore in Odisha, continued its expansion spree and announced four more capacity expansion projects. The company intends to spend Rs 26,000 crore by 2020.

The mining sector also saw large projects in terms of investment. Dalmia (Cement) Bharat, on 2 May, 2017, bagged a limestone mine with a proven reserve of 215 million tonne in Chhattisgarh. The company is expected to invest around Rs 10,000 crore in the development of this mine.

Shunning of thermal power projects by the private promoters continued in the quarter ended June 2017. The fresh investment announced during the quarter was nine percent less than such investment seen in the preceding quarter. In all, 29 new power projects with a total investment of Rs 14,116 crore were announced.

The period also saw purging of 10 thermal and 14 hydel projects. On the positive side, 17 new solar power projects were announced.

Besides power projects, the sector also saw 69 new power transmission and distribution projects. Most of these projects were owned by state-owned power distribution companies.

The public sector-dominated infrastructure sector saw a couple of large size projects by private players. These projects were in the hospital, airports and port sectors.

Mumbai International Airport intends to expand the capacity of the international airport at a cost of Rs 3,423 crore.

The Roadways sector, which is largely driving the projex cycle of India, saw announcement of 509 new projects worth Rs 62,836 crore. The Rs 40,000 crore 1,300 km long Brahmaputra Express was not the only largest project announced in the quarter ended June 2017. Besides this, NHAI announced 28 new highway projects during the Q1 of FY18.