The enthusiasm private companies showed in announcing new investment proposals during July - September 2009 period was seen missing in October. During the month, 660 startups entailing a total investment of Rs 23,490 crore were announced. Compared with September 2009 fresh investment figures, this indicated a sharp fall of 35 per cent. One of the reasons for this is the steep fall in new projects announcement observed in Maharashtra. The state which was in the Election mode during October 2009 saw only 66 startups being announced during the month. Between July and September 2009 of this fiscal, the state saw on an average 200 startups being announced every month.

Nearly two-third of the total fresh investment emanated in October was in the Services & Utilities sector. Within this vital sector, Roadways, Water Supply Schemes and Community Services sectors cornered bulk of the fresh investments.

Among the promoters, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) emerged as the largest investor with the announcement of 38 new projects. Among this, the prominent one was the Rs 3,550 crore for six-laning of Icchapuram - Srikakulam - Visakhapatnam - Ankapalli - Rajahmundry section from 470.000 km to 901.753 km of NH-5 in Andhra Pradesh on DBFOT basis under NHDP Phase V.

Madhya Pradesh Road Devp. Corpn, Municipal Corpn. of Delhi, State government agencies of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttrakhand also announced sizeable number of new road projects. The Madhya Pradesh Road Devp. Corpn. invited bids for upgradation of following major stretches:

The only Railway project announced during the month was by Northeast Frontier Railway for laying of BG line connecting Sivok at West Bengal and Rangpo in Sikkim with investment of Rs 1,339 crore.

The Power sector accounted for 23 per cent of the fresh investment emanated in October 2009. Of the 28 power startups the month saw, the largest one was owned by Gujarat State Electricity Corpn. The company proposes to set up a 1,600 MW coal based power unit at Dahej in Gujarat. The second largest project was Cosmos Sponge & Power's 600 MW coal based power unit in Janjgir-Champa district of Chhattisgarh, with an investment of Rs 3,000 crore. The Manufacturing sector witnessed 131 new projects entailing an investment of Rs 2,637 crore. Of this the following two were mega projects.

The Cement industry witnessed 13 new projects with a total capacity of 20 million tpa. ACC's clinker unit with a capacity of 6 million tpa for manufacturing portland cement at Kottameta in Malkanagiri district of Orissa was the largest cement project of the month. Shree Cement announced its intentions to increase the clinker capacity expansion from 2.8 million tpa to 4.4 million tpa at Ajmer and setting up of a new unit with a capacity of 2 million tpa at Mahela Jobner Road, Phulera in Jaipur.

The mining sector attracted 17 new projects, of this the largest one was Northern Coalfields' expansion of Jayant open cast coal mining project from 9 million tpa to 12.5 million tpa at Singrauli Coalfields in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh.

The Construction sector witnessed 20 new commercial complexes including shopping malls, 13 hospitals and 7 hotels. Of the 13 hospitals, Guru Harkishan Medical Trust's multi-specialty hospital with a capacity of 400 beds at Maharani Bagh in Delhi was the largest and Westin Hotel's 5-Star Hotel with 400 rooms was largest in the hotel sector.

In addition, ProjectsToday collected information on 57 Real Estate projects, which were at different stages of development. Among them, Affordable Housing project 'New Haven' by Tata Housing Devp. Co. at Boisar in Thane district of Maharashtra was the biggest Real Estate project announced in October. The project to be spread over 42 acres of land, comprises 3,000 flats equipped with modern amenities. The second largest project was Kakade Group's residential complex 'Kakade City' at Karve Nagar in Pune district of Maharashtra. The complex to be spread over 12 acres of land, comprises 5 towers of G+21 floors with total 2,500 flats.

Of the total projects announced during the month, 444 projects entailing a total investment of Rs 14,876 crore were by the State and Central government agencies. Private entities accounted for the balance 216 projects worth Rs 8,614 crore.