In July 2007, ProjectsToday monitored 533 new projects entailing a total investment of Rs.13,346 crore. Though in terms of number of projects the service sector with 493 projects accounted for 78 per cent of the total projects announced in the month, in terms of projects investment, the manufacturing sector continued its dominance by accounting for 54 per cent of the total investment planned by new projects in July.

Within the manufacturing sector, steel, textiles and sugar sectors attracted sizeable investments. Electrosteel Integrated, a company promoted by the Kolkata based Electrosteel Castings, plans to set up a 1.3 mln tonne steel plant at Bokara. Along with the steel mill the company is also setting up a 200 MW captive power plant.

The Sugar sector saw the announcement of eight new sugar mills with capacities ranging between 2,000 to 5,000 tccpd. Of the eight, two millls each, are being set up in Haryana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. The balance three are coming up in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu.

Among the 24 textiles projects announced in July 2007, the Rs.300 crore expansion project of Best Colour Solutions India was the largest. The company is expanding the capacity of its cotton yarn unit from 25,000 spindles to 45,000 spindles at Dharapuram in Erode district of Tamil Nadu.

Grasim Industries in July announced its plans to expand its viscose staple fibre capacity from 51,100 tpa to 87,600 tpa at Kumarapatnam, Ranebennur in Haveri district of Karnataka. The Rs.276 crore plan also includes doubling the captive power plant capacity from 10 MW to 20 MW.

The month also saw three major MoUs being signed. On 3 July 2007, India and Japan signed an MoU for construction of the proposed $90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. On 14 July 2007, Mumbai-based Kamala Group along with the Bangalore-based MPPL Renewable Energy signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government, for setting up a renewable energy special economic zone in Chengalpattu taluka in Kancheepuram district, and on 27 July 2007, NTPC signed an MoU with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) to form a JV company for setting up blast furnace gas-based turbine combined cycle power plant of about 150 MW capacity, at Vishakapatnam.

In the Electricity sector, NTPC invited bids to set up a 4,000 MW Marakkanam super thermal power unit in Viluppuram district of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu Electricity Board announced its plan to set up a 1,600 MW (2x800 MW) coal based thermal power unit at Udangudi in Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu. In the private sector, Gujarat Adani Energy published its intention to set up a 2,640 MW thermal based power unit at Tiroda Industrial Area, Eastern Vidarbha's in Gondia district of Maharashtra. In the Construction sector, around 30 new commercial complexes and shopping malls were announced across the country. In addition, ProjectsToday also collected information on 159 real estate projects at different stages of development. The major project announced in the Real Estate sector, was SRK Construction's township project at Kochi in Kerala.

During July 2007, information on four new SEZs were gathered by ProjectsToday. These include the proposal of Parsvnath Developers' biotechnology and pharma special economic zone (SEZ) in Hyderabad district of Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs.400 crore. Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali Urban Development Authority's IT/ITES SEZ at near Vijayawada in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, Mantri Developers' IT/ITES SEZ at Nagpur in Maharashtra and D S Kulkarni Developers' multi-services special economic zone (SEZ) at Fursungi in Pune district of Maharashtra.